Wilkins Solicitors LLP - for legal advice that is friendly and professionalCan we help you? - Call us on 01296 424681

We cover a range of legal issue from property, wills and trust to family, employment,

accident claims and other court matters.

Our highly experienced principals ensure skill and expertise in all the areas we cover, and they are well-supported by

a team of junior colleagues, enabling us to provide a professional but cost-effective service to our clients.

Serving Buckinghamshire for over 100 yearsFirst Floor, Lincoln House, 6 Church Street,

Aylesbury HP20 2QS

Email: mail@wilkinssolicitors.co.ukwww.wilkinssolicitors.co.uk

LLP

It started back in February when I was teaching 7W about space. They had learned about the solar system and the relative sizes of the planets so it was time to discuss what happens to cause an eclipse. They drew the diagrams and demonstrated that they had understood that the shadows of the moon or the Earth make a solar or lunar eclipse. And that was when it started.

“How long does it take?” queried one. “Does it go completely dark?” quizzed another.

So, joyfully, I regaled them with my recollections of the almost total eclipse I witnessed in Dorset in the summer of 1999. Understandably, this seemed like ancient history to these 21st century children. I explained how everyone gets excited about ‘first

contact’, as the moon starts to pass in front of the sun, and how from that moment to the moment the sun is completely visible again takes about two hours. On a bright summer’s day in August, the 98% eclipse meant that nearly all the light was obscured and, even the birds stopped singing! That was enough to prompt the question: “When’s the next eclipse?”

Kate Blanchard, Teacher of Biology

Issue 20 | April 2015

Floyd FootnotesSir Henry Floyd Grammar School

www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk

The Sunshine of your Smile

A question some ask, especially with regard to modern works. Interestingly that same question has been asked through the ages with each new direction followed. Years 10 and 11 students, accompanied by a few sixth form artists visited two established bastions of the arts world in the spring term - the Saatchi Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

The Saatchi Gallery changes its art works three times a year so there is always something new to see for a regular visitor, and dependent on your mindset there may be something on show that prompts the initial question. A part installed work with ladders, wrappings, workman’s tools, in a roped off area - was it an art work or was it really something still to be finished? A chair… or is it? Perhaps beautiful, flock style wall paper is more to your taste - the pattern made up of words you need to look at closely to decipher may not impress you. Or do you prefer a room sculpted from human hair or a dismantled vacuum cleaner? Whatever your taste it can probably be stretched and expanded at the Saatchi.

The V&A may appeal more to traditionalists, but even here there is something to surprise you round most corners in this vast museum. From the enormous hanging light form in the reception area made from shades of yellow, green and blue glass, to wrought iron sculptures, from stained glass panels, marble statues, material sewn into many different forms, though to oil on canvas paintings, there is something for everyone.

Certainly the students who visited both establishments gained from the experience, both in terms broadening their own knowledge of the different forms of art, but also in providing some thoughts, some ideas that they might be able to use in their studies.

NOTIFICATION OF EXAMINATION RESULTSSummer Examinations 2015Students, if you wish any other person (including family members) to collect your results on your behalf, you must give your written authorisation to the Examinations Officer, Mrs Damoo, before results day. Without a signed letter from you we are not allowed to release results to any third party (this includes your parents/carers or relatives). The nominated person must produce some form of ID on the day.

If you want your results posted, please provide a First Class stamped and addressed envelope and hand it to Mrs Damoo in the Examination Office. If you provide an A4 envelope please remember to provide a large First Class stamp. If incorrect postage is not attached we cannot forward your results.

No results will be given out by telephone, fax or email under any circumstances.

GCE RESULTS THURSDAY 13TH AUGUST 2015Year 13 only @ 9.00am in the Hall

Year 12 @ 10.00am in the Hall

GCSE RESULTSTHURSDAY 20TH AUGUST 2015

@ 10.00am in the Hall

The Sunshine Of Your Smile“Oh, there are eclipses all the time, they are just not always visible from any habitable place on the planet,” I replied, confident that I could both reassure them that they might see one in their lifetime, and also prepare them for the chance that they may not survive long enough to see one on home turf.

But then, they got me, persevering they put me on the spot and asked the burning question, “When is the next eclipse that will be visible from the UK?”

And so I looked it up, there and then, in the lesson. Imagine my surprise, never mind theirs, when I discovered there was to be an almost total eclipse, visible from the UK, in no less than six weeks’ time. I don’t know who was more excited, the thirty 12 year olds, or their teacher!

As the day drew closer it was eventually decided that some classes would be allowed outside, under strict instructions about how to view the eclipse. Some classes would be allowed to watch it on a live stream in the hall. Sadly though, my Year 7 class were not having science with me that day, so I requested to take my set of Year 10 outside instead. But it was cloudy! Should we, or shouldn’t we go outside? We dallied for a while and then decided to go for it, even though it was not the warmest day and nor ideal conditions for viewing an eclipse with almost total cloud cover. To start with, we were the only class outside, but eventually we were joined by several other groups and I was bracing myself for having to manage the situation of mass disappointment. However, right on cue, the sun broke through the cloud enough for a little crescent smile to appear in the sky! Cue huge sighs of relief from the staff members and mass clicking of camera shutters. There was not quite enough brightness to get the makeshift pinhole cameras to work, but conventional cameras did a grand job of capturing the moment. Colleagues and students in Berlin on a history trip also experienced the eclipse with slightly less cloud to obscure their view.

So 7W, there are a few partial solar eclipses visible from the UK over the next few decades, but nothing as dramatic as the sunny ‘smile’ on Friday March 20th 2015. The next total eclipse visible from these shores will not show up until 2090. I’ll remember the day the sun smiled out from behind a cloud in Aylesbury for years to come, and I’m sure you will too.

Kate Blanchard, Teacher of Biology

Results that have not been collected will be retained in school for collection on a later date.

Remark & Access to Script RequestsIf, after receiving your results, you wish to have a priority remark or priority copy of your script returned you must see the Examinations Officer as soon as possible (within 5 days if your university place is dependent on results).

There are deadlines involved in this process and late applications will not be accepted.

Non-priority requests will be dealt with by the Examinations Officer on our return to school in September.

Is It

Art?

Examination PracticeThis year we have included some extra trial examinations for our senior students. We have worked on the basis that there is no better way to prepare for an examination than to practice sitting real examination papers under examination conditions. Years 11, 12 and 13 all took a full range of papers – and some individuals who did not do as well as they could have done will be having some further examination sessions! This second round of trial examinations has produced a heavy marking load for teachers but we feel that the educational benefits will have been worth it.

