Hurstmere Newsletter Spring 2013

Hurstmere News

SPRING 2013

this issue Snow! Hurstmere

Prize Giving P.6

Stays Open

Sports News P.7-9

As usual, the grounds staff and site staff were superb in ensuring that they cleared enough of the site,

Zambia Update P.10

Hurstmere Placed Third in the National Finals of the Science & Technology Challenge On 15th January 2013, Reece Harris and Daniel Baker competed in the national finals of the Science and Technology Challenge, following on from their win in the regional challenge back in June.

to enable the school to operate as usual on Monday 21st January after heavy snowfall. With only an hour delay, all 68 teachers and 44 support staff managed to get into school, some travelling considerable distances. We endeavour to ensure that students do not miss out on their education unless we really do not have any alternative but to close.

Matthew Woodhams

The event was held at King’s College London and the boys worked as part of a team, along with two girls from Bexleyheath Academy, to build a robot. The robot was built and programmed to follow a black line by means of a light sensor, a sound sensor enabled it to be switched on and off by clapping and a touch sensor ensured it turned around if it bumped into an obstacle.

The team worked extremely hard and produced an excellent presentation demonstrating the ‘i-robot’ and we are very pleased to announce that they secured third place out of the fourteen schools that took part in the final round.

Amarpreet Kang

Luke Higgins

GCSE PRODUCT DESIGN

Mrs S Lloyd-Wood – Head of Design & Technology

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Students designed a prototype lamp in the style of a specific designer or design movement which could be part of a new range of products aimed at the design conscious consumer. Three lamps are shown above.

A Specialist Sports and Science Academy

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The year seems to be flying by and we s t n e r have had a very busy period of moduDear Pa lar examinations for our Years 10 and 11. I can

The school has remained as popular as ever and we welcomed nearly 600 Year 6 boys from local primaries for the two Saturday banding tests before Christmas. As always, it looks like we will turn away more than we are able to admit. May I take this opportunity to thank all parents who completed our annual Kirkland Rowell Survey; your responses help us to constantly strive to improve all aspects of your son’s education at Hurstmere.

report that yet again our Mathematics Department have achieved some outstanding results with 83% of our Year 11 students already achieving a grade A*-C GCSE; with 17 A* and A Grades. This relieves some of the pressure from these students in the summer examination period and means they can focus on how to improve their current grades. As I write, we are still awaiting the outcome of the judicial review over the English GCSE debacle from last summer when many schools who only entered students for the summer examinations had their grades lowered to “balance the books” from over-marking of early entry candidates.

I hope you enjoy the newsletter, which is a small taster of the many activities running beyond timetabled lessons.

Mr A Stringer - Headteacher

LORD TOPE’S visit to Hurstmere School

SCHOOL FUND

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On Friday 11 January 2013, Lord Graham Tope visited Year 11 at Hurstmere School. He spoke to pupils about what goes on in the House of Lords and explained the difference between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

We sent out a letter in September requesting a contribution to School Fund. Firstly we would thank those who have generously given this year. However, our collections have been lower than last year and we would invite you to consider donating if you have not already done so.

Pupils were able to ask him questions about the many aspects of his role in the House and other relevant questions which helped them understand this long established institution and its part in government.

We ask for the sum of £18, and welcome and appreciate higher contributions, suggesting that 50p per week, equivalent to £26 per year is an affordable amount. School Fund donations are used for various projects during the year, including Activity Week in July.

Please make your donations via WisePay on the school website, or send in your cheque made payable to Hurstmere School. Contact the Finance Office if you have any queries.

Mrs S Bayar—Director of Studies

Mrs I Cunningham—Finance Manager

Thank you for your fantastic support of the Movember cause. The boys seemed to have a really good couple of days supporting the cause by wearing their moustaches and donating. The Movember ‘Match The Mo’ competition had 20 entries with 4 pupils correctly matching the moustache to the teacher. The winner of the competition was Lewis Mortlock Year 11 who was drawn at random from the 4 correct entries.

Mr A Davis - Head of KS3 PE

Art GCSE Gallery -

Before Christmas many of this summer's school leavers returned to the Art Department to collect their Art GCSE portfolios of work to take home. Summer 2012 was one

of Hurstmere Art Department's most successful years for the number of our boys that gained ‘A’ and ‘B’

A Specialist Sports and Science Academy

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SCIENCE

BABY FISH

THE HARRIS HAWK

The Science Department has had a new arrival of a baby fish. The pair of guppies that have only been with us for a few months produced a baby over the Christmas holidays! Guppies bear live young rather than eggs and are fairly easy to breed but often the young are eaten by the parents or other fish in the tank. Hopefully they will continue to breed so that the boys can learn even more about life cycles of different animals.

