Term 5

Newsletter

Term 5 2011

Bumper Summer Edition

HEADMASTER’S FOREWORD I am delighted to introduce this last Newsletter of the academic year to you. As before, the Newsletter chronicles a vast range of activities and successes – a testament to the energy and ability of the pupils and staff at our school.

Indeed the Newsletter, even though it is the longest that we have yet produced, cannot pay full justice to the school’s activities. In the days since the Newsletter was completed the school has won two County cricket competitions and competed in the final of another. We have sent school trips out to expeditions in Chile and rugby tours to South Africa. That challenging tour is proving to be a great success with four matches played to date, and four resounding wins against strong opposition. We are about to send another expedition to track game in the Kruger National Park and research biodiversity off Mozambique’s coral reefs. Perhaps we will try to update you on these matters in the next Newsletter!

And, of course, the most significant development in the life of the school in recent times is beginning. On Friday, 22 July, we broke the ground for the new Sports Hall.

This £2.4million development will provide pupils with an outstanding facility for sport. It has been funded in its entirety by donations from parents, old boys, the school and Kent County Council. We have entered into no borrowing at all; a prudent decision in these difficult financial times for the public sector. We are still fundraising for an all weather pitch to accompany it, but our eyes are already turning to the next development – the building that will replace the old Gym. There are some exciting years of school improvement ahead!

However, in these times of success and growth we should not lose sight of the challenges that the school faces. As the Government cuts begin to bite, we have a difficult year ahead and some hard decisions to make.

But let those matters rest until we return in September.

Let us now celebrate the achievements of our school over the last year, congratulate the staff and pupils for their hard work and enjoy the prospect of a fresh start in the new year with a great leap forward in the facilities that we can offer to the pupils.

S J Everson Headmaster

In this issue: 2

Headmaster’s Foreword

4-5

University of Sheffield Stem Visit

3 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Green Flag Ambassador Status Sports Hall Update Leavers’ Day Spring Ball

Leopards Day

Science iGCSE

Biology & Physics News Carnegie Debate Debating News

Kent Schools Race

Sporting Achievements Whole School Photo

17–18 Healthy Eating And Living 19

News from an Ex-Skinner

21

Dates Ahead

20

Club 2000 results

GREEN FLAG AMBASSADOR STATUS

The Skinners’ School achieves coveted ‘Eco School’ Green Flag Ambassador status

Skinners’ are now the proud holders of our 3rd Eco School Green Flag for the work we continue to do both in and out of school to promote sustainability. Because of our excellent track record in this area we were then invited by Eco Schools to apply for ‘Ambassador Status’ – which means that other schools will be able to contact us and hopefully learn how to do similar things back at their own school.

An assessor form ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ spent the best part of a day being shown around the school by Y10 pupils from our ‘Sustainable STEM’ team, and also talked to members of teaching staff and support staff about our school ethos, and how we have managed to ‘Green the Teens’.

We heard the following day that we had been awarded Ambassador Status, and thus became the first secondary school in the country to hold such an award – a fantastic achievement by all concerned.

Mark Moody Head of STEM

UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD STEM VISIT On a bright afternoon in July, 15 Skinners’ pupils and three teachers boarded the train to Sheffield to see what we could learn about sustainability through the Project Sunshine initiative ( http://shine.sheffield.ac.uk/ ) at the University of Sheffield. This was thanks to Ben Breathwick, Sam Ineson, Carl Thomas and Thomas Cloke, who won a National Science & Engineering Council Award to gain this prize. We were going to learn about ‘Project Sunshine’ – an initiative trying to find future ways in which to power and feed our ever expanding world. We were going to meet some of the people taking part in some of the most ground-breaking research in the UK.

After a relaxed Wednesday night enjoying pizza and watching The Apprentice, we left for the University on Thursday morning. Upon our arrival at the Hicks building we were greeted by Professor Tony Ryan, who gave us a quick overview of the key project research goals before handing over to one of the many PhD's we would be meeting on the day – Dr. Paul Mitchener.