Student SurveysWe have now completed this year’s round of student surveys. We run a survey for each subject and students are given time to complete two or three surveys each. They give us feedback on aspects of their experience such as how much they enjoy their lessons, the extent to which they feel challenged, how happy they are with the marking and feedback they get, how promptly lessons start, how much homework they get and how much progress they feel they are making. Students also get the chance to write about what is working well for them in each subject and what they think could be done to improve their learning further.

We have collected about 2,500 surveys in total. We do genuinely appreciate the feedback we get. Our students always tackle the process intelligently and maturely and I am always impressed at how little silliness there is. Responses are anonymous as far as our teachers are concerned but I do tell students that I can easily track down the writers of any inappropriate comments! All of the responses are taken seriously and are followed up very professionally by our staff.

Our survey of parents’ views take place in November every two years. Our next parent survey is due later this year. Typically it has drawn in about 250 responses. It would be great to see that number increase this year. Again, we do value feedback on how we are doing.

Sixth Form Curriculum – IB Diploma and A LevelsThe (last) government introduced some significant changes to A and AS levels that we are beginning to accommodate. Every syllabus is being substantially rewritten and the structure of courses is changing. For some time we have been used to AS levels being taken at the end of Year 12 and we are familiar with marks on AS level papers carrying forward into final A level grades. The new plan is for there to be no connection between AS level marks and A level grades. A level grades will be awarded solely on the basis of examinations taken at the end of Year 13. AS levels will still exist but as stand-alone qualifications. The changes are made more complex by the fact that not all subjects are reformed yet. Some will start their new regime from this September, others next year and some the year after in a phase-in process.We are structuring our programme so that students will either take three or four A level courses from the time they join our Sixth Form. AS levels will still be available to some but they will have a much less significant position than they have had in recent years. We will also be building in a fuller enrichment programme than we have done in recent years.

These changes only apply to A levels. Our International Baccalaureate programme continues unaltered (apart from the regular syllabus revisions that take place on a five year cycle). We are now in our fourth year of teaching the IB Diploma. Talking to parents recently I

was surprised to discover how little is known about this qualification. We are hearing all the time that universities and employers rate the qualification very highly but that news apparently has not spread very widely. There are some very ambitious claims in the IB literature - “The programme aims to develop students who have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge – students who flourish physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically.” - and, in our experience, it does live up to these ideals.

Our Governing Body has spent a great deal of time over this year debating the future of the IB at our school. Our conclusion is that it really is an excellent experience for our students and we are committed to making sure that the awareness of the programme among parents and students is improved considerably in the coming months.

AdmissionsWe had over 250 students who applied from other schools to join our Sixth Form. We have now given offers to as many as we feel able to, but sadly have had to disappoint some. We are in a similar position with our Year 7 intake for next September. Again we have not been able to accommodate all the grammar school qualified students who put us as their first preference school. For the first time that we can remember we have a waiting list of first choice applicants.

At both Year 7 and Sixth Form entry our numbers are constrained by the physical capacity of our buildings. We are beginning to look very actively at the possibility of constructing a new teaching block. With more space we will be able to take in more students and leave fewer families disappointed.

Stephen Box, Headteacher

Headteacher’s Update

CHAMPIONS!The effort and progress of the Year 7 football team was rewarded this month with first place in the District Championship. From September there has been an outstanding level of commitment from the squad and Year 10 coaches Jack Wiles and Anson Chan.

The team have played eight games, winning six, drawing one, with a solitary loss in the County Cup to the eventual winners. The District Final against The Grange was an extremely tight affair in a game that we led in early on through two JJ Turner goals. The Grange came close on several occasions but could not find the back of the net leaving it 2-0 at half time. However, early in the second half The Grange managed to score a well worked goal to put us under pressure. Moving into the latter stages we relied heavily on a solid back three of Jack Holingworth, Alex Pickering and Calvin Williams-Weston to keep the lead intact. With ten minutes remaining JJ Turner completed his hat trick to move the game seemingly beyond doubt however, the Grange scored with three minutes remaining to make the final moments uncomfortable. In the end sheer hard work from man-of-the-match Dan Matthews saw the Floyd home and dry as District Champions for 2015!

James Burge, Teacher of Physical Education

WELL DONEYear 7 Football Club!

SEVENS The schools Year 8 7’s team went to the Northampton Saint’s Rugby 7’s Tournament at Milton Keynes rugby club in mid-March. We got there bright and early to start warming up and were taken by our coach and PE teacher Mr Burge.

We started off the tournament against Royal Latin and got some quick tries from Sam Athisayarasa, Ashwin Reddy and myself, with Jake Baldwin converting twice. The game finished 21-12 - a great start to the day against tough opposition. Our next game was against Walton High and we were in good form. We started the game a bit slow but before long we were bagging lots of tries from Ashwin (3) and Jake (2), once again converting brilliantly. Final score this time was 31-5. The next game was tough against Ousedale. I scored a quick try and Jake converted well. Ouesdale brought it back to make it 7-5 which made it incredibly tense. We were in the last few seconds of play and were defending on our own try line. A well worked dummy pulled apart our defence and

Ouesdale scored in the corner. We were unlucky to lose it 7-12. Going into our last game with our heads held up high against Buckingham we had an amazing start and quickly started to dominate the game with well worked tries from Sam, Ashwin and two for myself. Jake was still kicking very straight, only missing one of the conversions to make it 26-0.

Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School boys played with flair throughout scoring more tries than any other team, and with a dogged defence also conceded the least. There were some amazing tackles throughout the tournament from Ashwin Reddy, Sam Athisayarasa and a special mention goes to Fiachra for consistently tackling players twice his size. Great team performance Year 8!

Oli Hassall, 8W

(Footnote from Teacher of Physical Education James Burge: Oli played pretty well too!)

National Schools Netball TournamentBeing one of the first teams at Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School to qualify to play in the South Regional Finals Tournament in quite some time, we were very proud of the Year 9 netball squad before even attending this prestigious competition. They came in the top four schools in the whole of the Buckinghamshire in the county-wide tournaments and deserved to attend this event.

The girls had an early start on the last day of January in the snow, travelling all the way to East Grimstead only to be told on arrival that the competition had been cancelled! However, the tournament was re-arranged for the following Saturday and the Year 9 netball team bravely took on another early start, and with Mrs Barber (teacher in charge), Mrs Selby (minibus driver) and Sarah Flower (team coach), made their way to Farnborough, Surrey for a 9.00am start. They had been training hard since the news of qualifying from the county round and were keen to implement their practice.