Over the autumn term the school has been using a Harris Hawk to help with controlling the birds that come on to the playground. 7A and Miss Gayton asked the Harris Hawk and its handler to visit their Science classroom for a few minutes and were lucky enough to be able to ask some questions. The boys learnt about how this magnificent predator is trained, what it eats and how it breeds.

There was genuine fascination and awe from the boys and it was a fantastic Impromptu learning experience.

Miss C Gayton – Teacher of Science

Mrs W Day—Director of Science

GCSE BIOLOGY TRIP to IMPERIAL COLLEGE’S CHRISTMAS LECTURE

SCIENCE CLUB As usual Science Club has been enthusing boys and giving them interesting activities to take part in over the winter months.

Pupils have been involved in firing rockets, making lolly stick bombs and the very popular squid dissection where the boys were able to cook the calamari in the Food Technology room and eat it! Most of them thought that the squid was delicious!

On 12th December 2012, 19 GCSE Biology students travelled up to London after school to watch a demonstration lecture entitled ‘Breaking in to the Brain’. The lecture took place in the Sir Alexander Fleming lecture theatre at Imperial College’s South Kensington Campus. The lecture involved both practical demonstrations and discussions on techniques used by scientists to study the brain and mind. The lecture was given by the Neurotechnologist Dr Faisal, who is currently undertaking research in the brain and mind. It was really interesting to hear from a scientist currently undertaking research. A recording of the lecture can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/user/ imperialcollegevideo.

This term we will be dissecting a pig’s head, building bridges and also using Science to help us raise money for Zambia – it may be Mothers’ Day related so we can’t give away the secret yet!

Miss C Gayton—Teacher of Science

Miss C Gayton— Teacher of Science

JACK PETCHEY AWARD It gives me great pleasure in announcing that the winners of the October and November Jack Petchey award are Moore Cruise and Harry Hudson respectively. The Jack Petchey Award gives recognition to boys who go above and beyond the normal expectations of a Hurstmere pupil. The winning pupils have an outstanding behaviour record and they contribute to the school community on an exceptional level. The pupils have been awarded a certificate and pin badge and they also have the opportunity to direct £200 to a school project, trip or items of equipment.

Mr M Robinson—Teacher of PE/i/c House system

grades in their Art GCSE. Here are some examples of the kind of work they produced to achieve this success.

These are all pieces produced in response to the theme 'Structures' as part of their GCSE coursework.

Mr D Blower - Head of Art

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A Specialist Sports and Science Academy

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THE NEW YEAR 7s-

YEAR 7 CAROL SERVICE – an Established Success The Year 7 boys enjoyed their Carol Concert on 7th December at the Holy Trinity Church, Hurst Road. The concert was performed in front of the School Governors and senior teaching staff, along with a congregation of parents and families.

The BIG Step from Primary to Secondary School.

It has been a great first term and so many successes are already in the bag.

Whenever a pupil completes a great piece of work or demonstrates exceptional efforts at Hurstmere, he is likely to receive a credit. So far, over 7,000 credits have been achieved solely by our year group. WOW! (I know, because I counted them!) Every half term a raffle is drawn, where one of the credit cards is pulled out of a container at random in front of the year group in assembly, and one lucky pupil, whose name is on the credit, receives a £15 Bluewater voucher.

Accompanied by the school band, the boys sang traditional Christmas carols as well as "Feed the World" and an arrangement of "Hark the Herald", to the tune of "Hallelujah". Members of the Year 7 choir sang “Silent Night”, accompanied by Year 7 percussionists. The students have been working on group singing as part of the curriculum and participate regularly in singing assemblies.

Members of Studio Fix, the school’s recording studio, presented two songs written especially for the service. The students performed with confidence and our thanks go to Mr Gilbert, Hurstmere’s Musician in Residence, for his time and continued support of the students.

The winner of the first half term, Sept to Oct, was TYLER BENNETT. The winner of the second half term, Nov to Dec, was JACK SMITH.

The feedback from the concert has been brilliant with Governors and members of the congregation sending excellent comments about the boys' performance. A special “thank you” to Mrs Roe, Mr Robertson and to all of the boys for putting on such a great event.

Congratulations to those two pupils.

Twelve pupils have gained 100 credits or more. They are; Daniel Hulls (170), Harry Hudson (160), Matthew Garner (150), Vinnie Newman (120), Charlie Greenway (110), Shane Blowers (110), Jess Ferguson (100), Tiago Albuquerque (110), Johl Powell (100), Joshua Colbeck-Payne (100), George Fisher (100) and James Walker-Clark (100). Well done to these CENTURIONS.

YEAR 7 3D TECHNOLOGY

Harry Hudson was the first to 100 credits and, along with his election as Captain of the Year 7 Football 1st Team, Harry was nominated and won The Jack Petchey Award. This is a sum of £200, which he can direct to a school project of his choice. Harry chose to donate £100 to buy Table Tennis bats and balls for the Year 7 lunchtime clubs, and £100 on Year Group Trips. Two Trips are in the process of being organised: 7 Edwards are going to Lazer Quazar and 7 Peters will decide where they would like to go before half term.

