BGS View Winter 2015

View THE BRISTOL GRAMMAR SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Winter 2014 Issue 28

TOP OF THE CLASS

Great Results at BGS

OUTWARD BOUND

with BGS Juniors

On tour in

SOUTH AFRICA An evening with

WILL SELF

GREENPOWER CHAMPIONS • PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE • GREASE IS THE WORD

2

View Winter '14 Issue 28

From the Headmaster It may sound rather a predictable thing for a Head to say but this really has been a fantastic term. For me, the School has never felt so alive, engaged and friendly despite the busy-ness that is so characteristic of this Autumn period.

W

hilst it’s true that life here has been as busy and full of opportunity as ever, it has been very gratifying to note that the changes to the timetable and curriculum we initiated this year have generated a noticeably calmer atmosphere. It feels to me as though there has been time to enjoy and savour as well as to achieve and I hope the students have experienced that too.

The highlight of the term must surely be House Singing at the Colston Hall – the first time we have used that venue on

TOP OF THE CLASS

2014 exam results at BGS were again outstanding at both ‘A’ level and GCSE, placing us as the highest ranked day school in Bristol in both the Daily Telegraph’s ‘A’ level and GCSE league tables.

such a scale. It was simply a stunning evening, not only for the quality of the music but also for the fact that our whole Senior School community could be together in one place, including 700 parents. It is the biggest event we have ever hosted – even outstripping Sports Day – and I know many of you appreciated the chance to be there.

Thank you for contributing to the very special atmosphere of the event.

As we look forward to the Spring term, I hope the calmness of the new timetable will really bed in and serve our students well as preparation begins in earnest for

public examinations.

In the meantime, it remains only for me to wish you and your families a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2015.

Roderick MacKinnon

At ‘A’ level 28 per cent of all exams were awarded the highest A* grade, with over 60 per cent gaining an A* or an A. 64 students achieved at least 3 As or better, nineteen of whom got three or more A* grades.

At GCSE, close to half of all grades achieved at BGS this year were A*s, continuing a trend of high performance.

77 students – two thirds of the entire year group – achieved eight or more A* or A grades, whilst 18 of them secured ten A*s or better. A group of ten students achieved the added distinction of scoring 100 per cent overall in one of their GCSEs. Speaking about the results, Headmaster Mr MacKinnon said: There is no doubt that these results are exceptional and I am delighted for our young people who have worked so hard to achieve them.

I am especially pleased that, alongside their studies, our students have thrown themselves enthusiastically into all sorts of activities and I am sure this is one of the reasons they have done so well academically.”

View Winter '14 Issue 28

News

y lc r e A vrm we wa

e om

The new academic year saw us welcoming a host of new faces to BGS. Alongside 36 children beginning their BGS journey in our Reception classes and 132 Year 7 students, another 36 joined us for their Sixth Form studies.

With demand for places in all year groups at an all-time high, we are delighted so many families are choosing BGS for their children’s education and have enjoyed seeing all our new students settling in and throwing themselves into BGS life.

POP-UP PERFECTION There were book bargains galore to be had at the BGS Pop-up Book Sale on Wednesday 15 October. With hundreds of brand new books to choose from, all priced at just £1, staff and students were able to grab some early Christmas presents or some half-term reading while helping raise over £300 for this term's charity, Hft.

A huge thank you to Puffin, Randomhouse Children’s books, Macmillan Children’s books, Harpercollins Children’s books, Orion Children’s books, Hodder Children’s books, Gill and John McLay, and David Blanch (Carousel) whose generous donations of books enabled the sale to take place.

BGS FRIENDS

Once again, the Friends of BGS have hosted the popular Pot Luck Suppers.

During the Autumn, the parents of Year 7, Year 9, the Sixth Form, and Year 11 each had the chance to get together for an evening in the JCR sharing a delicious buffet with a wide variety of dishes.

More importantly, the parents took the opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Year 8 and Year 10 will get their turn in the New Year.

Save the Date for the next event; the Friends of BGS Ball, Casino Royale, will be on Saturday 21 March 2015.

Tickets will go on sale after Christmas.

3

4

View Winter '14 Issue 28

News

PIRATES AHOY!

GREENPOWER CHAMPIONS Congratulations to the BGS Greenpower team, one of whose two Greenpower racing cars was crowned the International Greenpower F24 Kit car champion at the 2014 final at Goodwood in October.

Both BGS cars had qualified for the finals, taking their place from 265 entrants to be among the best eighty teams from across the world. Megazord and Gigazord were competing in the two F24 category races and the cumulative distances were to decide the eventual competition winners. The cars performed superbly and the driving was outstanding in increasingly adverse weather conditions.

Of the two cars, the older vehicle, Megazord, achieved an impressive victory in its Kit car class, winning both races by a long distance. Thanks to the amazing driving and pit crew work of Jack Ben Matthew Oliver and Ben BGS is now the International Greenpower F24 Kit car champion!

BGS was overrun by pirates on 19 September when the whole School took part in a ‘Dress like a Pirate’ themed mufti-day in aid of charity Hft, a national charity which supports people with learning difficulties and their families. Some poor souls even braved the equivalent of walking the plank – taking part in ‘Soak the Teacher’ – but it was all for a good cause. Alongside this term’s other fundraising efforts, the total raised currently stands at an impressive £2,750.

42

View Winter '14 Issue 28

News WE SHALL REMEMBER THEM

PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

We were delighted by the positive response from parents and our community to our exciting plans for a dedicated Performing Arts Centre at BGS. The project presents an exciting opportunity to create a state-of-the-art new Centre for the Performing Arts which will offer the best possible opportunities for all our students for many years to

Best ever result FOR BGS MUN

In mid-October, the BGS Model United Nations (MUN) delegates travelled north to MUN Cheadle Hulme, otherwise known as MUNCH. This is one of the country’s largest and most prestigious MUN events, with over thirty schools represented and some 600 delegates.

Our students represented Italy and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with aplomb. Emily (U6) and Tommy (L6) were Commended Delegates, and Joseph (U6) was recognised as the Outstanding Delegate for the Political Committee. Our two Year 11 students appearing at their first MUN

come as well as providing benefits to the wider community. The planning application has now been submitted to Bristol City Council and the outcome should be known in early February.