The girls had some very tough competition in their pool including Wellington College, Durrington High, Cokethorpe School, Wycombe Abbey, Ryde School and Portsmouth Grammar (the only other state school). These teams seemed intimidating by both height and talent,

with some schools having the advantage of national players and professional coaches. So we were extremely proud of our girls as they were hungry for success and played extremely well, despite the weather. We believe this deserves massive congratulations!

Coached to this success by Year 10 student Sarah Flower, who said that, “The girls have been a pleasure to coach. They never cease to be full of energy for training and always make the effort. I was extremely proud to coach them to qualifying and watch them improve throughout the competition. They always have a smile on their faces and are fun to train. Anna Hill being the Team Captain - well and truly - did a good job, being friendly and fair with all the girls as well as improving exceptionally throughout the season, and proving to be a key member of the team.”

Anna Hill added, “We had great fun playing against some of the best school teams from the region; the teams were very good which meant we had to step up our game. After seeing how these top teams play and the standard they play at, it has helped us improve our game play.”

Well done girls. It has been great working with such a dedicated and hard-working team - there’s always next year!

Emma Barber and Rachel Selby, Sarah Flower (Coach) 10C, Anna Hill 9W (Team Captain)

There is some strong netball talent coming up the school, with the Year 7 and 8 teams setting a good precedent for the future.

The new Year 7’s have had a fantastic season with enthusiastic and regular attendance at practices. They also did exceptionally well in their division in the Aylesbury District Schools League, coming second. Two teams were entered into the end of season tournament, as the squad had grown over the school year. They competed in the top two pools, with our ‘B’ team competing against other schools’ ‘A’ teams achieving a respectable 4th place in pool A and 3rd in pool B.

We entered two Year 8 teams into the Aylesbury District Schools League this year, both winning their divisions, which was excellent! They competed against some tough competition in the end of season tournament, again fielding two teams. The A team challenged in division 1, coming 4th overall in the whole area (an excellent result) and the B team fought well to come 5th in their pool.

The Year 9 team continued to have dedication to practise. However, following

their excellent results in tournaments early in the season, they did not maintain this in the league but, they did field a good team for the end of season tournament and came 2nd overall. This displayed their true prowess in the local area for netball.

The Year 10’s have had a testing season with a key member of the team moving to Australia, whilst another member of the team experienced a serious injury which regretfully took her out of the second half of the season. Other girls from the year group gallantly stepped up to the plate to fill the team and hopefully they will continue to commit to the team for next year. They came 3rd in the 1st division of the Aylesbury District Schools League and equal second in the end of season tournament, so congratulations for a successful season and much potential for an even better next year!

The Year 11 netball team entered a strong side into the end of season tournament, achieving fourth overall in the top pool. Well done girls!

Rachel Selby, Faculty Leader for Physical Education

Netball Roundup

The Team!

In Action

Having being given the amazing opportunity to represent Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School as Head Boy and Girl, we are excited to be rolling out some of the initiatives planned by the new Senior Student Leadership Team. These include more guidance on possible career paths and help in dealing with stress, particularly in the lead up to exams.

Between us we study: English language and English literature, History, Government and Politics, French and Dance. These subjects have taught us a wide range of skills such as essay writing, confidence in performance and effective communication.

Our new Head Boy, Harry Frost, joined the school in Year 10 in 2011. During his time here he has been part of various school councils, the anti-bullying committee and Floyd Focus Learning Group, as well as helping to run Lower School Drama Club for a year. Harry names his highlight of his time here as being given opportunities to work with students from all year groups on

different teaching and learning related projects.

Our new Head Girl, Maxine Thomas-Asante, joined in September 2014. Since coming to the school she has taken part in the Debating Society, School Council, and Rock Challenge. She has also taught a dance club since October. Maxine names her highlight here as getting to know the passionate student body.

The Floyd is a warm environment where students are able to freely express themselves both socially and academically. Though social freedoms allow for a relaxed environment, students are also challenged through lessons and clubs. This atmosphere of acceptance and inclusion here is something that we are very proud of, and only goes to aid the learning environment for our diverse student body.

Though the five stage application process was very daunting, we both learned a great deal about communication, planning and

organisation. The quality of the applicants was inspiring, and the hustings prompted laughter and a sense of good feeling, despite being a little nerve-wracking. The memory and continuation of these positive moments will characterise the 2015-2016 Student Senior Leadership Team. We are very lucky to be working with such a committed and talented team, and by combining our skills, we hope to make distinct and lasting progress in the coming year.

The responsibilities of this role are steadily filtering through and we are easing into our new positions. As a team, we aim to continue the great work of the 2014-2015 SSLT, particularly that of Jack Blue and Emmeline Downie. Their work focused around senior students providing support for younger students in making important decisions, through subject socials and mentoring schemes. This was an excellent concept and we hope to continue developing these inter-year programmes so as to provide a voice for every student at the school.

Maxine Thomas-Asante, 6H2 & Harry Frost, 6W2

New Beginnings

Outgoing Head Boy and Head Girl

Gaynor Bull, Chair of Governors thanks our out-going Head Boy, Jack Blue and Emmeline Downie, Head Girl for their excellent year of service to the school.

Towards the end of January Year 13 took part in a politics-themed morning that stressed the importance of voting. We also introduced our fellow students to local party representatives and their respective policies for the forthcoming general election. We organised this as our contribution to a national movement aiming to encourage a rejuvenation of democratic interest among young people. This was prompted by the disastrously low turnout of 44% among people aged 18-25 in 2010 – a sign of youth apathy.

The packed morning started with an assembly, organised by us, in which Kavita Sharma, 6C2, a Member of the Youth Parliament talked about how to vote in the forthcoming general election and the importance of young people having their voices heard. At the same time, we set ourselves the target of getting our year’s turnout to beat the national turnout for young people, if not the average national turnout for all those eligible!

After this, in the subsequent LIFE! session, we introduced students to representatives from the local Conservative, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties, some of whom are parliamentary candidates for the forthcoming election. They went on to talk for a short period about what their parties stand for, why they joined and subsequently stood for them, as well as outlining some key policies they will be running on in May. This was followed by an enthusiastic question and answer session in which our peers passionately asked scrutinising questions surrounding issues of the environment, climate change, the general future, banker’s bonuses and local services.

Many of our fellow students afterwards told us how much they had enjoyed the session and how they had personally benefited from it as this aided them in finding their ground in politics as well as answering some of their questions surrounding the election. On behalf of the whole of Year 13, we would like to thank Cllr Bill Chapple OBE, David Lyons, Andrew Pakes and Cllr Stephen Lambert for their attendance and we hope that future Year 13 students will replicate this fantastic event and vote!