Dr Mitchener talked to us about ‘Topology’, this is the study of shape and graphs to show how shapes are topologically different and applications they can have. Using balloons and puzzles of Bridges to get our attention and to show us the ‘Hairy ball theorem’, Dr Mitchener provided us with an insight that Maths can actually be useful in the future of power by seeing leaks in power stations.

After that we met Dr. Alistair Buckley and two of his PhD students to learn about the future of solar power and to see the University ‘Solar farm’ on the roof of the Hicks Building. We learnt about different limiting factors of Solar panels, mainly the problem of using the power that is generated, culminating in the need for a battery, but also about the photons being absorbed and the best materials for absorbing them. We even did our own experiment using some of the solar panels to see which angle and direction is the best for placing solar panels.

Taking a break for lunch, we spoke to some post graduate students, which I felt gave us the best insight to university life and what we could do if we put our mind to it – literally, talking to one student who studies how the brain works. Some of the work being carried out was actually very advanced, using ground-breaking technology we could only dream of. This was one of the most enlightening parts to the day.

Then we met Dr Olsen, who explained photosynthesis and the parts of the plant that do it. However this was quite advanced and most of us struggled to keep up. On the other hand – to show us how microscopes work – Dr Olsen had mocked up two microscopes, one where we looked into it (electron microscope)and tried to identify something and the other where we put our hands inside, with some trepidation, to try and figure something out by touch; this was an Atomic Force Microscope. After seeing how they worked we went to see their real Atomic Force Microscope, where it relies on touch to build up a picture and any loud vibrations can ruin a ten minute experiment.

We then moved on to another room where we were introduced to Dr Colin Osborne and Professor Julie Gray and were taken to their state of the art plant houses where they developed GM crops. Things like airlocks and negative pressure were used in that underground ‘lab’ to stop any seeds getting in and playing havoc with the ecosystem. They told us that they were making a disease resistance form of rice which could seriously help feed third world nations and really make a difference to increasing the global demand for food.

Walking from building to building we also visited their newest addition, an environmentally friendly Languages, English and History block (Jessop West), which hopefully we can take inspiration from for our new Sports Hall.

It had natural air conditioning and fantastic sound proofing which kept out all outside noise, this means minimal power usage and a ‘greener’ building. We also visited the students’ union, voted one of the best in the country, where we relaxed before the long journey home, back to a relatively boring school!

The trip has given us a great insight into university life and research and we are grateful to so many university staff and post graduates who gave up their time to teach us on the day. Special thanks to Mr Lennon, Mrs Topliss and Mr Moody for organising the trip and Dr Sandrine Soubes for arranging such a fantastic programme at the University of Sheffield.

Dan Ingman (Year 10)

SPORTS HALL UPDATE Well what a year it’s been! I can’t believe that last October I spoke to many of you asking you to pledge your support to raise funds for the new Sports Hall. On 30th June, following a long tender process (hindered by a late Easter, the Royal Wedding and numerous bank holidays!) we finally received Governor approval to proceed with the project.

I am delighted to announce that we have appointed Morgan Sindall as our building contractor, who will start construction as soon as we break up for the school holidays. We haven’t finalised details of the ground breaking ceremony yet, but as soon as this has been agreed we will let you all know. It’s a 42 week build followed by an internal ‘fit out’ so we are optimistic that we will be open in time for the Olympic opening ceremony and Skinners’ 125th birthday. Most importantly, we will definitely be fully operational for September 2012!

I do hope you will monitor our progress. We will be posting regular bulletins explaining the different phases of construction on our Space for All website.

Additionally, we have installed a web camera which will stream live images to our web pages so you’ll be able to see what’s going on minute by minute.

In the Autumn we will start to explore the redevelopment of the old gym. We are keen to get your views on this project and I hope you will be able to come along to some consultation evenings that we have planned – more details next term.