You can view details of the proposed development on the BGS website, <www.bristolgrammarschool.co.uk/ About-BGS/Building-Developments.aspx> also deserve praise: Alfie who was given a Special Mention and Sam who won Outstanding Delegate on the Youth Committee.

The big prize, however, was still to come.

Our Highly Commended Delegation Award for Italy meant that we had come second overall, our best ever MUN result.

Tuesday 11 November saw representatives of the whole School community gather in the Great Hall for our annual Remembrance Service. Sam Perrin (OB 1993 – 2000), who served in three tours of Afghanistan, gave the address and spoke movingly of friends he had lost, bringing home to students the reality of the sacrifices made by those who fight for our peace and freedom.

There was an added poignancy this year, the centenary of the outbreak of ‘the war to end all wars’, as the School remembered those from its community who lost their lives in the Great War. Their stories have been collected together for the first time, thanks to the hard work and research of three OBs. You can read more about Bristol Grammar School through the Great War in the Old Bristolians’ pages of this magazine.

5

6

View Winter '14 Issue 28

BGS STEM

From Airbus to the America’s Cup STEM has once again been helping students engage with science, technology, engineering and maths.

In July, Airbus invited some of our Sixth Form students to join them for a day at the Farnborough International Airshow. During the visit they toured an A380 (on the ground!), took part in a challenge activity and enjoyed the fantastic flying display which included an A380, A400M and the Red Arrows.

October saw eight Sixth Form students at the Arnolfini to witness The Great Debate: Who Owns Bridge Design? – Engineers versus Architects.

This was part of the Bridge 150 Festival, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge.

A fantastic array of bridge designs were displayed, each being used as evidence in this lively and light-hearted debate.

The first STEM café explored the awesome mantis shrimp. Lower-sixth student Nicole reports: “In October, we were lucky enough to receive a lecture from University of Bristol’s Dr Martin Howe, accompanied by his live mantis shrimp. The insightful talk was centred on the vision of the mantis shrimp as it is very complex. Following the talk, we were fortunate enough to be able to see the mantis shrimp close up – most definitely the highlight of the talk.”

Later STEM Cafés were given by Science Journalist Nadya Anscombe, and the Chief Medical Officer for the Paralympic Team, Stuart Miller. It is interesting to see how often science and technology sit comfortably alongside other subjects; English and sport are just two examples.

Ten students from Year 8 and 9 enjoyed a hands-on day at the TeenTech event at the Bristol County Cricket Ground. Bristol has two universities and is a hotspot for hi-tech industries. More than thirty groups brought displays and activities to help students see the wealth of exciting careers possible. Maggie Philbin, presenter of TV shows such as Tomorrow’s World and Bang Goes the Theory, led the day’s activities.

Year 9 student Bhavin said: “TeenTech was a great experience.

I also enjoyed learning about how jet engines and computer processors are created by Rolls Royce and Intel.”

Sarah and Sarah both Year 8 reported: “Our first activity was with some computer scientists from Bristol University. As their end of year project, they had created a game involving two teams (Russian and American) in a space station with only one escape pod. Using a hacker, an astronaut (with an Oculus Headset), and a team leader/navigator, it was a race to escape in only ten minutes!

We communicated via headsets and microphones. Each player had a different map depending on their job but the astronaut could actually see where they were going using their headset. We all really enjoyed it and it showed us how diverse computer science can be.”

At the end of November, we are looking forward to taking some students to the House of Lords to listen to a debate on engineering. With five Olympic medals, Sir Ben Ainslie is the most decorated Olympic sailor of all time and will be leading a discussion on what sort of engineering will be needed to bring the America’s Cup back to Britain. ”And what of next term?” I hear you ask.

You will have to wait and see!

Dr Rosser, STEM coordinator

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Infants & Juniors Mr Huckle writes …

“One of the privileges of having the opportunity to lead the Infant and Junior Schools is the chance to sample the rich variety of provision for the children when I take visitors around the school.”

Our aim is to inspire a love of learning and on a daily basis I witness abundant evidence of this – from Reception children excitedly progressing in their reading, phonics and numeracy to Year 1 children engaging in topic work as Superheroes, Year 2 children finding out more about their city of Bristol, Year 3 mummifying bananas as part of their Egyptian studies, Year 4 making storybooks to share with Infant children, Year 5 designing, building and testing bridges and Year 6 appreciating the opportunities to come when they have their Science, Art and Textile lessons in the Senior School.

Every day the Infant and Junior Schools are buzzing with children enthusiastically engaging in all the opportunities available to them. Since our aim is to develop well-

No, they hadn’t all overslept! Children and staff alike came to school in pyjamas or onesies to raise funds for the Children in Need appeal in November.

Despite the clothing, everyone managed to stay awake all day!

rounded young people we are committed to the benefits of holistic education.

Hence co-curricular learning complements curricular learning. This term co-curricular highlights have included our performance of The Taming of the Shrew at the Tobacco Factory for the Shakespeare Schools Festival; our wonderful Infant discos; our participation in rugby and hockey festivals; our ever popular Teatime Concerts; our frenetic Christmas Bazaar and our Junior Christmas Service and Infant Nativity performances. In each case I feel enormously proud of the children who constantly demonstrate that “there is no lid on learning” and it is only when you provide children with an opportunity or present them with a challenge that you discover quite what they can do.

I hope that you will enjoy reading these pages and learning more about how much the children achieve and why they make it such a pleasure for us all to work with them here.

Peter Huckle Headmaster, BGS Infants & Juniors

7

8

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Infants & Juniors FABULOUS FUNDRAISING £ 1 1 2 8 . 7 2 Thanks to the hard work of the Charity Commitee and the support of the whole of BGS Infants and Juniors, the grand total of £1,128.72 was raised in the last academic year for the charity Shine Together (now the Southmead Hospital Trust Charity).

Adrian Brown, the Southmead Hospital appeals manager, visited BGS to be presented with the cheque in assembly.

He thanked the Infants and Juniors for their fundraising efforts and told them that the money would go towards supporting the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit which looks after newborn babies with special needs.

The same amount was also raised for the RSPB. Bob Elliot, Head of Investigations at the

RSPB wrote to say: “I was absolutely delighted to see your letter outlining your fundraising work for the RSPB. I am speculating on exactly how many cakes were baked to help raise £1,128.72! I am feeling very hungry.

