1 Issue No 20/2015-2016

Thetford Grammar School

The small, friendly school that gets results for individuals.

26th February 2016

Dear Parents and Pupils,

I do hope that all enjoyed a pleasant half-term break and are fully refreshed to start this

extremely short second half. Easter holidays are imminent, now only three weeks away.

During the holidays Mr Theo Bailey, Facilities Supervisor, and his team have availed us of a

number of improvements, particularly painting and decorating in Losinga and the L-Shaped

Block. We have also replaced older items of furniture in Cloisters and Old School. I am

certainly very happy with the upgraded and fresher appearance. I do hope that you have

noticed a distinct difference and that you are also pleased with the results.

As part of many exciting events leading up to World Book Day on Wednesday 3rd March, we

started on Monday 22nd February with a wonderful celebration of reading and literature

with the Bumper Book Quiz in Williamson Hall as part of a Guinness Book of Records

attempt to have the most number of people concurrently taking part in a book quiz. Mrs

Julie Settle, TGS Librarian, organised this beautifully on behalf of the school with many

members of staff, external stewards and, of course, pupils thoroughly enjoying their

afternoon of thought-provoking, literary questions.

Yesterday was our Senior School Open Afternoon for prospective pupils. We received a

number of visitors, adults and their children, touring the school and seeing classes in action,

culminating in refreshments and questions in my study. Our visitors were all extremely

complimentary about our school, the teaching staff, the pupils and their very able Sixth

Form tour guides. My thanks to all involved.

This morning I am looking forward to hearing Mrs Scott talk to us, in our Whole School

Assembly in Williamson Hall, about her considerable charitable endeavours. She is training

to take part in the London Marathon in aid of MS.

A reminder that our Focus Group meeting for all current parents is on Tuesday 8th March,

starting at 8.30am. I, and other members of staff, shall be delighted to welcome you to the

school to talk about a number of current issues. As always, clear communication and

dialogue are important, so that we can consider any changes and improvements for the

benefit of all stakeholders.

I do wish you all a very happy and healthy weekend.

Mr Mark S. Bedford

Headmaster

2 Issue No 20/2015-2016

GRIMM TALES

The half term ended with a flourish as the Drama

Department performed its latest extravaganza in the

form of their own version of the Grimm Brothers

Fairy Tales entitled ‘Grimm Tales.’

As with every school production the Opening Night

ended a frenetic period of after-school rehearsals,

Sunday rehearsals and all day rehearsals during the

days running up to the first performance. This year was also special as it was the first

production by our new Head of Drama Mrs Boyce; and without a doubt we can all say that

the school production for 2016 was an outstanding success.

Each story followed the

general plot line of the

modern versions such as Red

Riding Hood; however every

version offered a dark twist

to each narrative, which was

in keeping with the original

tales. As a result many of the

young actors had to act out

the gory as well as the sweet parts of these well-known tales.

Outstanding performances came from many pupils; particularly old

stalwarts such as Emily Scott, Charles Mead, Ben Doyle and Alfie

Bloomfield. However this

year we have had an influx of excellent actors lower

down the school and as a result we were equally

impressed by the talents of Miranda Patalidis-

Thomas, Madeleine Trussell, Jenni Kingsnorth,

Rosabella Coleman, Franzi Elders, Charlotte Ogilvie,

Isabelle Murfitt, Louise Macrow, Oskar and Luca

Prior alongside Evangeline Bedford and Euan Miller.

We also saw different styles of performance this year

with puppetry, silhouettes, physical theatre and

lighting being used to augment each tale. Christian

Eade and Euan Miller's version of 'The Bird, the

Mouse and the Sausage' was an excellent example of

the way Mrs Boyce used puppets, lights and shadow

to turn a short tale into something darker.

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Similarly she used the whole ensemble to create a

dark forest simply by grouping the performers

together and asking them to move in subtle ways to

portray the threatening wood as a backdrop to show

off the talents of Michael Heslop and Alfie Bloomfield

in 'Iron Hans'.