This autumn term Mr Middlewood has been teaching us about how to make a 3D car using SolidWorks.

We had to extrude a rectangle to a cuboid and then extrude-cut to make a diagonal cut in the model.

Next, we had to make a windscreen and a lot of people found

As a Year Group we have our own Tutor Group Competition which, as Head of Year, I keep track of on a weekly basis. It is a points system that rewards the Tutor Groups for the efforts that the pupils in the group put into their everyday school lives, for example being punctual, gaining positive comments and setting good standards. The points are accumulated over the weeks and at the end of every half term, in assembly, the Tutor Group with the most number of points win that competition and are rewarded with a Tutor Group Trip. The new half term brings a completely new competition and so everyone starts on a level playing field.

this part hard.

We also made wheels, axles and spoilers. After we had finished that, he said “let your imaginations run wild. Do whatever you can, like colour, adding parts inside…!” and that’s when the real fun started.

The winners of the 1st half term were 7 Edwards.

The winners of the 2nd half term were 7 Peters.

To sum up we have printed it out using our new 3D printer which is pretty awesome.

Keep up the good work boys, and maintain the high standards.

Gary Landick—Year 7 pupil

Mr G. Joyce - Head of Year 7 A Specialist Sports and Science Academy

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YEAR 8 put the Spotlight on Social Responsibility

Year 8: New Year’s Resolution Go on a diet! Buy a copy of ‘Men’s Health’ magazine! Give up the crisps! This isn’t a list from my fridge door (or what is inside it) but a list of typical things people in Britain do in January. We love a good new year’s resolution and a fresh start.

In this year’s Citizenship lessons Year 8 have completed a scheme of work on ‘social responsibility’ to raise the importance of responsible behaviour and conduct in and around school. The culmination of these lessons saw the entire year group create a ‘Learning Fair’ to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of some of the key issues facing society in 2012 including cyber-bullying, the role of the emergency services and the effects of the London riots of 2011.

There are some merits to all of this stuff actually. It is important for us to all reflect on our lives, where we are going and how we could make changes. I believe that this is an important time for every member of Year 8 to seize this ‘January moment’ of change and consider a simple question: How much progress am I making at school?

The challenge of Year 8 is that pupils must now focus on achievement by making progress in lessons and getting to the next level. We live in a competitive world dictated by qualifications, grades and measures. This means that now the majority of pupils have made a steady transition and feel secure in their secondary school environment, the focus must be on being proactive learners in every lesson and seeking to improve their levels. Our year group is filled with talent that is just waiting to take off and now is the time for that to happen!

The Learning Fair was a triumphant example of Year 8 at their very best. Every pupil engaged in the project and many pupils developed an excellent knowledge of the issues as well as skills related to team work and communication. Furthermore, pupils showed their expertise by planning quizzes, handing out personalised stickers, collating surveys and presenting their findings. All of these elements added to a lively and enthused learning environment facilitated by the hard work and organisation of each form tutor in our year team.

To encourage all pupils in Year 8 I have announced a Year 8 rewards scheme for this term based on most progress and improvement. To get you started here are 3 easy things that every pupil could do in their next lesson:  Be Aware: What national curriculum level are you working

Improving your attitude to learning is the most important change that you can make in 2013. I look forward to you seeing the results.

The overall winners of the ‘Creative Cup’ were Shakespeare, for their work on the emergency services, due to their whole-hearted participation in all parts of the event as well as the interactive nature of all members of the group.

However, all the participants should feel proud of the part they played to create such an impressive learning event.

Mr D Cleary – Head of Year 8

Mr D Cleary - Head of Year 8

at? Is that good? How can you get to the next level?  Be Proactive: Ask your teacher how you can improve your

last piece of work and what you can do at home to hone your skills in that subject.  Be Engaged: Ask a question about the topic that helps you

to understand it or adds to a discussion. Get more involved.

On Monday 19th November I had the pleasure of taking 16 pupils to the Bexley ‘Police Connect’ conference. These pupils were selected to attend as a reward for their excellent contributions to a unit of work on ‘Social Responsibility’ in Year 8 and were picked by their form tutors. During the course of an eventful day the pupils took part in a workshop led by Sally Knox based around knife crime, a session on joint enterprise and met local members of the Bexley police force in a safe travel workshop. The culmination of this day involved our pupils participating in a question and answer session with Bexley Borough Commander Victor Olisa.

Excellent Contributors to Year 8 Citizenship Lessons Rewarded with Place at Conference

This was an excellent opportunity to reward contributions in citizenship and each pupil has been responsible for presenting their findings back to their form group based on their experience at the conference. Well done to all the boys.