Supporters like you really do make a difference and the money raised will directly help in protecting rare species such as birds of prey.”

HARVEST ASSEMBLY It was wonderful to welcome parents and grandparents to our special Harvest Assembly.

Particular highlights of the assembly were the arrival of the Reception children for their first major school event in the Great Hall, the clarity and confidence of the readers and the typical exuberance of the singing. Thank you also to all families who contributed to our collection for the homeless in Bristol which was greatly appreciated by the Salvation Army.

LIFE'S A

ROLLERCOASTER! The Infant children very much enjoyed a special science workshop this term. Led by an engineer, the children used their knowledge of forces to help him create a rollercoaster.

What better use for engineering could there be?

AMAZING ME The reception children learned all about each other, their families and the people who are important to them as part of their very first topic in BGS Infants.

Each child brought in photographs which were put on display and shared an important ‘show and tell’ with their classmates as a way to get to know each other and to help everyone feel at home.

View Winter '14 Issue 28

BRISTOL’S BEST

One of Year 2’s topics this term was Bristol and the children had a wonderful time exploring the city and things which have made it famous. They tried their hand at making hot air balloons and visited two of the city’s icons – the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the ss Great Britain.

Inspired by their visit to the bridge, the children had a go at designing their own bridges, which could have been entered into the competition Brunel won with his Clifton Suspension Bridge design.

Forest School for Year 1 in the first half of term saw them focusing on animal homes, to tie in with their topic of 'Home'.

The children built birds’ nests, tunnels for voles and bridges for dormice.

In November, they made their own forest fireworks, making Catherine-wheels using sticks, string and leaves

from the forest. They tried hard to find different types of leaves so their firework would be colourful and made up of different shapes. In small groups they let their fireworks off, adding a variety of sound effects. Fizzzzzzzzzzzz!

IN THE WOODS

HOME SWEET HOME Homes around the world, homes in the past and homes in shoe boxes were all part of Year 1’s topic in the first half of term.

As part of the topic they looked at time lines exploring homes through history, which was brought to life by their trip to St Fagans. Despite the miserable weather the trip was a great success. The children explored a row of miners’ cottages (each from

a different time period), visited a blacksmith at work, an old shop, as well as a strict Victorian school. They all thought BGS was better!

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP Year 2 had a photography session in Forest School on the theme of 'Looking up'.

Here are some of the fabulous photos they took.

9

10

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Infants & Juniors Years 4, 5 and 6 have all enjoyed fantastic trips this term, to PGL Marchants Hill, Liddington and Mendip Outdoor Pursuits respectively.

Canoes were paddled, rafts built, crates climbed, arrows shot and campfires enjoyed. There was mud, teamwork, and lots of lovely food. But best of all, there was the chance to enjoy some adventures with friends and create memories which will last a lifetime.

View Winter '14 Issue 28

A little bird told me

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Infant Nativity was A Little Bird Told Me, the tale of a flock of birds who are flying south to visit the new baby Jesus, and the shepherds, angels and wise men they meet on the way. As ever the performances from all the children were wonderful and the joy in their singing and dancing made the show a delight for all who saw it.

11

12

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Sixth Form

An adventurous life TIM EMMETT LECTURE

Honour for BGS Sixth Former

Francis Gainsborough, a member of the Upper Sixth at BGS, has been appointed by the Lord Lieutenant of Bristol as one the four cadets who will accompany her on official engagements for the year.

The Lord Lieutenant is the Crown’s representative in the city and county of Bristol. As one of her cadets, Francis represents the Sea Cadets at events – he recently accompanied the Lord Mayor and High Sheriff’s carriage in the Bristol Remembrance parade.

Francis, who hopes to study Medicine after completing his studies at BGS, joined the Sea Cadets at the age of ten, and has been a Marine Cadet since he was thirteen. His cadet commitments mean he has to balance twice-weekly training sessions, plus weekend training – which can be as frequent as every weekend for two months in the build-up to competitions such as the Gibraltar Cup (to find the best Royal Marine Cadet detachment) – with his academic work, rugby and drama classes at the Old Vic. While admitting that balancing cadet

and school commitments does require both effort and discipline, the strength of the friendships forged through the cadets makes it more than worthwhile for Francis.

Speaking about his appointment as Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet, Francis said: “Being appointed as the Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet for the Royal Marines and Sea Cadets this year is a real privilege, allowing me to participate in many ceremonies which are a contrast from the typical field work. It also allows me to spread the word and stand as a good image for the Sea Cadet Corps, which is extremely important in maintaining its respected public image.”

This time five years ago, my Dad and I left The Climbing Academy in Bristol following a lecture by none other than Tim Emmett, to find our car broken down.

Explaining our situation to the site manager, and how the hour long drive home would not be feasible by public transport, Tim piped up from behind us, “I’ll give you a lift”.

Half an hour later I found myself in a police car being driven home (because of a dodgy tail light apparently), and I couldn’t help thinking I’d just sampled a taste of the ‘Emmett’ lifestyle: spontaneous, adventurous, and full of drama.

This term we were lucky to have Tim return to Bristol Grammar School, all the way from what is now his home in Squamish, Canada and give a lecture to the Upper Sixth. Wowing the audience with stories of wing-suit flying, base jumping, and deep-sea diving (to mention a few), Tim’s words both entertained and inspired the audience, drawing attention to the power of motivation and working towards your goals in a pro-active way. Though his talk focused on extreme sports and his involvement with them over the years, the underlying messages were universal and relevant to all, whether as careers advice or motivation for a potential gap year. His message was to stay positive, focus on your dreams and never give up. Through this he showed us that anything can be possible and believing this is an important way of living in order to achieve our aims in life.

On a personal level, he gave Hamish and me some useful insights into how he kick-started his climbing career and how he has lived a fun, fulfilled life without taking a common career path. Everyone in the Upper Sixth would like to thank Tim Emmett for an inspirational lecture and we wish him the best of luck with his further travels.

James Squire and Hamish Potokar

View Winter '14 Issue 28

More than forty Old Bristolians returned to the School on Friday 21 November to take part in the Lower Sixth Careers Conference. Their expertise and experience ranged from engineering and finance to journalism and theatre, offering a wonderful opportunity for our Sixth-formers to learn more about their preferred career path, whatever it may be. Our thanks to all the OBs who so generously gave up their time to pass on their advice.

