Middle School Bulletin May 24

Middle School Bulletin

Alex (9H)

Head of Middle School’s message

This half term has been a time of celebration and community spirit.

The Middle School play last week was a fantastic display of ambitious theatre. Congratulations to all involved in those performances.

We celebrated with Year 11 students as they had their last lessons in the Middle School before beginning Study Leave for their GCSE examinations Year 11’s final day in school was a joyous occasion, spending time together in tutor groups and houses witha tutor group breakfast and BBQ lunch together with an annual visit from the icecream van We wish all Year 11 students' success in the coming weeks

Celebrations continued with Year 9 receiving feedback on their Dawson projects which culminated in a prize giving assembly Every student has received a certificate marking the completion of their research projects which again have been a magnificent display of ambitious curiosity – well done to all Year 9 students for their hard work with this. I am incredibly grateful to Ms Hooker for her outstanding leadership of this project for the benefit of our students, both their outcomes and developing a culture of ambitionand academic curiosity in the Middle School.

Year 9 have worked hard this week on their internal exams and Year 10 continue to prepare for their exams We wish them well and remind everyone that these are a milestone in the preparation towards GCSEs and part of a process to practice and prepare for what is to come Perspective and positivity are key

I hope you enjoy seeing the photos in this bulletin of some highlights from this half term and as I share with our students, increasingly in life I find the measure of a person can be found in their happiness celebrating the success of others. We have seen real community spirit as a highlight and all credit is due to our students who have worked with such commitment and infectious enthusiasm inspiring others.

Thank you to Alex (9H) for the superb summer front cover editionof this bulletin

Wishing you and your families a restful half term break and a purposeful period ahead to all our students revising

With best wishes,

Mr Adam Lawrence Head of Middle School

A Middleschool student strivesto be: DETERMINED

To stand up for what is right, always growing from their strengths and weaknesses, constantly developing a thirst for knowledge.

Notices

Students on site after 4pm

Please note that when school finishes at 4pm, students should either be in a supervised activity or studying in the library before catching the late coach home. There should be no occasion when students are left on campusafter 4pmunsupervised

Year 11 blazers

Please note that when students are in school for public examinations, they must be in full school uniform which includes blazers. We would prefer to avoid speaking with students about uniform issues before their exams begin but must insist on the correct uniform Thank you for your support with ensuring Year 11 students always attend school in full uniform this term

Keeping valuables safe

• Any valuable itemsbrought to schoolmust be lockedin a locker

• Do not bring personal items of value to school that you would be upset if they went missing

• Do not leave any valuables in blazer pockets

• Everything should be labelled in the hope that it can be returned if it goes missing (this includes a label on mobile phones/cases/ headphones)

• Do not bring cash into school unless essential and there should be no occasionforbringing morethan £20

• If any students have an exceptional reason for bringing a valuable item into school and it does not fit in a locker, they are welcome to speakwith Mr Lawrence who can store it in a lockedofficeforthe day

Middle School play

Congratulations to all studentsinvolved in the spectacularMiddle Schoolplay performedon14,16and 18May.

Shenul (9R)

Ishaan (9S)

Tobiloba(9R)

Daniel (9C)

Victor(9J)

Daniel (9H)

Rishi (10M)

Kian (10M)

Murilo (10S)

Obafemi(10M)

Harrison (9S)

Aryan (10R)

Rafi(9R)

Max (9J)

Lucas (9S)

Danyal (9S)

Josh(10H)

William (10J)

Maks (8M)

Noel (9H)

How can youlearnhowto swim beforeyougetin?

With scenes from BLANK by Alice Birch, directed by Harry Gould

And then I looked towardsyou

Sitting like a little word on a page, a blue mark against a bluer sky, not moving. Constant and steady and there.

An honest, funny and moving exploration of what life is like when adults feel absent fromit and the pressurethis puts on young people togrowup faster.

Thisis somewhere better

I keep having this dream where I’m out in public somewhere and everything is normal and then I look down and I’m not wearingany shoes.