It just leaves me to say thank you to you all for your generosity and your support. Without you and the support of the Skinners’ community we wouldn’t be embarking on this monumental development.

Unfortunately, the tender prices weren’t as keen as we had hoped and we have been hit by rising steel prices so we’re still approximately £300K short of target. The great news is that we have recently received two generous donations that will enable us to build the climbing wall (computerised images are shown on this page) and equip the fitness centre. That means that we can build a superb Sports Hall and equip it to the highest standard. However, we currently have insufficient funding to enable us to build the all weather outdoor pitch. Given how far we have come in the last 12 months, I am optimistic that it’s a barrier that we can overcome.

Have a restful summer break.

Kind regards,

Camilla Nichols Development Manager

Ahhhh it's Leavers' Day again.

On Friday 13th May we finally said goodbye to our Upper Sixth Form.

Throughout their time with us they have been a wonderful year group giving an enormous amount to the school and their achievements inside and outside of the classroom have been excellent. We wish them well for their exam results on the 18th August.

Craig Fleming Director of Sixth Form

“Education is not received. It is achieved.�

The traditional Annual Skinners’ School Spring Ball was held on 14th May 2011 in the Dining Hall at the School. The event was completely sold out within days. 144 people attended on 15 tables. The candlelit hall looked stunning. It was transformed from a school dining room into an amazing marquee with swags and interior drapes.

Champagne was served in the Old School Hall followed by a fabulous 4 course dinner.

An auction and raffle took place during the meal, raising over £4,000. Fantastic prizes included a tour of the Old Skinners’ Hall situated in the City of London, a holiday apartment let in Berlin and tickets to The Graham Norton Show. The guests then danced the night away and carriages left around 1.00am. A fantastic evening was had by all. The night raised in excess of £7,000 towards the New Sports Hall.

A big thank you goes to Fiona Billing and Ruth King and the rest of the Skinners’ Parents’ Association for arranging the Ball.

The Skinners’ World Challenge Boys were waiters and barmen during the evening and carried out their duties fantastically. They looked smart, exceptionally polite and well organised – well done to all the World Challenge Boys!

Note for your diaries ....

The Spring Ball 2012 will take place on Saturday 12th May

Saturday 18th June 2011

In rather damp and blustery conditions, this year’s Leopards’ Day Sports programme delivered a stunning victory for the school in both tennis and football. The school courts were the location for an exciting and well fought set of tennis doubles - the school emerged with a 9-3 victory.

Notable performance came from Sam Catling and Harry Sloan, a mixture of brain and brawn if ever there was one, remained unbeaten, losing only 4 games in the process. For the Old Boys, Mr Thurstans and Tom Hooper played out of their skins to score well, but sadly were let down by some shabby performances from Messrs Green, Johnson, Bullen and Flower who made up the remainder of the Old Boys’ squad. However, they more than made up for their disappointing displays by eating enormous amounts of BBQ which truly amazed the School Team.

Despite torrential rain and windy conditions, the afternoon football was an incredibly tight affair full of vigour and no little skill. Leading 3 – 0 after 10 minutes it must be said it looked as if the school 1st XI would run out easy winners.

However, a penalty, rather dubious in nature, was converted by the Old Boys just before half-time and it made for a very competitive second half. A spectacular goal converted by Sammy LeeBalcombe made the score 3-3 with 5 minutes to go. There were chances at both ends to snatch a winner, but neither team really deserved to lose.

The final whistle brought with it a penalty competition of both high quality and nerve jangling excitement. Tied at 7-7, the Old Boys’ effort was superbly saved by Nathan Cook; the winning penalty was eventually converted by Dan Morris for the school to record victory in the first Old Boys’ football match for almost a century.