PASS IT ON

BACK YOURSELF

dramatic sketches to the group, to help them develop confidence in dealing with new situations and people. There are also useful tips, such as to use everyday occurrences, like passing through a doorway, as a reminder to check their posture.

The atmosphere in lessons is warm and supportive, making the sessions enjoyable and entertaining, but the lessons being learned are definitely valuable ones, building crucial life skills for students moving on into the wider world.

EMILY HITS THE RIGHT NOTE

before an audience of 350 people, and received very warm praise from audience members and musicians alike.

Academic results are only part of the picture when it comes to securing the job or university place of your dreams. Being able to express yourself, and communicate effectively and confidently, are also crucial skills and Sixth Formers at BGS who feel they might like a little help with this can join the Back Yourself Programme.

Devised by Mr Harford and speech and drama teacher Alison Mazanec, the principal of the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy, the programme is delivered by Alison over four sessions, with students set practical homework between sessions to help them embed their new skills into everyday life. The focus is on improving skills such as eye-contact, body language, communication and presentation and encourages students to step outside their comfort zone, for example by performing

Congratulations to Emily Potter, who won the New Music in the South West Young Composers’ Prize at the concert at St George’s on Sunday 7 September.

Her piece, Volière, was performed by the region’s best professional musicians

SIXTH FORM HELP IN FIGHT AGAINST MENINGITIS Sixth Formers at BGS are taking part in research by the Bristol Children’s Vaccine Centre looking into meningococcal carriage and disease.

The research, which aims to recruit 18,000 teenagers from across the UK, is funded by the Wellcome Trust and sponsored by the University of Oxford.

The study’s leader, Professor Finn, gave an assembly presentation explaining the project’s aims and methodology to the Sixth Form who could then volunteer to take part. Those participating give a simple throat swab which will check for the presence of the meningococcal germ. This is the cause of meningococcal infection but is ‘carried’ in the back of the throat of about one in five teenagers without causing any symptoms. The study aims to understand why this germ sometimes causes serious disease and why the amount of disease varies over time.

For one BGS Sixth Former, the project has particular resonance. Ella Bailey, who joined BGS Sixth Form this year, contracted meningitis as a one year old and is now an official Ambassador for The Meningitis Research Foundation, promoting awareness and fundraising.

Speaking about the project she said: “I think that this study will help us to understand more about the bacteria and how vaccines can help protect people against meningitis. I am very proud that my new school has chosen to aid this vital research. The fight against meningitis still continues, but thanks to studies like these we will be able to eradicate it sooner.”

13

14

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Literary Events

JONATHAN STROUD Jonathan Stroud, author of the best-selling Bartimaeus series, visited the Great Hall at Bristol Grammar School on Wednesday 1 October to talk to Years 6 and 7 about his new series Lockwood & Co, of which the second book, The Whispering Skull, has just been published.

THE BATH FESTIVAL OF

Children’s Literature

It follows charismatic teenager Lockwood and his fellow ghost-fighting friends as they try to solve the mystery behind the ghostly inhabitants of modern-day London. However not all ghosts are friendly: some can draw the very life and soul out of a human body!

After talking about this new series, Stroud gave us an insight into how and when he started to write. He even showed us the manuscript of his very first book, written when he was just eight years old! Stroud continued to write prolifically throughout his teenage years and, on graduating from university, managed to land a job at a very popular publishing house.

We were also treated to some spontaneous ghost-story telling (complete with illustrations!), all the suggestions coming from a very enthusiastic and creative audience. After a spooky reading from The Whispering Skull, there was a fantastic question-andanswer session. We learnt that Stroud’s favourite horror movie is The Innocents, and how his biggest influence was actually a teacher who thought his writing

so good he made him read it out in front of his whole school!

After the talk I know that I, for one, wanted to pick up the new Lockwood & Co book and jump back in, right where Stroud’s reading had left us earlier. If you would like to do the same, both his Bartimaeus series and the Lockwood & Co books are available from the Library.

Sarah Kleiman, BGS Library

Thanks to a long-standing association with the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature (BGS Literary Events Co‑ordinator Lucy Shepherd was involved in the inaugural festival in 2007), two groups of students from Bristol Grammar School have been lucky enough to visit the festival, attending events, and meeting and even interviewing authors.

This year, BGS Juniors’ Year 6 Book Committee was given the opportunity to interview author David Almond, guest artistic director of the 2014 festival. It was an amazing experience for them, allowing them to find out first hand from the author of books such as Skellig and The Fire Eaters his inspirations, motivations and ambitions as a writer.

An equally enthusiastic group of Lower Sixth students was also present at the event. From attending the launch party and making the most of the chance to network with authors, illustrators, agents and editors, to stewarding events and interviewing authors, they took every opportunity to get involved. They were able to attend the event with Sally and Marcus Sedgwick, two stars of the Young Adult fiction world as well as interview both authors. You can read their review of the event and their interviews with Sally Green and Marcus Sedgwick on the BGS website, <www.bristolgrammarschool. co.uk/Our-Schools/Senior-School/TheArts/Literary-Events.aspx> Thank you to the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature for allowing our students such fantastic access behind the scenes at the festival.

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Allen Lane PRIZE

The theme of this year’s Allen Lane Prize, the short story competition for students in Years 9, 10 and 11, was ‘Theatre’ and the entries were so exceptional that we decided to create two additional highly commended awards.

An evening with

WILL SELF

It was with somewhat ambivalent feelings that I took my seat for the Will Self event in the Great Hall. His provocative radio and television persona is elaborately designed to be alienating and those who have attempted his prose will know that it needs careful and active reading.

However, in the flesh, he was revealed as a truly impressive speaker with great integrity, a clearly powerful intellect and someone who feels passionately about both literature and the political state of our world.

Shark, his latest novel, has at its centre the little-known and disturbing story of the shark attack on the USS Indianapolis, where a group of soldiers were abandoned to their fate by the collective oversight of the US Navy. Self’s resonant reading of a fairly lengthy extract brought the horror to life in a manner both poetic and grotesque. In conversation with his long-time editor Tony Lacey, the genesis and writing of the novel were discussed.

Interestingly they had a significant disagreement about the end of the book and Lacey was open about the fact that he remained unconvinced by Self’s chosen ending but ultimately the author’s vision took precedence.