A new play, devised by the company, about shoes. But not really. A genuine, playful and surreal exploration of what it means to be a young person stood on the brink of something - whether it be stepping forward, stepping back, or perhaps not stepping at all

Year 9 Keith Dawson Independent Research Project celebration…

Year 9 Keith Dawson Independent Research Project Celebrations 2024

On Friday 10 May we celebrated the completion of Year 9’s Independent Research projects with a special prize giving assembly All Year 9 students have been presented with a certificate of completion and we were pleased to celebrate the whole year group’s success and learning journey on this project The skills developed will serve them well in future academic study Shared in the next few pages are Distinction winning titles and photographs from the awards ceremony Well done to all students for completing high levels of researchand writing.

Distinction Prize Winners, Distinction and Special Mention Prize Winners and Certificates of Distinction Prize Winners

Distinction Prize Winners

• Lucas (9C) - Under the Welfare principle, how can it be in a child's best interests to die?

• Isaac (9R (– Cryptography: Friend or Foe?​

• Danny (9H) - The Architecture of Our Lives: How does Architecture Affect and ReflectOur Lives?

• Lani (9R) - How does the intersection of black Atlantic historical and cultural influences, as well as socio-psychologicaland scientific factors,impactsports performances and achievements?

• Joseph(9R) - How do weuse mathematicalmodels to maximisethe efficiency of wind turbines and wind farms?

• Alex (9M) – Optimisingthe propeller.

• Hamza (9C) - WhatRole Will Humans Play in an AI-Dominated World?​

• Drew(9S) - How did the European Colonisation of the USA Affect the Natives and how have they Developed from it?

• Louis (9C) -Will There Ever Be A CureFor Autoimmunity?

• Zachary (9J)- Whywas socialism soprevalent in post war South EastAsia?

• David(9H) - Could the matrix be real?​

• Advait (9M) - The Future of Autonomous Vehicles​.

Certificates of Distinction

• Roshan (9M) - Is The Theory OfThe Multiverse Proven, And If So, WhatAre The Philosophical Implications Of This?

• James (9H) - Whatare the similarities between the skills and strategies utilised in Bridge and Chess?

• Ethan (9J) - To what extent canthe results of universe 25 be seen in society today?

• Christian(9M)-How does the Integration of Artificial Intelligence reshapeemployment, and how can we proactively ensure favourable workforce outcomes?

• James (9J) – Is AI better or worsefor humanity?​

• Arthur (9J) - How has mathematics developed throughout history?

• Ryan (9R) - Why did the Islamic Revolution occurand how has it affected Iran?​

• Ayaan (9J) – Whatis the future of aerospacepropulsion?

• Danyal (9S) - Whichfactor arising from the Ottomanconquestof Cyprus is the mostsignificant in creating a lasting impacton the island’s later history?

• Sanhith (9R) - Do we control our DNA or does our DNA control us?

• Tobey(9J) - How did Ancient Civilisations’ perspective on death and the afterlife contribute to their prosperity?

• Max(9J) - Whatlinks are there between psychology and music and to what extent canit influence our day-to-day activities?

Distinction and Special Mention

• Chu(9C) - How doesmusic influencesporting performance?​

• Max(9S)– Is cryptocurrencymoney?​

• Alex (9H) - Exploring the impactof framing on NoceboEffects:Unravelling the interplay betweenpositiveframing and negative thinking​.

• Suraj(9M)- What causesallergies to developand is there a permanent cure?

DAWSON PROJECT CELEBRATION

We celebrated the hard work of each student in Year 9 with a form time certificate presentation. Their efforts were clear this year and it was wonderful to mark this with their tutors.

WelldoneYear 9.