A great day of sport was enjoyed by all. We hope next year even more will be involved

Craig Fleming, Director of Sixth Form

Since becoming a Specialist Science College in 2005, interest in studying science has boomed; numbers choosing to study A-level sciences have literally doubled! Two years ago we responded by introducing triple science for all at GCSE, now we want to continue to stretch and challenge our pupils by offering the most suitable science courses currently available.

Skinners’ Science Department have decided to switch from conventional GCSE to iGCSE. At a recent meeting involving the Headmaster, Director of Studies: Mr Bee, Head of Science: Mr Mead, Head of Biology: Ms Smith, Head of Chemistry: Mrs Mason, and Head of Physics: Mrs Mead; the Heads of Science were unanimous in going for the change over.

iGCSEs:

 allow a more solid foundation for progression to A-level;  offer greater flexibility to structure a course that best suits the interests and needs of Skinners’ pupils without the restrictions of controlled assessment;  contain less geographical content such as volcanoes and earthquakes and has less emphasis on some aspects of 'How Science Works' such as those associated with economics and sociology (aspects which were progressively introduced in various revisions by successive governments since the appearance of the National Curriculum) ;  offer practical work and scientific enquiry embedded within the course and assessed in written papers (there will be no coursework);  provide a linear course with a terminal exam. This model is designed to ensure that the maximum amount of time is available for teaching science without frequent interruptions for modular examinations.

The current Year 9 will be the first cohort to take the new qualification, which will be assessed for the first time in June 2013 (at the end of their Year 11), thus giving us plenty of preparation time. I can also confirm the following:

The content is very similar (although in a little greater depth) to the present AQA GCSE, so enabling a smooth transition for the present Year 9 onto the iGCSE course this September.

The terminal exam, for each science, will be two 90 minute papers consisting of structured and more open questions, rather than mainly short structure questions as at present. This would more closely match the style of the A-level papers. Students would have the opportunity to communicate precise knowledge and detailed understanding of science, use scientific and technical terminology appropriately and apply mathematical skills to a greater degree than at present. Again, we see this as a far more suitable preparation for Skinners’ boys for Year 12 and beyond.

Tony Mead Head of Science

Biology Olympiad

Skinners’ Biologists once again did exceptionally well in this year’s Biology Olympiad Competition with Team Skinners gaining 2 Silver medals, a Bronze and a Highly Commended – well done to all the boys concerned!

Mr M Moody Science Department

Expert Physics Lectures June 17th On Friday June 17th, 13 of our top year 12 physics students attended a day of “Expert Lectures” organised by the University of Birmingham.

Down in the basement of Woburn House we first had a fascinating talk on the physics of black holes.

This included seeing some of the most direct evidence for their existence, courtesy of some incredible X-ray images obtained by the orbiting Chandrasakar telescope.

Next we learned how lasers are used to bombard atoms with photons in order to slow them down and bring them to a stop – in other words, how absolute zero can be achieved. Some video footage of strange quantum behaviour exhibited by super cooled fluids held everyone’s attention.

After lunch we had a recap of particle physics, and heard about the latest experimental results from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Finally, the students were divided into groups to discuss and solve some thought provoking physics problems – with mixed results from the Skinners’ teams.

Apart from a lost ticket and a close shave with the rail transport police (nice one Will!), we had a thoroughly enjoyable day out.

Mrs Ruth Mead Head of Physics

CARNEGIE SHADOWING BALLOON DEBATE THURSDAY 23RD JUNE 2011 This year the Skinners’ School Library hosted the debate in School Hall, welcoming girls from TWGGS and , for the first time, pupils from Skinners’ Kent Academy.

Each year several books are chosen by CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) for our voluntary shadowing group to read over a period of several weeks, culminating in a balloon debate for the morning, prior to receiving the final winning book title at lunchtime from the CILIP judges.

Upon arrival, the students are divided into mixed groups according to the number of book titles and then asked to give a presentation of three minutes duration for the book which they have been asked to represent. Not having previously met, it is amazing how over the hour and a half given to do this they manage to achieve such high quality work.