In many ways one of the most interesting elements of the evening was Self’s comments on the division between digital natives and those of us over forty in terms of the differing ways in which we approach texts. His thesis is that in the past, much reading was done with the reader accepting that they may well not understand everything that they read, but one continues reading and allows the context to create understanding. His claim is that that kind of reading is ceasing to exist and this is problematic in terms of the future of the novel. This idea has since provoked some lively debate with a number of students. With the exception of a couple of acid asides about Virginia Woolf and JK Rowling, he revealed himself as a witty, humane, entertaining if somewhat formidable presence.

Eva Yemenakis

In whole school assembly on the morning of 20 November, it was with great pleasure that we welcomed Daniel Crewe to BGS to present the award. Daniel is a publisher with Viking Editorial; Viking is an American publishing company which was acquired by Penguin in 1975. He has had an illustrious career so far in publishing, commissioning writers such as Simon Schama, Jonathan Dimbleby, Matthew Crawford and Elvis Costello. Not only did he come to present the award but also to talk to the Sixth Form.

The two highly commended writers, receiving a prize of book tokens, were Ellie and Saskia The runners-up, also winning a prize of book tokens, were Freya and James And the winner of the 2014 Allen Lane Prize, and winner of £125 worth of Penguin books, with a story entitled Theatre, was Ellie Andrew Jamison

15

16

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Performing Arts

BGS RAISE THE ROOF

Shakespeare SCHOOLS

F E S T I VA L

This year students from the Junior and Senior School again took part in the Shakespeare Schools Festival, putting on two amazing productions at the Tobacco Factory.

27 children from Years 5 and 6 took part in an abridged version of The Taming of the Shrew and did themselves, their families and school proud! Just as impressive was the Senior School performance of Hamlet which displayed both great acting talent and also impressive understanding of both the complexities of the play and Shakespeare’s language.

All of the children involved were dedicated and passionate performers and were rewarded with wonderful feedback from our audience. A huge well done to everyone involved.

Congratulations to Scott’s House, crowned this year’s House Singing champions at the first ever BGS House Singing Day, held at the Colston Hall on Tuesday 21 October.

The move from our own Great Hall to the larger Colston Hall enabled us to welcome parents to what has always been a highlight of the BGS musical calendar. That even the Colston Hall wasn’t big enough to accommodate all those who wished to come shows just how popular House Singing is.

A day of intensive rehearsals built up to an evening of performances from each of the six houses, interspersed with the Boys’, Girls’ and Friday Choirs. The audience enjoyed an evening of fantastic singing, and as ever, the enthusiasm and energy of the

performances made it a difficult task for our adjudicator, this year Ralph Allwood, former Director of Music at Eton College, to pick a winner. Well done to worthy winners Scott’s House, but congratulations must go to all those who played a part in producing such an amazing evening of entertainment.

View Winter '14 Issue 28

ST GEORGE’S CONCERT

e s a e Gr IS THE WORD!

There was much excitement among the students when Grease was announced as this year’s Senior School Musical. However, with only half a term to prepare (thanks to Director of Drama Mrs Johnson’s broken leg), the task of bringing this much-loved tale of high school romance to the stage was not without its challenges.

Featuring all the hit songs from the film, as well as the original stage musical, the show was always going to be a crowd-pleaser, but the cast are to be congratulated on a production that was more than just a recreation of the iconic film. Led by Ed as Danny and Lizzy as Sandy, they brought an energy and freshness to the familiar story and songs and delivered an excellent night’s entertainment for those lucky enough to attend.

Our thanks and congratulations go to all the cast, crew and musicians, and the staff who supported them, for their hard work and dedication, which produced such a memorable show.

On the evening of Wednesday 19 November the collected musical talent of the Senior School made their way to St George’s for the BGS Winter Concert.

Featuring eight different ensembles, the audience were treated to a varied programme, united by the quality of the performances. Reflecting on the concert, one parent said: “It was a super evening and highlighted the breadth of outstanding talent that is at BGS. I felt proud to be a parent of the School and excited about the prospect of my son continuing to enjoy all that the Music Department has to offer.”

17

18

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Exploration

… s e v I St AS WE WERE GOING TO

For the Art students of the Lower Sixth it was a great chance to experience the landscape as Barbara Hepworth did seventy years ago and a great start to a three-day research trip. Visiting the Tate Gallery and drawing in Hepworth’s famous sculpture garden helped us to explore the beginnings of British abstraction before ice cream at Padstow and exploring the working dock. Seeing Sandra Blow’s majestic and joyous paintings at the Exchange in Newlyn was an unforgettable experience. We stopped to photograph and draw at the Levant Mine and then it was home to Bristol. Great weather, great students and great fun.

Standing on Trevose Head with a curtain of mist lifting from the horizon and a light breeze blowing inland was the best introduction to why so many great British artists have chosen Cornwall as the place to be.

London LIGHTS

Lower Sixth English students enjoyed a fabulous three-day trip to London in October, sampling the many fantastic things the city has to offer: museums, plays, exhibitions and more.

There was a visit to the Virginia Woolf Exhibition, giving an insight into the inspiring author of Mrs Dalloway, a text most of the groups are studying this year.

Other visits included to the V&A, Imperial War Museum and the British Library, where the group were shown their incredible collection of old and precious items, ranging from the Magna Carta and a first edition Beowulf to scribblings from the Beatles. This was followed by a workshop to help them write in a more poetic way, a skill used later when in true artistic fashion they burnt the midnight oil, staying up until 1am working on their creative pieces.

The trip included three plays: Pitcairn at the Globe Theatre, a thought-provoking play based on a true story; Ballyturk at the National Theatre, an intriguing story of two young men who have never ventured outside a single room, which had the audience crying with laughter at times and on the brink of tears at others; and James III: The True Mirror, which the group worried might be a dry, humourless piece, but instead they experienced constant laughs and were hooked by the dramatic story line from the moment the cast started dancing to a medieval rendition of Happy. Between the latter two plays, a backstage tour at the National gave a very interesting look into the work that goes on behind the scenes of a theatre production.

A second late night of writing preceded the trip’s final event, a visit to the Poetry Café, a place where many great poets have presented their own work. There each member of the group read aloud the piece they had been working on, before collapsing onto the coach for a well-deserved rest on the journey back to Bristol.