Mr D Cleary - Head of Year 8

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A Specialist Sports and Science Academy

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YEAR 9

YEAR 9 TRIP TO KINGS COLLEGE

At the Year 9 Options Evening the pupils had some important decisions to make. I have been impressed with my year group this academic year and feel that generally they are developing into fine young adults who will relish the opportunity to mould their learning pathways moving into Year 10. Additionally the students are fortunate to have a conscientious and caring set of tutors guiding them through their schooling and the option choice process. I would like to thank them for their continued hard work.

On 8th January twenty Year 9 students, fresh back from their Christmas holidays, made the trip to Kings College for a series of medical educational activities.

King's College London School of Medicine is one of the most prestigious medical schools in the UK. This enjoyable day started with the boys taking part in a series of activities that taught them about the cardiovascular system and nutrition, under the instruction of first year medical students. After a short break the boys were taken on a tour of the facilities, seeing the lecture halls and the spectacular views from the 30th floor. After the tour the Hurstmere boys were given a talk on the structure and workings of the heart and performed dissections of sheep hearts with ‘proper’ sharp scalpels, which the boys wielded skillfully, and happily all 200 fingers and thumbs were intact to eat their lunches.

I would also like to highlight how impressed I am with the Year 9 Rugby Team under the guidance of Mr Hay. This year many of the players have been asked to play for the Year 10 team. Often these have been hard fought games against older pupils; nevertheless they have more than held their own and bravely assisted the Year 10 team on a very successful run of games. This bodes well for the Daily Mail competition that many of them will play in next year.

George Lawrence in Mallory Form, who started Karate in Year 7, has recently achieved his purple belt in Karate. He has 3 brown belts to achieve before he can attempt his black belt. Mrs McGill his Karate teacher believes that if he does this before he leaves Hurstmere, then he will be the first one of her students to do so. She said “George is very determined and has set a good example to others in the group. He also attends my club in Joydens Wood Junior School for extra training”. Well done George and good luck in attaining further belts.

After lunch a series of stations were set up that allowed the boys to try their hand at medical procedures such as suturing, taking blood, taking blood pressure, CPR and performing the Heimlich manoeuvre (the dummy is still recovering). These activities continued throughout the afternoon until it was time to board the coach back to Hurstmere. The boys who attended this trip acquitted themselves admirably and gained valuable insight and experience to help them further their scientific studies. We are very grateful to the staff and students at King’s College for such an enjoyable and educational trip.

Mr S Granville – Teacher of Science

PRIZE GIVING EVENING Hurstmere’s annual Prize Giving Evening was held on 27th November 2012. The success and achievements of the current pupils were celebrated along with boys from last year who received prizes related to their outstanding individual GCSE results.

Our guest speaker was Ben Rockett, an ultra endurance cyclist who holds the world record for cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats and back again, who gave an inspiring talk and presentation. A full list of prize winners is available from the school.

Finally, Robbie Scarf-Robbins in Drake Form is currently training for an audacious cycling challenge on July 21st. He is part of a group who will cycle 250 miles from Bexley to Liskeard in Cornwall, in under 24 hours! Additionally he has organised a training session with renowned endurance cyclist Ben Rockett who was our guest speaker recently at Hurstmere’s Prize Giving Evening. The cycle challenge is to raise money for ‘Supporting Combat Stress’ and if you wish to support this cause then please go to www.Justgiving.com/londontoliskgeard.

Good luck Robbie from all in Year 9.

Mr M Wright - Head of Year 9 A Specialist Sports and Science Academy

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SPECIALIST NEWS—Sport

YEAR 7 ‘B’ TEAM FOOTBALL Year 7 B’ team played Cleeve Park School on Wednesday 7th November 2012 and came away victorious with a 6-0 win. The score line doesn’t reflect the hard fought game but does demonstrate our finishing prowess.

YEAR 10 FOOTBALL – Fixtures and Results Wednesday 19th September Charles Darwin (a) Friendly 0 – 6 (Chidley, Wishart, Armstrong, Gunner, Todd, Kalayci)

Mr G Joyce - Yr 7 B Team Manager

Friday 21st September Woolwich Polytechnic (h) Kent Cup Rd 1 1 – 0 (Armstrong)

TABLE TENNIS—Bexley Champions During the Autumn Term Hurstmere hosted the Bexley Level 2 School Games KS3 Table Tennis Competition. The event was attended by boys and girls from 7 Bexley schools with each team consisting of 4 players. Hurstmere’s Year 8 Table Tennis Team consisted of Jack Spoul, Reece Ansell, Jack Leek and Harvey Meech. The standard of table tennis was particularly high with some very close matches. Hurstmere boys played consistently well throughout the competition and finished up as overall winners beating St Columba’s by 4 points. Well done to everyone.