The theme this year was friendship in adversity and the titles chosen were: • White Crow – Marcus Sedgwick

• Out of Shadows – Jason Wallace

• The Death Defying Pepper Roux – Geraldine McCaughrean • Monsters of Men– Patrick Ness •

Prisoner of the Inquisition – Teresa Breslin

• The Bride’s Farewell – Meg Rosoff

• Monsters of Men was the Carnegie Medal Winner, being the final book of the “Chaos Walking Trilogy”

Our judges this year were Headmaster - Mr. Simon Everson, Mrs. Lynda Wybar – Headmistress of TWGGS and Sandra Ahmed from SKA who not only judged the presentations, their final Choice being Prisoner of the Inquisition, but also both the “Book Review” and “Book Cover” competitions.

Mr. Everson announced the CILIP judges’ result and praised all those who had taken part for their efforts and extremely well thought out presentations. He then awarded the book token prizes to the winning team which included Henry Gibson, Omar El Halwagy, Fred Lyman and Callum Comer and each of the individual competition winners Christian Edwards being a joint winner in the Book Review.

A thoroughly enjoyable morning!

Mrs Trudy Weaver Librarian

DEBATING NEWS

The last debating competition of the year took place on Friday 6 May in the Thomson Theatre. Skinners’ were hosting the Greg Clark Debating Shield for the second year of its existence. Once again, Polly Evans from the BBC and Greg Clark (MP for Tunbridge Wells) came to help judge in the final, and to award prizes.

The tournament had sixteen teams drawn from a variety of schools in Kent. Teams competed in two rounds, before the best four went through to the final. Skinners’ had some experienced representation in the form of James Tribe and Billy Wildi, but were beaten in the final by our arch rivals TWGGS! The final was firmly chaired by outgoing Debate Captain, Joe Strong. Both Polly and Greg commented on the impressive speeches from the finalists and how useful the skills they learn for debating are in ‘the real world’.

Thanks goes to old Skinners’ Tom Walker and Tom Rutland, ex TWGGS Rosie Hudson who came down to Tunbridge Wells for the competition. A special thanks goes to so many Year 10s who stepped up to represent the school at very short notice, and to the VI Form helpers who made sure our guests were looked after and the evening ran smoothly. TWGGS took away the trophy for this year, but I am sure Skinners’ will come back with fighting spirit to regain the ‘Clark Cup’!

Deborah Halifax Head of Debating

L to R Joe Strong, Polly Evans, James Tribe, Greg Clarke, Billy Wildi, Deborah Halifax and Chris Lascelles Billy & James talk tactics!

Kent Schools Race 2011

The Ski Race was held at Bromley dry ski slope on Sunday 12th June, the race was a slalom course consisting of approximately 14 gates over a 150m course. Followed by a team duel slalom race. There were 160 competitors and representing Skinners' were: Jack Hilliard Year 9 / Oliver Whitaker Year 9 / Toby Cornwell Year 9 / Jack Whitaker Year 7

SKINNERS’ RESULTS

Overall Position

Bib No

Name

School Yr

Category

Time Run 1

Time Run 2

Combined Time

20

41

JACK HILLIARD

9

MID

12.75

12.62

25.37

55

44

TOBY CORNWELL

9

MID

16.45

15.49

31.94

68

42

OLIVER WHITAKER

9

MID

17.21

16.42

33.63

92

43

JACK WHITAKER

7

MID

18.68

17.95

36.63

The Skinners’ team in the main race came first out of 4 teams in the mids category (years 7,8 & 9) and all won GOLD Medals.

For the team dual slalom all the racers are put into teams of 5 racers. Each team of 5 has a combined time from the main race roughly equal to all the other teams of 5. In this race Oliver Whitaker's team came third and won bronze medals.