Year 11 celebrations…

Year 11 final day celebrations

We had a wonderful day celebrating with our Year 11 students before they began their Study Leave ahead of their GCSEs Breakfast with Form Tutors and Heads of Houses in the Bates Dining Room followed by a BBQ lunch and ice cream van The last day for Year 11 was a wonderful celebration and final hurrah

Award of Aske ties to Year 11 students

Aske ties are awarded annually at the end of Year 11 to students who have consistently demonstrated service to their House, the School and to communities beyond the School gates. We know that all our students have contributed in many different ways and it was a real joy to see everyone celebrating together with these recipients. Congratulations to all those who received a tie and there will be plenty of opportunities in the Sixth Form for further involvement and recognition.

Recipients of Aske Tie Awards

Calverts

Albie

Sahil

Neel

Gautham

Madhav

Tasir

Ibrahim

Toby

Jonathan

Arjan

Hendersons

Dilan A

Ishan

Thomas

Yunfei

Tony

Jamie

Neerav

Mohammed

Aryan

Deveshu

Koray

Joblings

Charlie

Alex

Zishaan

Tom

Ore

Freddie

Jamie

Noah

Meadows

Saul

Alex

Tom

Toby

Theo

Leo

Rian

Harman

Euan

Saahil

Russells

Saaj

Amar

Mark

Nathan

Dean

Millan

Rocco

Theo

Josh

Jeet

Strouts

Dev

Isaac

Raees

Zeeshan

Dylan

Ayaan

Dan

Neel

Nikhil

Saul

Acelebration of credits

We have been so pleased to recognise, celebrate and reward students for a wide array of efforts and achievements using our new rewards system of credits, alongside our Middle School Commendations The following students have received 10 or more credits and have been enjoying their Joe’s café voucher rewards! A full list of Credit recipients is on the next four pages

60+

Hugh (9H)

Holden (10J)

40+

Ankush (9H)

Noel (9H)

Ryan (9C)

Daniel (9H)

Samuel (9J)

30+

Charlie (9C)

Yash (9J)

Atharv (9R)

Alexander (9H)

Harry (9M)

Joseph (9R)

Lucas (9S)

Kean (9H)

Sharanjan (9J)

Ishan (9C)

Thushanth (9H)

20+

Ayaan (9J)

Aarav (9J)

Harrison (9S)

Jaiden (9S)

Jonathan (9H)

Christian (9M)

Kiyan-Raj (9S)

Mirzan (9S)

Victor (9J)

Avighnan (9M)

Shaurya (9C)

Avyukt (9M)

Xuehan (9M)

Andrew (9M)

James (9S)

Aarav (9C)

Ayan (9C)

Charlatantony (9H)

Risvithan (9J)

Samuel (9M)

50+

Saanidh (9R)

Suraj (9M)

Maanav (10S)

Rugved (9H)

Chukwuma (9C)

Benjamin (9J)

Zaki (9M)

Veer (9H)

Vivek (9M)

Zac (9M)

Arnav (9H)

Naftali (9H)

Maximillian (9J)

Oliver (9M)

Aarav (9H)

Sanhith (9R)

Eshaan (9S)

Rayan (9C)

Isaac (9R)

Rohan (9R)

Christopher (9C)

Theodoros (9H)

Ariel (9H)

Oscar (9J)

Ludwig (9R)

Adhith (9S)

Aamir (9S)

Jay (9S)

Hayyan (9C)

Ethan (9J)

Aran (9J)

Yuxiao (9R)

Gabriel (9R)

Rohaan (9S)

Joshua (9S)

Zachary (9C)

James (9H)

Kyle (9J)

Aarav (10H)

Richard (10R)

Reuben (10H)

Kian (10H)

Shayan (9H)

David (9H)

Kyan (9J)

Advait (9M)

Nithushan (10M)

Joshua (10H)

Zach (10H)

Arav (10H)

Joseph (10H)

Aaryan (10H)

Dinil (10S)

Zachary (9J)

Aaron (9M)

Adetayo (9M)

Maximilian (9S)

David (10H)

Zakir (10H)

Utkarsh (10H)

Kush (10J)

Noaz (10S)

Ravi (10R)

Moksh (10H)

Aaron (10H)

Daniel (10J)

Oliver (10R)

Francesco (10H)