View Winter '14 Issue 28

o c c o Mor A MONTH IN

In the summer, a team of 10 students from the current Upper Sixth at BGS and three teachers went to Morocco on the school expedition. This expedition was different from most other school trips, as the team had decided their own itinerary and were away for a whole month.

Two weeks were spent trekking through the Atlas Mountains, ending at the summit of Jebel Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa at 4,167m. After this, there was a few daysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; recovery in Imlil and then onto the seaside town of Sidi Kaoki for a two-day camel trek, which was both amazing and quite painful. Finally, after visiting Essouaira, a beautiful city a bit further up the coast, the remainder of the trip was spent in Marrakech, exploring the souks, visiting the Ben Youssef Mosque and the Jardin Marjorelle.

It is hard to do justice in words to the many amazing things they saw and experienced on the trip, from the breathtaking mountain scenery and the joy of reaching the summit of Toubkal, to the warmth and friendliness encountered on the trip. The experience of being in Marrakech during Ramadan, where the whole city seemed to come to life at nightfall will not be forgotten but for many the best thing about the trip was that it was experienced without the

modern distractions of mobile phones, computers and iPods and they could simply enjoy each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s company and read and appreciate their surroundings without distractions.

19

20

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Exploration

A CLASSIC EXPERIENCE

n a i s s Ru A

RETURN

During the Spring of this year, nine Russian students travelled from St Petersburg to Bristol for the first leg of the long-standing Russian exchange.

As well as meeting their BGS exchange partners, they also got to meet the Lord Mayor and enjoyed a packed programme of excursions including trips to Bath, London and Wales.

The return visit by BGS to St Petersburg took place in early July, allowing our students to catch the tail end of the White Nights which occur every year in the city. They were welcomed into the homes of their Russian host families, who went out of their way to make them feel part of their families and to take them on outings around the city.

As a group, the BGS students enjoyed leisurely excursions to the Hermitage and the Peter and Paul Fortress as well as a visit to Pavlovsk and a day out at Peterhof, where our students had a marvellous time getting thoroughly soaked in the fountains!

For the nine Year 10 students who took part, the trip offered a fantastic opportunity to speak Russian, make some new friends and get a glimpse into the cultural life of Russia and we look forward to the 2015 edition of the exchange.

A jam-packed four-day trip to Athens and Tolo at half-term saw our Senior Classicists enjoy some glorious sunshine (and some torrential rain), attempt Greek dancing and even find a tortoise.

In amongst all that, there was also time to explore some of the country’s finest classical sites.

The group enjoyed a walking tour of Athens: the Parthenon was amazing, the new Acropolis Museum very exciting and the tour provided some great opportunities for using knowledge about different orders of Greek architecture. They also visited Epidavros theatre, a beautifullypreserved Greek theatre with stunning acoustics, although these were slightly dampened by the heavy rain.

There was better weather for their trip to the theatre at Argos (the Greek town, not the shop!) and visit to Corinth where they found the aforementioned tortoise, and some sixth-century columns. A very short stop at Eleusis, and then it was off to the airport. Phew!

21

In early July, thirteen AS biologists, Mr Goodland, Mr Bennett and Ms Diamond travelled to Turkey to undertake marine biology research on endangered loggerhead turtles and invasive fish species. They spent eight days working with two expedition leaders to learn about how important the conservation of the turtles is to the local community and the marine ecosystem.

On the beach B I O LO GY

FOREIGN FRIENDS An intrepid group of Year 10 students took the step of spending a week in Germany with their exchange partners at the start of the summer holidays.

They had proved to be excellent hosts for the first part of the trip and enjoyed getting to know the German way of life in and around Mannheim, where BGS has a long-established link with the Lessing-Gymnasium. Highlights of the visit included Heidelberg castle, built in the Middle Ages, as well as free time with families around the region. Particularly challenging for our students was the 7.45am lesson start at school, but this was made up for by school finishing in the early afternoon. The partners got on well and gained in confidence, as well as improving their language skills. Lasting friendships have been established and many students continue to be in contact with their partners.

PARIS, C’EST MAGNIFIQUE!

The summer holidays saw forty Year 7 and 8 students enjoy a trip to Paris.

The trip involved snorkelling in beautiful coves along the coast as well as surveying native and invasive aquatic species for Cardiff University. Some mornings were spent on the beach mapping the turtle nesting sites and investigating whether the environmental conditions influenced where the female turtles laid eggs.

The highlights of the trip included two full days spent on boats where the group were lucky enough to encounter turtles and swim with them.

There was also time for visits to amazing local sites such as the ruins of Olympos and the Chimaera, where they learnt about the history behind those wonders and even got to toast marshmallows on the eternal flames! There was also a trip to the city of Antalya. The students explored

the old town and haggled with the locals for Turkish delicacies, souvenirs and drank many free samples of cranberry tea. It was an excellent opportunity to experience the Turkish culture and interact with the locals.

The trip was a rewarding experience and the students are excited to see how their research will help the conservation of these incredible animals.

Their base was the impressive PGL Château de Grande Romaine which, as well as offering a swimming pool and climbing wall, also boasted snails on the dinner menu which several of the students tried.

The students enjoyed a day at Parc Astérix with plenty to do, both for thrill seekers – rollercoaster Oziris offered seven loops and speeds of 90km/h! – and those who preferred more gentle rides.

In Paris they visited the Eiffel Tower, climbing the 340 steps to the second level where a glass floor gave a scary view of the ground below. They also enjoyed a river tour and saw the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, and the Padlock Bridge, finishing with a visit to Sacré Cœur and Montmartre. What was the students’ view of the trip? Fantastique!

22

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Sport

a c i r f A h t ou

S

SPORTS TOUR

The senior students enjoyed a hugely successful sports tour of South Africa this summer, bringing back not only a wealth of memories and experiences but an infectious approach to their sports which is inspiring the junior sports teams.

The tour match results were mixed (see below) but the teams were united in their determination and resilience as they battled hard against quality opposition.

It is not just the sporting memories they have returned home with.

From the amazing Table Mountain and Howick Falls, to life in a township and the children’s home they visited there, to the animals of the game reserve, South Africa offered experiences which will stay with the group forever. For some, the tour represented the end of their BGS sporting careers and there could not have been a better way to say goodbye.