Mr Nigel Hilliard Father of Jack Hilliard

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS IRISH TOPPER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Hamish Streeter, a student in Year 8 was selected to represent Great Britain as part of the Team GBR sailing team, at the Irish Topper National Championships in Ballyholme in Northern Ireland. Hamish was one of twelve children who Team GBR who, in their opinion, demonstrated the most potential to win medals for RYA Team GBR at international competitions in the subsequent years. The team left on 5th July for two days of of training with the Topper National squad coach before competing in the main event between the 8th and 10th of July.

Hugo Toyne-Bridges represented Skinners’ in June at the National Schools Show Jumping competition. He jumped at 70cm, 80cm and 90cm as an Individual and had one clear round and two rounds with 4 faults. He rode very positively and it was the first time he had competed at 90cms in a Schools competition.

Hamish put in many hours of training over the winter period with the Topper National Squad and being selected is a great achievement for him.

He also rode Novice Class (2'9-3') at the NSEA One Day Event held at Mayfield .

Congratulations Hugo!

RUGBY HONOURS A group of year 8 boys were part of the Heathfield and Waldron u13 rugby team which were crowned East Sussex champions this season. They also took part in the 20th Tournoi Du Bocage at Saint Lo Tournament in France which they also won. Congratulations to the Skinners’ boys who were part of the winning squad.

Every five years the Skinners’ whole school photograph takes place. For the first time this year the photograph was taken at Southfields, as the school is now too large in numbers to accommodate a photograph taken on the main school site. On the morning of 28th April, staff and pupils walked up to Southfields for this event which is organised with military precision, as the photographs below will show! We were fortunate with the weather and it did not take long for the very patient photographers to place everyone in position. Three shots were taken, after which everyone filed back down to the main school to carry on with the school day. For those of you who purchased the finished result I’m sure you’ll agree that the photograph was a success.

As part of the HEAL (Healthy Eating And Living) project, on 27th May I took a group of Year 8 students to the Royal Horticultural Society gardens at Wisley for the Budding Gardeners Competition.

Sadly, no prizes were won, but The Skinners’ School entry was the only secondary school that was not an SEN or NEET centre. As you can see from the photographs the boys worked hard to create a colourful and well designed display. Many thanks go to Heather Roberts for her patience, green fingers and consistent help during the day.

Maryce Moss Montoya Head of HEAL

Miss Moss-Montoya and the boys with the completed garden

L to R Aaron Lintott, Fraser Macdonald-Lister, Max Walker, Benjamin Von Kaufmann

Our school Garden is blooming – as you can see from the colourful picture on the front page of the newsletter. This is thanks to the enthusiasm and some very hard work from Mrs Roberts and Mr Mead in the Science Department. Year 8 boys also took part in Skinners’ Masterchef with the help from chefs from Wagamama and The Tunbridge Wells Wine Bar and Grill. They made minipizzas, smoothies and salads, and also toured the school garden to see where some of the ingredients grow.

Robert Wilson was a student at the Skinners’ School from 1995 to 2002. During his time at Nottingham University, Robert founded Read International, a charity devoted to taking UK academic textbooks to children in Tanzania.

Rob has won a number of prestigious prizes,

notably when Read won best new charity in the UK in 2006.

In 2011, Rob gave up his

stewardship of Read International and he has embarked on a year-long mission to develop social entrepreneurship in Africa. He is presently travelling through sub-Saharan Africa and he sends us this message……….

“Basically our mission is to track down the most inspiring social entrepreneurs in Africa. We'd really love to get a message out to as many people as possible. We want our stories to inspire young people in the UK to become change makers too.

We're encouraging people to 'like' our Facebook page. This is of course the best way to get quick fire updates on these amazing change makers - their stories will brighten your day!

Or for those not into Facebook, we just want to spread the

word about our URL web link (both listed below). We're kicking off in Cape Town at the beginning of May and updates will be available from then.”