Lucas (10C)

Ravjoth (10M)

Thakshveen (10M)

Cormack (10J)

Yash (10J)

Ishan (11H)

Rian (11M)

Alexander (11J)

Oleksandr (11H)

Blake (10M)

Joe (10R)

Samit (10R)

Rahul (10J)

Clement (10J)

Vivaan (10M)

Shaunak (10S)

Nathan (11R)

Koray (11H)

Amar (11R)

Matthews (10M)

Adam (10C)

Philip (10C)

Gabriel (10H)

Ashish (10J)

Oliver (10S)

Zhenxuan (10H)

Harry (10J)

Marcus (10M)

Shay (10C)

Joshua (11J)

Kyle (11J)

Nathan (11H)

Frederick (11J)

Toby (11C)

Rudra (11M)

Charlie (11J)

Albert (11C)

Oliver (11M)

Aarone (11H)

Acelebration of credits

Year 9 Recipients of 10+ Credits

Calverts

Daniel Lucas

Hamza

Joseph

Louis

Jie

Joseph

Zyad

Shay

Jai

Hendersons

Oliver

Alexander

Felix

James

Joblings

Amar

Arkansh

Jacob

Chengwen

Luke

Ahren

Daniel

Joel

James

Arthur

Kaspar

Vivaan

Russells

Oluwatobiloba

Oscar

Rex

Ryan

Noah

Ethan

Ogoyimika

Daivik

Arun

Tarun

Shenul

Aaron

Raphael

Krish

Meadows

Nikhil

Noah

Eesa

Alexander

Alexander

Felix

Abhirath

Roshan

Strouts

Drew

Ronny

Danyal

Zach

Alexander

Ishaan

Kyrill

Acelebration of credits

Year 10 Recipients of 10+ Credits

Calverts

Khai

Rishi

Hugo Shiven

Keshav

Rian

Viroop

Alex

Hari

Vivaan

Arya

Felix

Joshua

Hendersons

Aarav

Joseph

Patrick

Arav

Arie

Joblings

Jai

David

Shakir

Kalum

Danyal

Cheran

Aaryan

Noah

Ayush

Aaryan

Sachin

Russells

Rohan

Aryan

Arthur

Zac

Leo

Chester

Keaton

Rahil

Julian

Meadows

Daniel

Shreyas

Ansor

James

Jacob

Rishi

Kian

Joshua

Shrey

Yash

Strouts

Jonathan

Luke

Shayan

Milan

Rishi

Yajna

Krish-Vir

Jack

Louis

Nazim

Murilo

Ajai

Aydin

Daniel

Samuel

Acelebration of Credits

Year 11 Recipients of 10+ Credits

Calverts

Jonathan Arjan

Nitish

Theo Amogh

Lorenzo

Niam

Madhav

Neel

Sahil

Balkrishan

Tasir

Joblings

Thomas

Oreoluwa

Jincheng

Edward

Doron

Noah

Joe

Alexander

Arda

Lakshya

Arun

Vikas

Roshan

Aaryan

Alexander

Aaditya

Shae

Hendersons

Joshua

Joshua

Aaron

Deveshu

Thomas

Rhys

Neerav

Meadows

Freddie

Leonidas

Benjamin

Theodore

Tharnan

Reuben

Euan

Toby

Russells

Aaron

Millan

Theo

Aqueel

Kian

Ryan

Dean

Strouts

Aun-Mohamed

Sujeevan

Neel

Raman

Syun

BPHO Practical competition winners

Mike, Aaryan (11H1) and Ryan (11R2) produced a sophisticated report into the motion of a falling slinky during the recent, national, BPHO practical competition. They were awarded a Gold Award with the marking commenting on impressive evaluative skills and a thoughtful discussion of the factors effecting the rate of which different sections of a slinky fall when released. Data collection was painstaking so the team should be commended for the meticulous nature inwhich they collected the results that allowed them to carry out such thorough analysis.