View Winter '14 Issue 28

NETBALL

Despite not being a principal sport this term, the netball teams have already been experiencing success this season.

Thanks to a top two finish in the qualifying tournament, where they reached the final against Clifton College, the U14 team is through to the county round of the National Schools’ competition. The U19 side narrowly missed out on progressing in their age group, finishing third in their qualifying round against strong opposition from Bath in the form of Ralph Allen and KES Bath.

FOOTBALL TO UR RESU LTS HOCKEY vs Rhenish Girls’ High School, lost 0–4 vs Reddam House, lost 0–1 vs Westerford High School, won 3–0 vs St Anne’s College, drew 1–1

NETBALL vs Excelsior Secondary School, won 27–20 vs Reddam House, lost 12–14 vs St Anne’s College, lost 15–17

RUGBY vs Excelsior School, won 37–24 vs Riebeek Valley School, U18 won 40–12, U17 won 48–0 vs Bellville High School, U18 won 5–0, U17 drew 14–14 vs V oortrekker, U18 lost 12–17, Second XV won 48–0

Both the boys’ and girls’ football teams have made a strong start to the season.

BGS took two squads to the South West Girls’ six-a-side Football Tournament at King’s Taunton, competing in both the U15 and U18 competitions.

Both age groups battled valiantly against some extremely tough opposition.

Despite outstanding effort and endeavour, the U15s failed to progress through the group stages, where they faced two of the region’s best teams. It was a similar story for the U18s, who were unfortunate to lose by a single goal against the eventual winners, but did manage to put points on the board courtesy of goals from Erin Ellie and Eloise Well done to all the girls who took part.

Our Senior Boys First XI have also performed well in their pre-season.

A draw against Hereford Cathedral was followed by victories against Taunton School (2–1) and Wells Cathedral (6–0). Their unbeaten run came to an end against KES Bath, although BGS did claim a consolation goal in the 4–1 defeat. We wish the squad luck as the season progresses.

23

24

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Sport

RUGBY

Across the age groups it has been a successful term to date. A young First XV has developed quickly and battled hard to gain victories over KES Bath, RGS and King’s Worcester and Wellington. Below them there has been even more success, supported by a great depth of talent.

GIRLS’ HOCKEY

Following on from last year’s award winning team was always going to be difficult for the Girls’ Senior XI but they have embraced the challenge and with wins recorded against Colston’s School, King’s Worcester, and King’s Bruton, and draws against Cheltenham Ladies’ and Taunton, they are justified in feeling that they have enjoyed a successful season.

There is also much promise in the junior age groups. The U14 team won the county tournament and qualified for the regional competition at Millfield, while the U13 group reached the final of the Cheltenham Ladies’ tournament, and have also qualified for the regional competition as winners of the county tournament.

RUGBY The U12A team were unbeaten at the time of writing and are looking forward to the challenge of playing Millfield and QEGS Wakefield. In fact the U12 Rugby programme is flourishing: over fifty boys practise regularly on a Tuesday evening, with matches only limited by the struggle to find regular opponents for the A, B, C and D teams that would like to play every Saturday. Not to be outdone the U13A team has lost just one game while the U13B side is also unbeaten and currently topping the national rankings! A number of boys in the School have gained recognition representatively: BGS has players performing at

county and Bristol academy level with a number of the older students hoping to progress further as they mature.

In the Junior School there is more good news. At the Millfield Rugby Festival in September, the U10A and B teams both put in great performances. At the end of the tournament, the A team were runners-up whilst the B team were winners of their competition. The boys also had the chance to meet England rugby captain Chris Robshaw.

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Sport

CONGRATULATIONS BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU Sam who won a silver medal in the British Open NoGi Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament.

CRICKET Ellie who won the U15 Girls’ Player of the Year award and Sujan who won the U13 Boys’ Performance of the Year award at the GCB Young Cricketer Awards.

Junior School pupils, Charlie James and Noah who have been selected for the Bristol District Cricket Winter Performance Squad for 2015

FOOTBALL

EQUESTRIAN

The BGS equestrian team have competed at several events this term, recording some excellent individual and team results.

These included a fourth place in the Chew Valley team show jumping event in September for Haniya Daisy and Tara and an even more impressive second place over a testing course at November’s Jumping with Style event at Hartpury for the team of Anya Tara t and Emma Well done to all the BGS riders who have competed this term.

Tom who has been selected for the Bristol City FC Academy (U10s).

GOLF Tom who has been selected to join the county future elite squad for golf; his training will start over the course of the next season, and if successful, he will progress to the youth England squad. He is also the U18 Bristol Junior Golf Open Champion.

NETBALL Rebecca who has been selected for the Regional Training Squad for Netball and for Netball Futures, and is trialling for the Regional under-16 team.

RUGBY Tom

Alfie and Will (U15), who have been selected for an upcoming U16 South West Training Clinic under the guidance of the national U18 coaches.

SQUASH Ahmed who won the U11 open squash championships at Welsh Back in September.

SWIMMING Alysia on her selection for the 2014–2015 South West of England Talent Programme for swimming.

TENNIS Tobey won a Grade 3 regional tennis tournament in Barnstaple which lead to qualification for the first Winter National event of the season.

25

26

View Winter '14 Issue 28

OBs BRISTOL GRAMMAR SCHOOL

through the G R E AT WA R

Where are they now?

HANNAH TALLETT, OB 1992-1999

I finished Sixth Form at BGS in 1999 and spent my gap year working and travelling. In 2000, I began an undergraduate degree at Nottingham University in Politics (BA), with subsidiary modules in Spanish and French as I wanted to keep up my language skills from French ‘A’ level.

Graduating with a 2:1, I soon realised I wanted to pursue a career in journalism.

I spent a year doing unpaid work experience at BBC Bristol and BRI Hospital Radio with the aim of putting together a successful application to Cardiff University to study broadcast journalism. Cardiff and City (London) are considered to have the best faculties and facilities for budding hacks. After a wonderful nine months, I left Cardiff with a Distinction in Broadcast Journalism, Post Graduate Diploma. Media is a tough industry to break into, and while several of my fellow students gained training contracts from ITV/BBC, I took the somewhat odd decision to move to Moscow and accepted a job as a reporter/ producer for Russia’s first 24-hour news

channel, Russia Today. Exactly one year after arriving in Moscow, I boarded a plane home and took a job as an output producer with The Associated Press.