Facebook: ww.facebook.com/ontheupcapetocairo Website: www.ontheup.org.uk

CLUB 2000 UPDATE Some of you will be aware that at Skinners’ we have our own answer to Lotto – Club of you who do not know about this fund raising venture, here are a few details…..

2000.

For those

Parents and friends of the School sign up, either by way of a bank standing order or annual personal cheque, purchasing “tickets” at the cost of £1 each per month. 50% of the money raised is paid out in prizes, the remaining monies assist with a variety of purchases across the school - purchases that may otherwise not be possible in today’s difficult financial climate.

Over recent months, first, second and third prizes have been paid out as £250, £100 and £50 prizes respectively. There is also an annual accumulator prize drawn at the end of the summer term, usually around £300.

During the past year, Club 2000 has helped towards purchase of audio visual equipment, assisted with PCs and printers for the 6th form and notice boards for displays. It has also made a contribution to the School Development Fund to help with costs associated with the Sports Hall Development.

We now post the monthly winning numbers on the School website along with updates on what Club funds have helped to purchase.

If you would like a monthly chance to win and at the same time support our boys, e-mail me at denise.tourle@skinners-school.org.uk and I will send you registration forms.

Denise Tourle Chairperson, Club 2000

WINNERS OF CLUB 2000 LOTTERY

May 1st 2nd 3rd

832 entries Mr W HALLIGAN Mrs E BLUNDEN Mr B HARRISON

£250.00 £100.00 £ 50.00

June 1st 2nd 3rd

831entries Mr W G SMITH Mrs C MIDGLEY Mr P TAYLOR

£250.00 £100.00 £50.00

September 2011 1 Staff Development Day (no pupils) 2 Induction Day for Yr 7 & L6 . Yr 12 Thinking Conference pm 5 Term 1 Starts 6 Sixth Form Parents Welcome Evening 7pm in Dining Hall 7 Photographs for new pupils (Yr 7 and 12) from 9am in School Hall 8 Year 13 Ethics Conference in School Hall am 8 Year 11 -13 Oxbridge Evening in School Hall 7 – 8pm 9 Year 13 Duke of Edinburgh Expedition Walk 10 Rugby vs. Dartford 13 Theatre Trip to ‘One Man, two Guvnors’ @ The National 14 Year 7 CATS in School Hall 15 Year 13 Drama Workshop in Thomson Theatre 17 Rugby vs. Langley Park 19 PA Committee Meeting 7pm 20 Year 11 GCSE English Speaking & Listening Exam 22 Year 12 Independent Learning Conference 23 CCF Camp at Pirbright 23 ‘Hands-On Risk & Probability’ Show (Year 10 Maths) 23 PA Wine and Cheese Evening for new parents @8pm 24 Old Skinners’ Annual Dinner 7pm in Dining Hall 24 Rugby vs. Whitgift 24 Debating team at Royal Grammar School Newcastle 28 Inside Knowledge Event

D A T E S

October 2011 1 CCF At Pippingford Park – seniors to camp overnight 1 Rugby vs. Colfes 6 Open Evening 4 – 8pm 7 STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY (no pupils) 13 Year 6 Open Morning 10.30 – 12.00pm 14 Deadline for Oxbridge Entries 14 Paul Lyalls, poet, working with Year 7 classes 14 CCF Field Day 14 Junior Disco (Years 7 & 8) 15 Rugby vs. St Olaves 19 Year 7 Trip to Norfolk, returning on 22nd October 21 Deadline for all UCAS applications 21 Progress grades issued 23 Year 12 Duke of Edinburgh Expedition Walk 24 Term Break 24 Geography Trip to Sicily until 28th October 29 PA Jumble Sale 31 Term 2 Starts

A H E A D

FEEDBACK on the newsletter is always welcome. DO LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. Please feel free to email any comments or suggestions to: yourvoice@skinners-school.org.uk Susan Phyall Assistant Head