Brad Baines, 6M1 & Adam Stevenson, 6A2

Again, SHFGS were invited to attend the annual Preventing Bullying Conference at The Gateway Conference Centre in Aylesbury. This was a conference organised by Buckinghamshire Services for Children and Young People, to tackle such issues as racism, extremism and homophobia through a series of interactive workshops. It was attended by more than ten Buckinghamshire schools.

However, this conference was different… we had been invited to present all the good work that the SHFGS anti-bullying group have done here at the school over the last two years!

So, although nervous, six of our group: Laura Wiktorowicz, Harry Frost, Amelia Fabes, Becky Sharp, Gunishi Nathoo and Kajal Shah, ably attended on the power point by Hannah Penhearow and Matthea Swan, presented some of the successful work we have been doing, while the rest of the group stood with us.

This presentation included the genesis of the group, driven by the previous Head Boy and Head Girl: Harvey Grant and Laura Johnson and sixth former Claire Horn about our initial assembly work on the use of the word ‘gay’ as a derogatory adjective. This was followed by our first series of Anti-Bullying Week assemblies on name calling and in our second year, assemblies focused on the disproportionate bullying of the differently-abled. We spoke about our presentation materials, including the use of powerful age appropriate videos from Childline and Stonewall and the impact of one of our students retelling her own personal account of cyberbullying.

Although we are an Upper School venture, we were able to mention the competitions we introduced to include the Lower School. In our first year this was a poster competition on our strapline ‘Spot it and Stop it!’ and, this last year, we held a creative writing competition on imagining a world without bullying. The results of these competitions are now up on our permanent notice board, next to a flow chart reminding students how to report incidents in school.

Although we do not have a problem with bullying at SHFGS, what our group has done and will continue to do, is to promote an anti-bullying culture to ensure that we look out for and after each other. For us, one person being bullied is one too many. Part of this invites all of us to not be bystanders if we see or hear of anyone else being bullied, even if it is not happening to ourselves. Hence, we set up a ‘No Bystanders’ Petition and encouraged staff and students alike to sign up. We have four A2 pages of signatures and counting..!

This conference was a wonderful opportunity to share good practice and to help other schools envision how to set up their own groups. Our presentation was very well received and we have already had three schools contact us about our work, so SHFGS is leading Bucks schools on this!

Finally, I would like to add that none of this would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the anti-bullying ‘angels’, a group of like-minded individuals promoting a positive anti-bullying culture here in our school. I am immensely proud of them!

Danielle Tolner, Associate Teacher

Youth Apathy

The Third Annual Preventing Bullying Conference

One of the crown jewels of Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School is incontestably the Performing Arts Faculty. From our Summer Concert, with canon at The Aylesbury Waterside last summer to events held in our own multipurpose theatre, performances are always a spectacular occasion. Band Night was no exception. With the ‘standing room only’ crowd a foot from the stage, groups performed - in every sense of the word – and the energy of the performers was infectious. A stirring rendition of the Killers’ ‘Mr. Brightside’ produced a deafening sing-along, and a rousing performance of Dave Matthew’s ‘41’ had everyone jumping wildly.

Band Night 2015 was a true gig experience and had performers and audience members alike buzzing with excitement not to mention exhausted, after two hours of jumping and singing along to a great variety of bands, duets and solo performances. As always, it has been a pleasure working with the faculty and I would like to personally thank all the students involved for the incredible amount of work they put into making Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School a pleasure to attend. An additional thanks must go to Miss Bahra plus Jon Cole and his Tech team whose time and effort made this event such a success. Jean-Pierre Waksman, 6A1

Band Night

After months of rehearsals, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School students eagerly awaited an opportunity to showcase their Rock Challenge dance/drama piece at The Gordon Stuart Theatre in Stevenage. The team showcased in the local heat of Rock Challenge, a national competition which gives young people a chance to show-off their talents and experience the high of performing, to replace the high of drugs and alcohol. Having won two highly competitive heats back in 2012, to become Southern Open Champions, the school have an automatic place in the Southern Premier finals later this year and so performing in Stevenage was an opportunity to present their piece to the teams competing there. The real competition will be the in Portsmouth in June.

The Floyd’s piece this year is based on the Hans Christian Anderson version of the Little Mermaid with all its ‘darkness’ and the horror, drama and death that the original story is renowned for. With help from their dance teachers, technicians and other Performing Arts staff, the piece is largely the work of the students and is a fantastic opportunity for them to take on leadership roles. Sixth

formers have played a leading part in choosing the concept, choreographing and teaching as well as heading up costume, lighting and set teams. It has been a whole school effort and it has helped to build bridges across the year groups in the school, resulting in a growing feeling of school spirit.

With auditions and rehearsals starting all the way back in September, it’s been a long but very enjoyable process to get the 8 minute piece ready and the students were very excited and honoured to be showcasing as a Premier team at the Stevenage event.

Having been involved in Rock Challenge since Year 9, it’s always the highlight of my year and the perfect break from the stress of examinations. Now I’m in Year 13, it’s really sad to think that this is my last year of Rock Challenge but it has been amazing to have an opportunity to take a leading role in decision making and, fingers crossed, for the best Floyd piece to date with some fantastic results when we compete in June!

Evie Aspinall, 6A2

Rock Challenge

East Meets WestI have accompanied Year 10 students to Berlin as part of their GCSE History Cold War studies for a few years now. On each occasion I have returned after a couple of days with two distinct thoughts. Firstly the trip never ceases to increase the knowledge and understanding of all who go whether through the places visited, or from hearing a personal anecdote from the Cold War period. The second, is a personal reflection - the students, despite the non-stop approach over two days which involves about 17kms of walking on each of them, remain cheerful, polite and attententive throughout. They are a credit to the school.

An early morning flight, a coach to the hotel to drop off luggage and then… start at the Reichstag, listen to a brief history of inter-war years German politics, then onto the Tiergarten Soviet Memorial that used to sit within the old British sector, down to the Brandenburg Gate,

turn right for the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, onwards to the site where the Fuhrer Bunker is flooded and covered over, head to the wall mural that presents the party line of the superiority of the East German political regime, walk past what was once the largest office block in the 1940’s world, the former Luftwaffe Ministry, keep walking towards Checkpoint Charlie… and a brief rest sat on an U-Bahn train to the Berliner Mauer museum in Bernauer Strasse, where sections of the wall are maintained, including a watchtower and death strip between two walls. Another train, dinner, a final train and back to the hotel near Ost Bahnhof. A day that had started at 3.00am, finished with bed at 11.00pm - tiring certainly, happy definitely.