Six months after that, I got a job as a producer at Sky News. My first five years at Sky were spent field producing, acting up to executive producer across all of Sky News’ shows and working as the chief sub (writer). I switched from behind the scenes to front of camera work in 2010 — a move which felt very natural but was not without a lot of hard work! Nowadays, I present across Sky’s output, but my main gig is anchoring the World News programme through the week. The hours are often extremely unsociable and unrelenting, but I can’t imagine doing anything else.

In the summer of 2012 the School was approached by the authors of Public Schools and The Great War: The Generation Lost. They were asking for basic data on OBs and staff who fought in the Great War: how many had served, how many died, decorations, and more. The only readily available source of this material was the War Memorial and the Roll of Service in the School Chronicle. It immediately became apparent that there were discrepancies, as the numbers didn’t add up and some names were clearly inaccurate.

In the last two years Anne Bradley, the School Archivist, has, with the help of three OBs who became inspired by the project, carried out research in order to update and amend the Roll of Honour and the Record of Service, to document the records of those who died, and the records of decorations. In the process they have identified new stories, documents, and even non-combatants who had a role to play.

These people vary from Leonard Raven Hill, a famous Punch cartoonist, to William Ivor Castle, who was appointed the official War Photographer for the Canadian forces, and the composer Cyril Rootham.

The first draft of their book is available to view online. It not only records the details of our war dead, but also provides a marvellous insight into day-to-day life at BGS during this period. <http://alumni.bristolgrammarschool. co.uk/bgs-through-the-great-war>

Elizabeth Pearce (OB 2005–2012), Douglas Dunn (OB 2003–2010) and Nicola Pearce (OB 2001– 2008) at Berles Cemetery

View Winter '14 Issue 28

OBs

2004

RETURN TO

Our Town

2014

ECUADOR, TEN YEARS ON

In 2004 the BGS expedition travelled to Ecuador where they tackled the challenge of climbing Cotopaxi, a 5,897m high active volcano. Ten years on the challenge was a little less daunting as the group, minus only one member who had the excuse of working in New Zealand, met for dinner and the chance to catch up with old friends and Dr Dimberline and Ms Cooper who accompanied them on the trip.

I was recently invited to watch a play in London; it was a Thursday night and would require a dash from Bristol to Islington and back again to ensure I didn’t miss my Year 7 Art class on Friday morning. The journey seemed worthwhile however. Our Town is an American classic and the production at the Almeida Theatre was quite rightly acclaimed by the critics. I also discovered that Anna Francolini, who attended BGS in the 1980s, was in the cast. As Anna is a member of the OBs’ Facebook Group, I contacted her to say I would be in the audience and looked forward to catching up with her after the show.

Talking to Anna afterwards she told me that in 1986 she had been in a Middle School Play production of Our Town at BGS, directed by David Trott. As I knew I was going to see David the next day I told Anna I would pass on her best wishes.

Overnight I hatched a plan; perhaps I could persuade David to come to the Almeida to see Anna performing in Our Town. With a smile on his face David told me that he thought he would very much like to join me on my return, if I could get tickets. Tickets were purchased that night and I arranged to meet David at School so that we could catch the train to London. I hadn’t realised that he hadn’t been on a train for over ten years and that he had not been to London for 25 years!

What I hadn’t told David was that I had also contacted another member of his original cast, Katy Maw, who joined Anna for a cast reunion before the performance.

Photographs taken, Tweets, Facebook updates and old programmes produced, we went to the show. Peter Jakobek

27

28

View Winter '14 Issue 28

Diary dates January Monday 5 January: INSET Day

Bristol Grammar School University Road Bristol BS8 1SR Senior School 0117 973 6006 Junior School 0117 973 6109 www.bristolgrammarschool.co.uk

When you wish up� a crane...

Tuesday 6 January: Start of term Saturday 10 January: Year 7-10 Entrance Exams Tuesday 13 January: Whole School Open Morning, 10.00am-12noon Wednesday 14 January: Sixth Form Interview Evening, Sixth Form Centre, 4.00-8.00pm Saturday 17 January: Year 7 Entrance Exams Tuesday 20 January: Renishaw Prize Giving, JCR 7.00pm Wednesday 21 January: Friends of BGS Year 8 Pot Luck Supper.

JCR 7.30-10.00pm Saturday 24 January: BGS Infants and Juniors Entrance Assessment Day

February Wednesday 4 February: Friends of BGS Year 10 Pot Luck Supper

There was once a girl who wished to be a writer... and her wish came true

Sarah Benwell's début novel,

THE LAST LEAVES FALLING

follows a teenage boy with ALS, and explores the value of life and the power of making your own choices.

Tuesday 10 February: Scholars’ Showcase, Great Hall 6.00-9.00pm Thursday 12 February: Junior School Celebration of Singing Friday 13 February: Junior School Performing Arts Day Senior School Modern Languages Soiree, JCR 7.00pm

Come along to hear how Sarah went from teen wannabe to (non-teen) bona fide author; declare your own wishes, and set yourself on the path towards acheiving them.

Monday 16 February – Tuesday 24 February: Half-term Wednesday 25 February: INSET Day

March Thursday 5 March: World Book Day (BGS Infants and Juniors Mufti-day) Thursday 12 March: BGS Infants and Juniors MADD Evening, Great Hall 6.00-8.00pm Friday 13 March: Comic Relief (BGS Infants and Juniors Mufti-day) Monday 16 March: House Dance, Great Hall 4.30pm Wednesday 18 March: Whole School Open Morning, 10.00am-12noon School Concert, St George’s Bristol, 7.30pm Thursday 19 March: Reflections, GCSE and ‘A’ level Dance Performance Evening, Failand 7.30pm Friday 27 March: Term ends

Design: adartdesign.co.uk Printed on 100% recycled stock using vegetable inks

Join us for an evening of inspiration and possibilities

5pm, 3 February 2015 Bristol Grammar School, University Road BS8 1SR All ticketing information from Ishepherd@bgs.bristol.sch.uk

KEEP UP-TO-DATE

For latest news from BGS and to find out what’s coming up, you can keep in touch via our website www.bristolgrammarschool.co.uk We also have a Bristol Grammar School Facebook page and you can follow us on Twitter @BGSBristol

Bristol Grammar School is a Registered Charity No. 1104425