Wednesday 26th September Graveney School (a) English Schools Rd 1 1 – 6 (Armstrong 2, Gunner, Cray (p), Tennant, Todd) Tuesday 9th October Wilmington GS (h) Kent Cup Rd 2

0-2

Wednesday 10th October Wanstead (a) English Schools Rd 2 0 – 7 (Todd, Gunner 2, Johnson 2, Birch, Tennant) Thursday 19th October Ravenswood (a) Friendly 0 - 2 (Wishart, Johnson) Thursday 15th November St John the Baptist School (a) English Schools Rd 3 0 – 5 (Vose, Johnson 2, Cray 2) Friday 23rd November Harefield Academy (a) Rd 4 5 – 3 (AET) (Birch 2, Armstrong)

English Schools

The Year 10’s got over a disappointing second round defeat in the Kent Cup and progressed into round 4 of the English Schools Cup where they were narrowly beaten in extra time by Harefield Academy, a school linked closely with Watford FC. Despite taking the lead twice during the second half it wasn’t to be for Hurstmere, despite what I consider to be one of their most accomplished performances during their time at the school against outstanding opposition. Both teams passed the ball well with excellent pace and tempo in what was a great advertisement for competitive school football. Attention turns now to the North Kent Cup with an away quarter final against Bexleyheath School, in a competition that we have won on two previous occasions.

Mr G Joyce - Teacher i/c Table Tennis

BEXLEY BADMINTON COMPETITION Four Year 9 boys, Ben Adams, David Kelliher, Adam Wallace and Harry Jones represented Hurstmere in the Bexley Borough KS3 Badminton Schools Competition and produced fine performances coming away as runners-up.

Similarly,

Mr J Ball—Teacher of PE

YEAR 11 FOOTBALL The Year 11 football team have managed to advance to the quarter-finals of the U16 Invicta Kent Cup and still have hopes of retaining the cup they won last year. Having been knocked out of the other Kent Cup in the first round, they had something to prove to themselves in the second trophy game. In their last match, an epic game with local rivals Kemnal Technology College, they came out as 3-2 winners in spite of being 2-1 down with 10 minutes to go. A goal from Jack Dimmock and two from Ross Phillips, including the winner with 2 minutes on the clock, saw us through to the quarter-final where our opponents will be the Howard School or Aylesford School. We wish the boys the best of luck in their last season together at the school.

four Year 10 boys, in the KS4 competition, Thomas Biddle, Harry Gilby, Ben Tworek and Harry Brooker were also runners-up after some close games in this developing sport.

Well played all 8 pupils.

Mr I Simpson – Director of Sport

Mr G Joyce – Teacher i/c Badminton

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HOCKEY

KS3 SPORTS LEADERS run Primary School Sports Hall Athletics event

Hurstmere’s Hockey has been going strong since September and it is great to see so many making the commitment to this sport, with over 25 pupils regularly attending Thursday training. We now have players in all 5 years and many have joined local teams, with Alex Schofield, Ben Rout, Dylan Adkinson and Aiden Griggs also involved in the County setup. Alex has also been included in the England Youth Squad. We now have fixtures looming against Chis. & Sid., and are hoping for more schools to take us on.

In November Hurstmere hosted one of the qualifying events for the Level 2 School Games Primary Sports Hall Athletics competitions. The event was run by the schools team of Young Ambassadors for Sport and our KS3 Sports Leaders who had attended a number of training sessions in preparation for the competition. The leaders’ roles included officiating events, scoring and coaching the children from Holy Trinity, St. Paulinus, Brampton and St. Thomas More. This was the first major competition that the leaders had run and a number of teachers and parents praised the professional manner in which the boys conducted themselves, the fairness they showed to all competitors and their willingness to help. They were a real credit to Hurstmere; well done!

Our thanks go to our Teaching Assistant, Mr Woods, who has been superb in his dedication to our training. If anyone else is thinking about getting involved please feel free to join us on Thursdays from 3.15pm to 4.30pm.

Ms S Allsop – School Games Organiser

Mr G. Joyce - Teacher i/c Hockey

INDOOR WINTER CRICKET Year 7 and 8 ‘A' and ‘B' indoor teams have been practicing their cricket skills all winter and on the final week of their respective sessions, they played in the annual fixture versus Chis. & Sid. Both Year 8 teams won before Christmas and also the Year 7 teams won on the first week back after Christmas. This clean sweep was the first time Hurstmere has beaten Chis. & Sid. in these fixtures and won all 4 games.

BEXLEY YOUNG PEOPLE SPORTS AWARDS

Well done to all those dedicated boys; an incredible feat!

Hurstmere nominated a number of pupils for these Bexley awards for their commitment and effort towards their sports both in and out of school. James Bennett, Sam Nunn and Alim Conteh (Year 11) were nominated for Leadership and Volunteering, whilst Ben Stock, Josh Allen, Marcus Sewell, Thomas O’Reilly (Year 10) and Ross Phillips (Year 11) were nominated for their achievement within their sports.