Day two started with a walk to the East Side Gallery - the longest section of the wall remaining along a stretch of the river Spree. The official graffiti murals on the wall were admired and then it was time to walk, catch a train to Treptow Park Soviet Memorial with its

vast liberator statue set within a garden of carved stone and granite tableaus. As we toured and learned the sun shone, then faded when the eclipse occurred, then time to walk, catch a train to the Stasi prison in an area of East Berlin that didn’t appear on maps prior to 1989, then another train - or was it a tram this time - to the DDR Museum to experience life in the communist regime through the 1960’s, 70’s, 80’s. Another walk to Alexander Platz and time to grab something to eat, before another train, the hotel, a coach, the airport and… delayed. Back to school for 2.30am, home, sleep - tired, happy and dreams of two packed days!

Finally… thanks to Julie Pilkington for arranging the trip, Freddie Forder for his assistance, and of course the Year 10 students - you make it all worthwhile.

Ian Bryant, Assistant Head

Upon landing in Germany, near Munich, and meeting our tour guide, we quickly bundled onto the coach out of the cold. There was a sombre mood on board in the short journey that followed, due in part to the very early start we all had, but mainly because we all knew our destination was to be the Dachau concentration camp memorial site. Dachau, opened in March 1933 under the command of Theodore Eicke, and was the first of the Nazi concentration camps, acting as a blueprint for subsequent others like the more infamous Auschwitz. At first it only housed political opponents but, over time, grew to include many other groups such as Jews, travellers, members of the Jehovah’s Witness, and prisoners of war amongst others.

We were given a guided tour of the memorial site, visiting various areas of the camp, most of which had been destroyed, although a few original buildings remained. The tour, while extremely insightful, was also very harrowing. This was especially true while walking through the crematorium and gas chamber, ‘Baracke X’, constructed in 1943. It is unknown if these chambers were ever used, but even so, there was 30,000 recorded deaths, not including the thousands of prisoners who lost their lives without being registered in the camp.

The tour ended at the memorial of the camp and the plaques commemorating the US troops who liberated it in April 1945, setting free over 67,000 prisoners. After the tour had concluded we got back on the coach and, after a short reflective drive arrived in the heart of Munich.

Here we began following the very route that Hitler and the Nazis took during the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. Out tour guide was exceptionally knowledgeable and able to describe in great depth the events that occurred, while also encouraging us to appreciate non-Nazi related German heritage, one example being the copious amount of varied architecture. We stopped for a much needed hot drink before continuing our tour to explore the origins of the resistance group ‘The White Rose’ at Munich University; standing in the same place where Sophie Scholl, and others, threw leaflets for the last time before they were caught and eventually executed. As evening approached we split up to eat, before returning to our coach, and took the journey to Nuremburg and our hostel. The following morning, we travelled around Nuremburg, ‘city of the Reichsparteitage’, exploring the architecture of the Nazi regime, in the city that was home to most of its well-publicised rallies. The buildings, mostly

unfinished, were immense in size. The message the Nazis wanted to convey was clear – power, dominance and wealth. We first took an audio tour around a museum, which contained a mass of information on the rise of the Nazis, and especially their presence in Nuremburg. After this, our guide took us on another informative tour of the many well-known Nazi buildings around the outskirts of the city. After mid-day, we once again boarded the coach for the final time to travel to the airport, and back home.

All in all, the trip was insightful into what we had been learning back at school. It is one thing to read about something in a text book, but to experience it, and see it up close, is something else entirely: it brings a totally new perspective and a deeper understanding of the period in its time. I’ll end this article in a similar fashion to how our guide ended the tour with a quote relevant throughout the entirety of history: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Tom Peney, Lead Prefect, 6M2

THE ROAD TO POWERLate in March, a group of Year 12 history students, myself included, participated in a school trip to Germany to visit sites relating to our study of Life in Nazi Germany (1933-1945). The trip spanned two days, and involved touring areas of Munich and Nuremberg, focusing mainly on the Nazi Party’s origin, and Hitler’s road to power.

This year’s chosen charities were ‘Sparkles’, a local speech therapy charity for children with Down’s syndrome, and DSi.

‘Sparkles’ was founded in 1999, and in addition to providing incredibly important speech therapy, it also prides itself on the work it does to support local families and carers using their services that aid the development of children’s speech. Looking globally, we chose Down’s Syndrome International (DSi), a UK based international organisation committed to the promotion of the right of people with this condition to be accepted, and to improving their quality of life around the world.

In this our fifth year of holding Global Diversity Week at Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, the students helped to organise a number of fundraising events and assemblies to raise awareness. Year 12 International Baccalaureate students and members of the Floyd Learning Focus Group ran a series of assemblies to the whole school during the week. A ‘Book Tombola’ was held, as were culinary

events like a cultural bake sale and canteen food throughout the week was inspired by tasty recipes from around the globe. Some older students ran a ‘Henna Hands’ stall, all aiming to raise as much money as possible for our extremely worthwhile causes. Particular highlights this year were the annual Fashion and Talent Shows, reminding us once again how talented and creative our students are.

The final amount raised which £400 which was divided between the two charities. A cheque was presented to a representative of ‘Sparkles’ by Jacob Cole in Year 10 in March. This was a Year 7 assembly and it was deemed to be fitting that they were the audience as it is their first time as spectators of a Floyd cheque presentation. Awards for the best diversity writing were also given out by Mrs Hanham at this assembly (with an Easter treat!).

Oh, and it was great to hear from the Right Honourable David Lidington about our GDW!

Harry Frost, 6W2

GLOBAL DIVERSITY

WEEK 2015

Rainbow of Hope (Year 7 Winner)

Everyone is differentNone are the sameImagine a world devoidOf colour and rain.

Bright rays of sunshinePeeking through the cloudsREDORANGEYELLOW blended in shades of greyGREENBLUEINDIGOVIOLET

World robbed of its colourFractured identity.Precious in its many formsDiversity is our rainbow of hope.By Elizabeth Sond, 7H

Creativity with Diversity

To Love or to Lose? (Year 8 Winner)

People.They judge with piercing words and flames that burn our skin.Do they not realise we’re all the same? Same heart, same brain.

We stand together in life. One decision to make. To love or to lose?

To love.Changing the world for the better,Using our differences to move forward.

Or to lose.To lose our united heart,The steady beat of humanity,Crippled by hate.

To love together as one body,Or to tear ourselves apart.One world, one life, one future.