Trips…

Year 10 Valencia trip

Ravjoth(10M)writes:

On 7 April, Señora Gómez, Mrs Shooter and Mr Lawrence accompanied a group of Year 10 students to Valencia on a journey of enrichment and learning. Arriving late at the Valencian airport we half-asleep crawled to our welcoming host families After a much-needed night of sleep, we journeyed to the international school of Espanolé with our host families. The first day, we had a quiz tour with Matías, our guide throughout the trip. Then had a quick merienda of chocolate con churros (Spanish snack) in the famousValorcafeteria.

On the second day, we had our usual lessons in the morning followed by a beautiful boat tour in the Albufera touring rice fields and learning about the carefully structured water system in Valencia. After this, we went to the beach to relax as a group in the 29-degreeheat.

The third day was easily the most anticipated with a trip to the Valencia C.F. Football Stadium The lessons this morning involved role-play scenarios speaking Spanish in the Central Valencian market, Mercado Central, I personally relished the prospect of being able to use the Spanish skills I had learnt in a practical and useful manner. After lunch, we walked through the Turia park to the Mestalla football stadium. The tour clearly showcased the intense meticulous care needed to preserve such a pristine stadium. Walking back to the school we now had a paella cookingshow combinedwith a Latin dance class!

Finally, we had a last block of lessons with a final test, demonstrating whether or not we had actually paid attention, luckily everyone did well we said a last thank you to our hardworking teachers at Espanolé for the helpful lessons and all boarded the coach to the city of arts and sciences. The aquarium buildings were phenomenal with sharks, stingrays and beluga whales. After this, we walked over to the massivesciencemuseumdemonstratingthe stunning architecture of Valencia

With the blazing weather reaching above 24 degrees, we were lucky enough to be treated to an ice cream in Lucianos in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. After the long day, we made our way to our host families for the final night walking one last time through the futuristic architecture of Valencia.

The final day we woke up at around 5 30am and crawled out of our host families’ apartments, half-asleep. Boarding the coach for the last time in Spain, the coach was the quietest it has ever been with most people trying to catch up on some sleep. Thankfully, our flight had no delays and we managed to arrive back at Habs in the afternoonwith no lost bags.

Thank you to Mr Lawrence and Mrs Shooterfor accompanying us on this trip, and a special thanks to Señora Gomez for spending so much time making this such an outstanding experienceforus all

Year 9 to 10 Stuttgart exchange trip

The Stuttgart exchange visit to the Hegel Gymnasium in the second week of the Easter holiday (8 to 15 April) was a roaring success. The 18 Germanists we took to Baden-Württemberg were exemplary and thoroughly enjoyed their experience. We had some lovely sunshine throughout almost all days of the week. The host families were equally pleased with the visit and were praising our students and the program (now running for almost 30 years). The return leg is running from 17 to 24 June and we are eagerlyawaiting their stay with us

Ski trip 2024

Written by MrGauntlett.

I had the pleasure of taking 39 Year 7, 8 and 9 students on the Junior Ski trip in the first week of the Easter break. Despite a very early departure from Habs in the early hours of the morning, spirits were high from the start and remained so throughout our trip. We had a fantastic week staying at the resort of Les Menuires in the French Alps Despite a rather sparse offering of snow on the mountainsides upon arrival, we were thankfully treated to a couple of days of snowfall that made for some great skiing and the snow just about held out until the end of the week It was especially pleasing to see the students improve over the course of the week, with eventhe absolute beginnergroup mastering their parallel turns by the end.

Off the piste, we occupied ourselves with games nights, visits into the town for hot chocolates and crepes, writing postcards home, a trip to the luge and an excellent quiz night organised by the Year 9 students. Students were fantastic throughout the trip; impeccably behaved and very good company indeed The trip would not have been possible without the support of my wonderful colleagues Mr Ryan, Ms Hooker, Miss Noble and Miss Barron.

Leadership opportunity…

House Mentors

House Mentor applications are now open for Year 11 students transitioning into Sixth Form! This exciting opportunity seeks six students per House who possess a genuine desire to support others, demonstrate empathy and aim to foster connectionswithin the broaderHabs community.