Mr G Joyce - Teacher i/c Cricket

CRICKET COUNTY HONOURS Oli Robinson, Year 9 and Ben Stock, Year 10 have both been selected for their representative County Age group squads.

They are both training hard throughout the winter with the county as well as here at Hurstmere. We wish them both a successful season this year.

We have just been informed that Sam Nunn, James Bennett, Alim Conteh, Ben Stock and Josh Allen have been successful and will receive their awards at Harris Academy this month.

Congratulations to all the boys.

Mr G Joyce Teacher i/c Cricket

Mr I Simpson – Director of Studies

CRICKET YOUNG LEADERS AWARD Congratulations to Harry Hickman, Ben Tworek, Ben Stock, George Wishart, Peter Burch, Harry Brooker and Bradley Sargent who undertook the Cricket Young Leaders Course organised by Kent Cricket Board. This award is a great achievement and will also support their GCSE PE examination grades.

Mr G Joyce - Teacher i/c Cricket A Specialist Sports and Science Academy

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KARATE CLUB

YEAR 11 WHITE WATER RAFTING

Several Hurstmere students took their Karate Grading in Hyo Gen Do at Swanscombe on 16th December 2012. The students go to this venue and join in with many others from different clubs to take their grading in Karate. Very often the numbers are anything from 60 - 100 pupils taking part. Tiago Albuquerque, James Walker-Clark and Tommy Olanrewaju all got their red belts (first grading), Casey Jones got his green belt. A special mention should be made about George Lawrence who has been training since Year 7 (now in Year 9) and has got his purple belt which means that he is just over half-way to attaining his black belt. Well done to all the students for their consistent training.

Mrs G McGill—Head of RE

With the hugely successful London Olympics having finished, the legacy of the Olympics continues in the facilities left behind for us all to use. One such facility is the White Water Centre in Lee Valley Park in North London. Therefore, it seems a shame not to make the most of this world class facility that allows you to experience the adrenalin-pumping thrill of white water rafting within the City of London.

RUGBY We have seen great success with our representative school rugby. The Year 10 team managed to reach the semi-final of the Kent Shield, progressing further than any previous Hurstmere team in the Daily Mail competition, reaching the fourth round of the Shield. The junior boys have gained invaluable experience for next year.

With a special reduced cost secured, a group of Year 11 students went for an evening’s rafting. After getting kitted up, covering safety and practicing paddling techniques on the flat lake, the students got to test their nerve, team work and further skills to good use, negotiating the thundering rapids and drops on the white water course. This was all done under the white water course floodlights, adding to the exhilaration, and by the end of the evening the students were buzzing from their experience!

All years are progressing in the Met Kent Cups and more games have been organised for this term. Most recent results are as follows: Year 7: Hayes 7 - 26 Hurstmere; Year 8: Hurstmere 12 – 25 Wilmington Grammar; Year 11: Hurstmere 14 – 27 Wilmington Grammar.

A Year 9 pupil, Jack Monksfield has written reports for many of our games this year, which can be found on the school website at www.hurstmere.org.uk—Publications. We have openings for other budding sports reporters and if any pupil would like to get involved, please come to the PE office to state your interest.

I will be running more trips when the weather becomes more clement so interested students should keep an eye out for information and letters during registration and assemblies.

Mr T Baston – Teacher of Geography

Mr M Robinson—Teacher of PE/i/c House system

BEXLEY INDOOR ROWING CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY!!

KEY STAGE 3 INTER-HOUSE RUGBY The Year 7 and 8 House Rugby competition has been very successful over the last term; we have had over 60 pupils taking part in competitive games of Rugby Union on a weekly basis. The four houses have now played each other in a round robin competition on 2 occasions, meaning that the boys have each had 6 matches. These games have been closely contested and the league points that are attributed after every game have left the table very tight. We are continuing with round 3 this half term, after which the competition will enter a knock out stage to determine the overall House Champions for 2013.

Every pupil is welcome to attend these games which take part on Tuesday’s after school.

Hurstmere entered a team to defend its title as Bexley Indoor Rowing Championships and was paired with Townley Grammar. Sam Nunn and Navaalan Uumanshakar started the competition off strongly for Hurstmere in the Year 11 competition but they were forced to restart due to some technical difficulties. The restart did not affect their performance and Sam Nunn put on an amazing display winning his event by over 100 metres. The rest of the team gave a very valiant effort and special mention goes to Nike Bester for a third place finish in the Year 9 event and to Henry Jones who finished second in the Year 7 event and narrowly missed out on the gold by only 2 metres. Hurstmere and Townley competed to the best of their ability and were rewarded for their hard effort by retaining the Bexley Indoor Rowing Championship title. This is the third year in a row that we have won the title.

After two rounds Chaucer are leading with 16 points. Cobham have 12 points with Caxton and Sidney are tied on 10 points.