One decision.To love or to lose?Which one will you choose?By Katharine Oke, 8A

Let our Differences Unite Us (Year 7 Runner Up)

I am different,You are different,But our hearts still pump blood and our bones still support us.I may look different but I am the same on the inside,So we stand strong together,We unite.

I am different,You are different,But we still hear the bird song and we still smell the flowers.I may have different beliefs but I am the same on the inside,So we stand strong together,We unite.

I am different,You are different,But we walk the same land and have the same rights.I may stand smaller than you but I am the same on the inside,So we stand strong together,We unite.

We may live different lives and love different people,But we all stand together,We all unite.We stand for what is right,We stand for peace,We stand for hope,We stand for unity.By Imogen Ridley, 7C

Colours & Shades (Year 8 Runner Up)

King maidLight darkUnblemished marked

Female maleWord taleSilent loudFeeble proud

Diverse lookUnique peopleDifference improveLife all are equal

World changeMove in agePerception changedPeople agedEqual as oneFight for rightWomen MenBlack WhiteBy Esther Hewitt, 8W

Students in Years 7 and 8 were asked to write a piece based on the theme of diversity during Global Diversity Week. Here are the winners:

Well done

poets! Keep

writing.

Andria Hanham, Deputy Headteacher

?The National Deaf Children Society run a free educational service to raise awareness and bring information to deaf children and young people across the country. Using the Listening Bus to deliver this service, two of our students, Clarissa Davis in Year 12 and Mathew Quail in 8H visited it in January when it came to the area.

Mathew commented on his visit, “I enjoyed the Listening Bus as I got to see all the equipment that deaf children could use. My favourite was the sonic bomb alarm clock (a vibrating alarm clock). A close second was the doorbell which flashed a bright light every time someone pressed the door bell. It was also just good fun to see what could benefit a deaf child in the future.”

Jennifer Cole, Learning Support Assistant

In March, as Year 8 filed into the theatre they were about to witness what we found to be the best (and most adorable) assembly so far this year. Waiting patiently for us was a lovely black dog (Cockapoo breed) named Chutney and her trainer, Peter Dixon. Peter showed us a video about how the Hearing Dogs charity has helped tens of thousands of lives, young and old. Poor Chutney was a little bit frightened with so many faces staring at her, although she appeared to overcome that with her seemingly unending curiosity. We hope to see her again, soon.

Dexter Adonu & Lui Livingstone, 8C

Plans are well under way for our Enrichment Week in the final week of the summer term with the majority of students in the three year groups, Years 7, 8 and 9, going away overnight on residential. Because of the success of previous years’ residential experiences that were part of a choice set against other activities, we decided to offer these this time as whole year group trips. So, Year 7 are getting organised with their camping kit and survival gear, Year 8 with their flip flops and beach wear and Year 9 with polishing up their French and in

cultural preparation for Bruges and the battlefields. Year 7 will also enjoy a day trip to the Bristol interactive museum ‘At-Bristol’ on the Monday before they go off to the Oxfordshire woods.

Year 10 will experience a carousel of careers and enterprise activities including, we hope, a day out at a local university.

The small number of students electing not to go on residential will be offered activities in school or off site. These

activities will be confirmed in the next few weeks.

Then, the final Friday of the year will see all students back in school to re-group for the joys of Olympiad Day when houses compete in all manner of challenging and fun team activities!

Andria Hanham, Enrichment Week Co-ordinator

Enrichment Week 2015

Hearing Dogs

LISTENING BUS

? ?

I left Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School in 1998 and migrated to Perth in Western Australia. I had several remaining contacts with friends in WA from a working holiday visa in 1990 and I gained a variety of temporary one year posts teaching history and humanities. I gained a Masters in Educational Management from the University of Western Australia in order to gain a full time post and am presently teaching at a Catholic school in Perth.

The major sport over here is Aussie Rules Football, but with the growth of the Western Force in the southern hemisphere Super XV rugby competition and with the mass appeal of the EPL, that is being challenged. I have qualified as a rugby coach and have gained accreditation as a referee in the local senior competition. I still passionately support West Bromwich Albion, who were one of the original founding members of the football league in 1879! It has been an interesting ten years as a Baggies fan!

What I do remember from the Floyd is the pleasure it was to teach a whole range of students, especially the first two Year 10 GCSE classes, many of whom I then took for A level Nazi Germany or Government and Politics. The other key events are undoubtedly the first and second World Challenge Expeditions to Morocco in 1995 and Borneo with Penny Young in 1997. In Morocco there was the fairly hilarious time when we visited the Roman ruins of Volubilis by taxi and then hiked back to the bus stop as the bus was

just coming around the corner of the road. We got back to the hotel and haggled with the owner who wanted to be paid for a second day as it was past twelve o’clock, and rushed off to the railway station, ordering pizza on the way so that with five minutes before the train arrived, two of the group were still en route with the pizzas! Fortunately everybody got on and we ended up in the YHA in Meknes which was a hit as it had sit down western toilets! In Borneo, the highlight was clearly climbing up Mount Kinabalu, resting overnight at the Lagadan Hut at 11000 feet and waking up at 4.00am to get to the top on a bitterly cold morning however, the sunrise and the views were worth it. The descent was also pretty rapid as somebody had boiled the water for tea but had forgotten to use any purifying tablets, so on the way down several of the group were running off to the bushes, myself included! By the way my UWA Masters Thesis was based upon the experiences of the students before, during and after the World Challenge Expeditions and I did send the Floyd a copy of it – hopefully somebody has still got it!

I am still continuing with the outward bound pursuits in WA as it is quite popular in PE Studies over here. I have been on the Cape to Cape Walk from Dunsborough to Margaret River and Cape Leeuwin. Similarly, I served with the Royal Green Jackets TAVR, virtually opposite the school, and I have also served with the 10th Light Horse (as in the film “Gallipoli”

starring Mel Gibson). In the initial training, fitness was not a challenge but the four weeks at Kapooka in Wagga Wagga NSW was more of a psychological test! Again the best parts have been working with the SAS on a variety of operations.

I have saved the best information till last. I am married to Pauline and we have recently had two beautiful babies, who are called Roisinah and Eamonn (Irish Gaelic). That is the next challenge – how to be a good parent!

Jim Greaves - Teacher of History 1992-98

The number of former students, staff and governors who are now members of the school alumni association is now approaching 1000, and the number continues to grow daily, especially through our presence on LinkedIn. It is rewarding to see an increasing number of those who spent part of their life at Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School wishing to re-establish contact.

Recently Lucy Brackley (who left in 2009) and Rory Allen (who left in 2011) returned to the school as guest speakers at the IB & A Level Presentation Evening. Both recalled how their time at the school had shaped their attitudes to life and given them the drive and resilience needed to be successful in their careers. They also explained how important networking can be in their working lives.