Successful applicants will be assigned to either a Year 7 or Year 8 Form within their respective Houses House Mentors will lead regular Form time sessions on topics of their or their Form's choosing, cultivate rapport through engaging activities, provide support and mentorship and serve as role models throughout the 2024-25 academic year. Work with the Form will include large group activities and one-to-onementoring.

The House Mentor role offers significant opportunities for personal development. It hones leadership, organisational, presentation, and communication skills, while also challenging individuals to actively listen, empathise, and support others. Mentors will likely experience increased self-awareness, opportunities forpersonalgrowth, and meaningful connectionswith youngerpeers.

Success as a mentor doesn't hinge on being the best or having all the answers. Some of the most effective mentors have overcome their own challenges throughout their school journey You might not even realise how far you’ve come or how much you’ve grown until you start sharing your experiences with someone else We hope by harnessing this will allow you to uncover a deeperappreciationforthe value you have to offer.

House Mentors will receive training in September to enhance their skills and support. Throughout the year, mentors will regroup periodically to reflect on successes, challenges and receive feedback for improvement from students and Form Tutors. If you have any questions about the role, please reach out to your Head of House, Head of Section or Mr Grufferty To be considered for this exciting opportunity, please submit your application on the form provided by Miss Barron by 4pm on Wednesday 5 June 2024, where your application will then go through a selectionprocess.Welookforward to hearing fromyou!

Currently reading

What are your teachers currently reading?

MrLawrence(HeadofMiddleSchool)

With thanks to Mr Dunne for the recommendation, I am currently reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. The story follows two timelines of a young girl growing up isolated in the marshes of North Carolina and the other follows an investigation into the apparent murder of a local celebrity of a fictional coastal town of North Carolina.

“Go as far as you can – way out yonder where the crawdads sing”.

MsHooker(Deputy HeadofMiddleSchool)

I have just read Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. This short story explores the concept of being complicit through silence and follows Bill Furlong's individual act of heroism. It is beautifully written, a masterpiece of how to craft a novel and how to handle a challenging topic with care. Bill Furlong encourages us to challenge problems in society and to be courageous. This is a book that will stay with me fora very long time.

MrWalters (DeputyHeadof MeadowsHouse)

Wool (Book 1 of the bestselling dystopian ‘Silo’series

Wem die Kuckucksuhr schlägt (Whom the cuckoo clock strikes) - A murder mystery novel set in Germany’s Black Forestregion

We all know how important reading is and we hope that students are reading widely. Every Middle School student should be reading a book a month, one every other week would be even better! Being well-read is one of our Middle School Aims and we hope that all students want to read widely to develop a better sense of the world around us and to learn about the lives and journeys of others through literature. If you are stuck on what to read, then please look at our reading lists on Firefly Summerreading lists are accessibleand are frequentlyupdated

Happy reading:

ReadingLists:Haberdashers'ElstreeSchools(fireflycloud.net)

From the Bourne Library – sub of the month and Mental Health Awareness Week

DearAll,

SUB of the Month is a monthly highlight that focuses on a particular online resourcesubscribed byTheBourne Library. This month we are promotingThe Day. The Day is a multidisciplinary resource that is rich and engaging bringing big global issuesinto the classroomthroughdaily news, videosand daily themes.

HOW TOACCESSTHEDAYAT HABS?

There are severalways you can accessTheDay (no passwordsorusernames are required):

1) Go to the Boy’sLibrary FireflyPage and clickThe Day logo – This will automatically take you to The Day landing page.

CURRENTLY READING

2) Click onthis link and you are in: www.theday.co.uk/?id=1C9FCED3-D4F247FE-9B4A-64660E4EB552

3) QR code– scan this codeonyour device.