All match results can be found on the school website.

Mr M Robinson—Teacher of PE/i/c House System

Mr B Maher – Teacher of Geography

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Zambia 2013 In July of this year a group of pupils will be travelling to the Chilanga region of Lusaka, Zambia to teach underprivileged children how to play tag rugby. This will be the third trip that the school has run and we hope to continue the work that we started in 2009 and 2011. The pupils, from Years 10 and 11, will be coaching around 1,500 youngsters in a number of government schools. The programme will culminate in a large festival which will involve the whole community of Chilanga.

We will be leaving all of the kit and equipment that we take with us so that they can continue to enjoy the game.

We need to raise £35,000 to subsidise the cost of the trip and to buy all of the kit and equipment needed to run the coaching sessions and leave with the schools. We are working with Tag Rugby Trust, a charity who run coaching and education programmes around the world in developing countries such as Mexico, India, Romania, Uganda and, of course, Zambia. The idea of the charity is to go into counties who have a rugby governing body and provide a rugby infrastructure at grass roots level. Their registered charity number is 1108947 and more information can be found on their website (www.tagrugbytrust.co.uk).

ZAMBIA FUNDRAISING The fundraising for the Zambia 2013 Hurstmere Tag Rugby tour is well under way and with just six months to go we have broken the £24,000 mark! That leaves us a short way to go to hitting our target of £35,000. We have some exciting events upcoming over the next two terms to help us hit our target, such as a school disco and a Spring Ball to mention just two.

All of the students involved are building their excitement and know that they are just a few months away from an amazing experience. To help them prepare, further coaching will be taking place in local primary schools from March, which so far has taken place at Dulverton Primary School with students of Hurstmere enjoying the experience and eager to return when the weather warms up!

The work done in Zambia has a massive impact on some very underprivileged people but it also has a profound effect on the lives of our boys. The pupils who have already been involved in the project have gained many skills that employers are very keen to see. If you are able to financially support the project, you will be changing the lives of British and Zambian youngsters alike. Please contact me at hurstmereinzambia@hurstmere.co.uk if you would like more information.

Donations can be made to www.justgiving.com/ hurstmereinzambia2013 or cheques made payable to Hurstmere School can be sent to the school address.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Blues Brothers tribute band, ‘Blues Brothers Little Brother’. They put on a fantastic performance to help raise funds towards our fundraising target. The night was a fantastic event with staff and parents involved in the work towards the Zambia 2013 tour having a fantastic evening, singing along to all of the classic hits. There were also members of Jake’s and Elwood’s to help support the band, with several students acting as support entertainment for the evening.

Zambia Shirts Appeal

As the project of Hurstmere in Zambia has developed over the last few years we are very keen to involve as many students at Hurstmere in the project at any stage. We are hopeful that as students’ progress through Hurstmere School they can be involved in the project and influence the schools involvement through help with fundraising or other donations.

The aim is that students then will build their desire to go to Zambia themselves when they are either in Year 10 or Year 11. Shortly before Christmas Year 7 took up the challenge of filling Smarties tubes with spare pennies they had. This led to a fantastic response, with some students choosing to add other change to their tubes, but it resulted in over £100 being raised! This was a great achievement which will see a team named after the year group in the tournament held in Zambia in 2013.

Our ‘Put a Shirt on a Back’ appeal is once again in full swing.

We were able to send a bag full of clothes out to Zambia in September which was passed to Guardian Angels but we are continuing to gather more to take with us in July 2013. We are mainly collecting children’s clothes, but we are expanding this to include children’s reading books and toys. The reason for this is that the day care nursery which we were able to help establish at Guardian Angels is continuing to grow in its popularity and at the last count there were fifteen paying students.

This is a great but simple way for us to help Guardian Angels as it allows them to develop their own sustainable source of additional income to help in continuing to provide the care, support and education they give to some of the most vulnerable children in the world. Thank you to everyone who has donated any items so far.

Mr M Robinson—Teacher of PE/i/c House System

Mr A Reddy—Head of Geography

Mr A Reddy –Head of Geography A Specialist Sports and Science Academy

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The Trip replacement at Hurstmere School?

We set off to find out…

GEOGRAPHY REWARD TRIP As a reward for their excellent work in Geography, a group of Year 8 and Year 9 students were invited to go on a reward trip, both as a ‘well done’ and to stretch and support their learning.

It was a bitterly cold December day, but spirits were high as the group of students and teachers made their way across a busy London on public transport towards London Zoo.

Armed with video cameras and in small groups, the students were given the task of being a wildlife presenter for the day; they had to research and collect information on the plants and animals at the zoo and then present their findings, whilst filming themselves. On returning to school this footage was then to be edited by the students to make short documentaries to be used in Geography lessons.