We have also had a request to tour the school from a number of the 1963 intake and we are happy to oblige. If you have any requests that we can assist with please just let us know.

In this edition of Floyd Footnotes we welcome the contribution of Jim Greaves, a former member of staff to the Where Are They Now? feature. It would be good to hear about the lives of some more Old Floydians, so please drop us a line or two, and perhaps a photo.

Ian Bryant, Assistant Head

Old Floydians

OLD FLOYDIANS - WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Time To

TrekThe first expeditions of the 2015 Duke of Edinburgh Award season are now complete, with both Bronze and Silver award students having had a weekend based locally where basic skills, a night in a tent, and a day spent trekking were experienced - for some a first. Whilst the mainly year 10 Bronze award students experienced a night of high winds and heavy rainfall, all students over the two weekends had generally pleasant weather for walking in. They will all have also learned just what is required to have a successful weekend away in field conditions, including what not to take with them as they have to carry it all!

The practice and qualifying weekends are now in the planning stages with the dates already set and published - please see the school website for details. The Silver award three day expeditions, primarily involving Year 12 students will be based in the Cotswolds and the Peak District, whilst the Bronze weekend expeditions will be based more locally. In the interim all those participating will be updating their online DofE accounts with information that forms an integral part of the award.

Our thanks, as always go to the many staff who give up their weekends to accompanying the students - without them it could not happen, and to Dave Goss who manages the award scheme so professionally for us.

Ian Bryant, Assistant Head

Parents Society UpdateWelcome back to the final term of the year - the busiest for our students and their families! This term is an important one for the Parents Society as we race towards achieving our fundraising target for the year of £10,000! We have decided to use the money that we raise this year to support the school’s iPad initiative to buy iPads, accessories and a portable trolley so that they can be safely transported around school.

We would like to thank everyone who has supported our fundraising efforts so far this year: these will certainly help us to achieve our goal. Our Quiz Night held in March was the major event for the Spring Term, and was attended by over 100 participants – thank you to all the parents, students and friends who made the night such fun. As well as some fiendishly challenging questions we had an Italian theme, and some interesting team names – the Bananas in Pyjamas and the Pete Postlethwaite Preposterous Posthumous Pizza Party to name but two! The event was won in the end by the Lone Rangers.

We have a number of great events lined up, and more details of these can be found on the Parents Society page on the school’s website:

• Midsummer Raffle Draw: Friday 19th June: – we have some fantastic prizes lined up for this year’s raffle. Watch out for the tickets early next term.

• Year 7 and 8 Disco Friday 26th June 7 – 9pm: - our final event of the year and a true sugar rush for all involved, together with an opportunity for some of our Dads to showcase their skills at the BBQ. Full details will follow soon together with ticket application forms.

We would love everyone to come to all of our events, but realise this is impractical for some. However, you

can still contribute to our fundraising initiatives from home by supporting our raffles, joining The Floyd Flottery and shopping via The Giving Machine.

• The Floyd Flottery: a monthly draw where 50% of the money goes to the school and 50% is paid out in prize money. More details are on the Parents Society website.

• The Giving Machine: if you shop on the internet through the Giving Machine, retailers will pay a percentage of money spent to a nominated beneficiary at no additional cost to the buyer. So far we have received commission of nearly £1500 paid to SHFGS through The Giving Machine. Full details in the advert on page 18 and at www.thegivingmachine.co.uk.

• Fund Matching Schemes: do you work for an employer who offers to match funds raised by charity? Many employers enable employees who have been involved with charitable fundraising activities to apply for a matching donation of up to £500. You do not need to be a member of the Parents Society Committee - just participating in the event and a contribution in helping out is enough in some cases. Please check with your employer if they offer such a scheme – every donation helps!

Everyone is welcome to attend our Parents’ Society Committee Meetings. Our next will be held on Monday 27th April. If you can help in any way with our events, or would like to join the Society, please contact us by e-mail: parentssociety@sirhenryfloyd.co.uk. Or contact us via the school’s reception on 01296 424781, and do have a look at our web site page!

Once again students from Years 11, 12 and 13 headed for the Austrian Alps at February half term for their annual snow sports trip to the Saltzburger Sportswelt. We departed from school on the Friday evening, crossing the Channel in the early hours of the morning. Thankfully the long journey never seems to be too bad as most of us sleep, if somewhat fitfully, through the night.

We were incredibly fortunate this year as we must have had the best week of weather all winter; low temperatures to keep the snow in excellent condition, coupled with clear blue skies and associated warm sunshine. The great thing about Snowslippers and the Red-White-Red Ski School is that they can accommodate skiers and snowboarders of all abilities. The beginners start on the gentle slopes above Alpendorf, whilst more proficient students head off over the mountains towards Wagrain. The most advanced skiers and snowboarders did one day of ‘Ski Safari’ to the neighbouring resorts of Kleinarl and Flachauwinkl, complete

with extensive Snowpark. It was also carnival time in the local area and this spilled onto the slopes where a variety of interesting outfits were to be seen!

Our trip would not be complete without a full après ski programme including Austrian bowling, swimming in Badhofgastein thermal spa, night tobogganing and of course shopping!

On the penultimate day all the ski school classes take their tests; timed runs for the skiers and skills tests for snowboarders. We were very proud of our winners who received their medals in the presentation in the Sankt Johann town hall. - Gold medals: Emma Howse, Mathew McSweeney, Luke Radcliffe-Moore - Silver medals: Jack Brailsford, Chimanga Chansa, Charlotte Eddlestone - Bronze medals: Mufaro Kapfunde, Rebecca West.

We would also like to congratulate Rebecca West, our top snow boarder

and Level 1 qualified Instructor. She accepted an invitation to work shadow the ski school’s senior instructor this Easter and then in her second week take her own class of beginners. All students had a brilliant time; not only do they learn an immensely enjoyable sport but they also gain a huge amount of self-confidence. For some it is their first trip abroad on their own and they become more independent. They also come back saying that they have made so many new friends and declaring it “The best week ever!”.

We are pleased to announce that we are taking bookings for 2016 both for the senior trip in February and the junior trip at Easter. We will be with Snowslippers for both trips, returning to Alpendorf. All details can be found on the school website.

Sarah Williams, Assistant Headteacher

Dazzling White And Light

In late February, the 2016 World Challenge Team organised a Central American themed evening to raise funds for our Training Expedition to Snowdonia in Wales during the Autumn of 2015 in preparation for our expedition to Costa Rica and Nicaragua in the summer of 2016.