As it is Mental Health Awareness Week, the librarians have selected a few news articles from The Day that you may be interested in reading below:

SOCIETY

POLITICS

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Seven key steps to protect your mental health - The Day

Top tip for mental health: become a magician - The Day

Alarm over TikTok’s effect on mental health - The Day

Wellbeing - The Day

We must re-learn how to rest, author claims - The Day

The deeper causes of a mental health meltdown - The Day

Managing stress - The Day

Tennis star makes a stand for mental health - The Day

Why is sport good for the brain? - The Day

Lack of sleep is a health crisis says expert - The Day

Why sleep matters (theday.co.uk)

CULTURE

New Van Gogh portrait found by X-ray - The Day

Distilled! Jung’s keys to 'happierness' - The Day

Reasons to be cheerful for all aged 12 to 27 - The Day

The man with no phone, no email, no computer - The Day

Co-curricular successes

Royal Academy of Music

Felix (9H) joined The Watford Festival 2024on 24 March, he sang a song from Aladdin “Proud of Your Boy” and he won as champion singing “Song from a Music Theatre show “ under Year 8 and 9 age group. He also sang “The Time of Snow” to win third place of his age group for Classical Singing.

Congratulations to Felix on receiving an offer from the Junior Academy Musical Theatre inthe Royal Academy of Music. He will become one of ten students admitted to attend Musical Theatre study every Saturday starting in September. Well done, Felix! .

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions

Mr Dunlop writes:

Over the Easter break we have run three DofE training expeditions (two Silver walking and one Gold canoeing) Totalling more than100 students These expeditions have extremelychallenging, mainly due to the weather! Despite this our students have risen to the challenge They took on board the wealth of knowledge their instructors have provided and whilst, for some, it has been a very steep learning curve, I’m confident we are ready for the qualifying expeditions in Wales during the summer break.

Special thanks to Dr Chapman, Mr Oldfield and Mr Fletcher for accompanying the trips.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Modern Languages (ML) Club – student invitation

Do you want to learn somethingthat will becomecrucialin the comingyears?

Come to our AI and ML Club. We have been looking at all sorts of topics surrounding LLMs (Large Language Models, such as ChatGPT) such as sentiment analysis, prompt engineering and prompt injections. AI and ML will only become more important as time goes on, thus it is vital that everyone attends this club! We hope you come to the club onThursday lunchtimes in B11

Durham Schools Debating Competition

Over the weekend (23 to 24 March), Mr Brennan and Mis Kurjekar accompanied seven strong debating teams to Durham University for their prestigious annual Durham Schools Debating Competition. This is one of the pinnacles of the debating calendar, and we were lucky enough to witness speeches of a high calibre, from our teams and that of other schools.

The teams had a demanding first day, debating motions about the commercialisation of social movements and the ban on gambling On the second day, the teams debated about flipped learning and social housing schemes

Following five qualification rounds, we are delighted to announce that two of our teams broke for the open Quarter Finals: The first pair was William (L6S2) and Sohan (L6M1); and the second pair was Nazim (10S2) and Feeza (U5 A) We were delighted to include Feeza, from the Girls’ School, as part of the teams This placed both pairs in the best 16 teams across 80 teams in total; this is already an amazing achievement.

The Quarter Finals were incredibly competitive, with the motion set as “This house will abolish awards in creative fields”. Both teams delivered excellent speeches; but unfortunately, they narrowly missed out on a place in the semi finals. It was such a joy getting to witness a fantastic display of debating from the Year 10s and Lower Sixth We are very proud of all the teams that participated in the competition; and are keen to continue building on this success in subsequent competitions Below is a list of all the Middle School students who took part in the competition Aarav (10H1), Samit (10R1), Richard (10R1), Lucas (10C2), Nazim (10S2), Danny (10J2) and Shakir (10J1)

CALENDAR DATES

StaffInsetDay – Monday 3 June

Year 10 Schoolexams - Tuesday4 – Friday 7 June

FieldDay – Friday 14 June

COPConference –Thursday20 June

SportsDay – Thursday 27 June

SummerTerm ends– Friday5 July

For further information, please refer to the school calendar on Firefly.