This trip was a great success with students finding the day extremely rewarding academically by stretching their learning but also building on other key skills needed in this media driven world we now all live in. Keep an eye out for Hurstmere Students on your televisions in the future!

To see a summarised video of the students work check out the school website in the video gallery section.

Mr T Baston – Teacher of Geography

On Monday 10th of December a class of Year 8 and 9s took off to London Zoo. Their aim on the trip was to create videos on the animals and report facts such as the animals habitat, if they are endangered, what they eat and much more.

They were in groups of 5-6. Each teacher was assigned to a group, and they aided their group with the creative process. Each group created and collected information about the animals and then filmed themselves whilst reporting on the animal so it could be edited at a later date and produced into a short clip or film.

Everyone participated throughout the trip and it was a fun day out as well as being interesting and educational.

I thought it was a great trip! I found it enjoyable, interesting and educational.

There were also some humorous moments throughout, which made the day even better. My group and I reported on a wide range of different animals and were fortunate to capture some fantastic footage on them which I thought was quite lucky.

By Jack Monksfield—Year 9

The zoo was our destination, but this wasn’t your normal trip to the zoo, far from it! With Sir David Attenborough in the latter stages of his illustrious career as a wildlife presenter, we need to find a suitable and charismatic replacement. Could we have a budding

FRENCH YEAR 9 TRIP TO HURST PRIMARY On Thursday 6th December the class 9A went on a French trip to Hurst Primary to teach the pupils 10 Christmas words in French. 9A had to plan a range of activities and tasks for the children to complete. It was an educational and fun session for everyone. Card games, board games and other activities were given to the children to play.

Each group of 9A students had to create a presentation as well, to help them teach and present the new words and for them to organise their tasks more easily.

The Hurst Primary Students seemed to enjoy our visit. (Jack’s complete report can be read on the school website— www.hurstmere.org.uk—Publications)

By Jack Monksfield—Year 9

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A Specialist Sports and Science Academy

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Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award We are pleased to announce that 33 boys in Year 10 have been awarded their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award.

All of the recipients attended an Award ceremony at St Johns Church in Sidcup on the 15th November and were awarded their certificate and badge by the Mayor of Bexley. To attain the award the boys had to complete 4 sections: Volunteering; Physical and Skills which had to be done over a minimum of 3 months. They also had to plan, train for and do a 2 day (1 night) expedition. This is a very well regarded qualification by employers and further education establishments, and it will be a fantastic addition to the boys’ records of achievement. The pupils

who have completed the Bronze Award now have the opportunity to continue with their qualification by completing the Silver Award through the London Borough of Bexley. We will be starting the award for the current Year 9 this half term.

Mr M Robinson—Teacher of PE/i/c House System

House Standings

LAUNCH OF ’STUDIO FIX’ WEBSITE—www.studiofix.co.uk We are excited to announce the launch of Hurstmere’s own record label ‘Studio Fix’. Over the past two years students have enjoyed using the school’s recording studio to write and record their own songs with our Musician in Residence, Andy Gilbert. Due to the success of the project and the quality of the students’ work Hurstmere is happy to take the next step to form its own record label.

The 2012—2013 Inter-House Championships got off to a flying start over the first half term. More competitions are now being run by many departments around the school and points are also being awarded for credits, certificates and postcards that the boys are awarded by class teachers, Heads of Year, Heads of Department and members of SLT. As you can see from the table Chaucer House have a considerable lead, however we are only a third of the way through the year and the House Captains and Vice Captains of Sidney, Caxton and Cobham are rallying their pupils to achieve more points.

Following auditions, the initial acts have been chosen and awarded record contracts with Studio Fix, guaranteeing them regular studio time to develop their music. All the music will be uploaded onto the new Studio Fix website – www.studiofix.co.uk - where each act will have their own web page, including a SoundCloud player and photos. The website will allow the general public access to all the music produced.

The House structure has been linked to the Student Voice.

Each House has two representatives per year group who sit in a meeting once per term to discuss matters that affect them and their peers in their every day school life. These House Council meetings are chaired by the House Captains and Vice Captains.

The House Captains and Vice Captains from the School Council then take any matters that have arisen from the pupils to the attention of Mr Stringer and his Senior Leadership Team.

Studio Fix will present an ‘X’ Factor style showcase concert on Thursday 25th April, where all the acts will perform their own songs – plus some special performances. The panel of judges will include people from the music industry and trophies will be presented.

House Totals Chaucer

1829

We look forward to your support of Studio Fix and we hope you spread the word!

Sidney

1365

Mrs V Ahern – Administrative Assistant

Caxton

1251

ELECTRONIC/ON LINE EDITION— Cobham

1209

www.hurstmere.org.uk/15/publications

Mr M Robinson—Teacher of PE/i/c House System A Specialist Sports and Science Academy

Produced by J Dowse

School photographs by Mr C Richardson and staff

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Printed by EHV Colour Ltd.