We planned the evening ourselves – with a little help from the staff going to Central America with us – splitting into groups tasked with organising different aspects of the evening. We all worked really hard to make sure that the evening was as enjoyable as

possible for our guests, and on the day, the event was extremely successful.

The evening began with a short presentation about the expedition itself, and the voluntary work we will be doing while we are out there. This was followed by a delicious meal supplemented with homemade dips and tortilla, all washed down with mocktails. We also had fun activities such as salsa dancing, a quiz and a raffle, with prizes kindly donated by friends and family of the challengers, as well as local businesses. As a less

‘hands on’ form of entertainment for our guests, Mrs Merrow-Smith taught a small group of us to play the marimba, a traditional instrument a bit like a xylophone, which was surprisingly easy to learn!

On behalf of the 2016 World Challenge team, I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the staff who helped us to make the evening as enjoyable as possible, and of course all of our guests, who I’m sure will agree the evening was a huge success!

Rebecca Caves, 11M

FUNDRAISING – CENTRAL AMERICA STYLE!

If you are shopping on the internet for wine, furniture, iTunes, gifts or even flights, please take a moment to log onto The Giving Machine at www.thegivingmachine.co.uk.

Register yourself and select Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School as your nominated beneficiary. There are hundreds of shopping sites accessible through The Giving Machine including Amazon, M&S, Tesco, Asda, BA, Boden, Next, E-Bay, Argos, John Lewis and many more. The school will earn a percentage of the value

of items bought, which varies by retailer at no additional cost to the purchaser.

Think how much we could fundraise without any effort at all if everyone at school logged onto The Giving Machine when shopping on the internet!

Please support your school and log onto:www.thegivingmachine.co.uk

Fundraise

While You

SHOP!

During the final two days of term the Year 12 Charity Committee organised various events to raise money for two charities with close links to the school. So many cakes were brought in for the massive bake sale on Thursday lunchtime that it ran over into Friday break as well! Ms Cochrane, Miss Patchett and Mrs Prior gamely volunteered to be gunged while students (and staff) with musical talents entertained us in the Battle of the Bands and Floyd’s Got Talent. The basketball contest, a raffle, interhouse Sixth Form University Challenge and Disney-themed mufti day also helped to contribute towards the total of £2325 raised for the Alfan Foundation and Beautiful Alice.

Well done to the Committee, very ably led by Lauren Kendall!

Kathryn Chapman, Assistant Head of Sixth Form

Charity Days

Last month the Year 12 International Baccalaureate students attended an Extended Essay Research Skills Workshop at Hertfordshire University in preparation for the writing of their 4000-word extended essay. Sessions covered time management tools, identifying bias in sources and how to formulate a research question. In the afternoon the students were able to access the extensive online resources

available in the university library. In a nutshell the extended essay is a “long detailed answer to a very precise question” (Rosanna Montalbano, OSC). It is a compulsory module in the IB Diploma and the skills developed from the process are much valued by universities as it prepares students for degree-level research. Students have a free choice of topic and this

year’s proposals include, among others, the Rwanda genocide, red kite conservation, the novels of Virginia Woolf, the death penalty and the history of feminism.

Kathryn Chapman, Assistant Head of Sixth Form

Valued By Universities

April 2015Monday 13th Summer term commences

Wednesday 15th Inset - School closed to students

Friday 17th Open Morning at 9.45am

Thursday 23rd Year 9 GCSE Standards Evening at 7:00pm

Monday 27th - Friday 1st May Year 13 IB Study leave commencesParents Society meeting at 7:30pm

Thursday 30th Junior Maths Challenge (Years 7 & 8)

Saturday 25th - Sunday 26th DofE Bronze Practice Expedition

Saturday 2nd – Monday 4th DofE Silver Practice Expedition in the Cotswolds

Monday 4th Bank Holiday – School Closed

Monday 4th – Friday 22nd Year 13 International Baccalaureate Examinations

Monday 11th Year 11 Study Leave commences

Year 12 AS Study Leave commences

Monday 11th – Friday 26th June GCSE & A Level Examinations

Tuesday 12th Open Morning at 9.45am

Thursday 14th Year 13 A Level Study Leave Commences

Year 8 Girls HIP Vaccinations

Monday 25th – Friday 29th HALF TERM

Monday 1st Inset – School closed to students

Saturday 6th – Sunday 7th DofE Bronze Qualifying Expedition

Monday 8th Year 12 AS return from Study Leave

Thursday 11th Open Morning at 9.45am

Monday 15th Parents Society meeting at 7.30pm

Monday 15th – Friday 19th Year 12 IB Trial Examinations

Year 10 Examinations

Monday 15th – Friday 26th Year 7 and Year 8 Examinations

Friday 19th Parents Society Midsummer Raffle Draw

Saturday 20th Rock Challenge Premier Final in Portsmouth

Tuesday 23rd Sports Day

Wednesday 24th International Baccalaureate Induction Day

Thursday 25th Sixth Form Induction Day

Friday 26th Y12 Birmingham University Visit

Parents Society Years 7 & 8 Disco at 7.00pm

Saturday 27th – Monday 29th DofE Silver Qualifying Expedition in the Peak District

Support Parents Society fundraising from home!

An application form is available on Parents Society page of school website.

Quarterly prize fund of around £300!

Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School | www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk

Dates for your Diary

Designed & Produced by FSE Design Tel: 01933 303520 www.fsedesign.co.uk

Dates are liable to change. Please see the school website for up to date information www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk

May 2015

June 2015

September 2015

July 2015Wednesday 1st Year 12 Next Steps Day

Friday 3rd Celebration of Achievement at 1.30pm

Summer Concert at 6.00pm

Saturday 4th – Sunday 5th DofE Bronze Qualifying Expedition

Monday 6th International Baccalaureate Results released

New Year 7 & 8 Parents Evening

Tuesday 7th New Year 7 & 8 Students Induction Day

Open Evening from 6.30 - 8.30pm

Friday 10th Open Morning at 9.45am

Sunday 12th – Monday 10th August

World Challenge India

Monday 13th – Friday 17th Enrichment Week

Friday 17th Final day of the academic year

Monday 20th – Monday 31st August

SUMMER HOLIDAY

Thursday 13th A Level Results released

Thursday 20th GCSE Results released

Tuesday 1st – Wednesday 2nd Inset – School closed to students

Thursday 3rd Years 7 & 8 (+ Year 10 Buddies) + Year 13 only in school

Friday 4th All Year Groups in school

Year 12 Induction Day, including Wet ‘n Wild