Other excellent performances came from Andrew

Forbes, Gabrielle Hunter-Short and James Sibley

who all cemented their reputations as fine actors in

their latest performances for the school.

Overall this year's school production was an

outstanding success and I paid tribute to all the

performers and our back stage crew of Emily Neary,

Evie Pettingale, Isobel Tod, Sophie Rose-Land, Zoe

Kendall and Joseph Ramsbottom; as well as the

technical crew of Gus Altuccini, Oscar Lane, Roberto

Castillo-Olivares and Rory White. Hair and make-up

was provided by Cecily White and Sophia Colasante

while Megan Gallacher did a fine job of

photographing the performances.

Three Y13 students, however, must be thanked for

their tireless work in many other productions not just

the 2016 version. Emily Bell, Finn Humphris and

Ross Gallacher have either performed, directed, lit or

organised part of every show during the past six

years and Grimm Tales was to be their last

production. Both Mrs Boyce and I thanked them for

all their efforts and wished them well for their future

careers.

Mr Bradley Young

Head of English

SENIOR SCHOOL PRODUCTION REVIEW

The opening to the play was exciting and mysterious. I loved it as it got the audience really

engaged and interested. As the play went on I liked the layout and overall presentation. The

play was divided into short stories that kept me interested. The transition between stories

was smooth and fast. My classmates also loved it.

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The backdrop and decorations were detailed and I got the impression that everybody had

really worked hard on this play. The riddle to work out in the interval was also a good

addition. Even though I only saw the first half I thought it was absolutely wonderful and I

wish I could have seen the second half.

5 stars!

Cathy

Year 6

SPRINGTIME IN PRE-PREP THIS WEEK

Spring has sprung in Pre-Prep this week and the pupils have been enjoying planting their very own beanstalks, sunflowers and potatoes! Furthermore, pupils will care for their pots and are all very excited to watch them grow.

Miss Francesca Atkins

Teaching Assistant

ICT REVISION

Half term may have been a holiday for some of our

students, but our Y11 ICT and Computing Twilight students

did not want to stop. They came in for two days with Mr

Foreman to develop their skills with spreadsheets,

programming and website design in order to reach the

highest standards possible ahead of their GCSEs.

Mr Mark Foreman Head of Computing

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Y2 MATHS LESSON

This week Y2 have been looking at multiplication and division and how they are connected.

The children had to make the sum '4 x 3 = 12' into a word problem. Once they had thought of

a good word problem, they drew a picture to make it into a poster. Elliot, Gabriel and Harry

made a multiplication sum and Connie used division.

Mrs Julie Foreman

Class Teacher

WORLD BOOK DAY

Alex Scarrow is the award winning author of the Time Rides series and

will be with us on Monday 29th February. After his talk to Y7 – Y9 he

will be holding workshops with Y7 and Y8. There will be time after his

talk for book signing and a range of his books will be for sale at £6.00.

On World Book Day Thursday 3rd March we will start the day with a

Whole School Read during form time – make sure you bring a book to

read (or newspaper, magazine, etc). Prep School will be dressing up as

their favourite Book Characters.

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Don’t forget you can enter our Tasty Book Competition on Friday 4th March – more details

attached. Our previous competitions have shown some very talented culinary creations and

Mrs Settle is looking forward to seeing this year’s entries.

All children will receive £1 Book Tokens. These can be spent on special £1 books (see the

list at http://www.worldbookday.com/books/) at book shops or can be used with the

Scholastic Book Club magazines. (Alex Scarrow is unable to accept them - the books he is

selling are already discounted from the RRP.)

If you would like to place an order from the Scholastic Book Club magazines you can do

this online at http://schools.scholastic.co.uk/thetford-grammar or send in your order to Mrs

Settle by Monday March 7th.

Mrs Julie Settle

Librarian

TASTY BOOK COMPETITION

Have you ever been inspired by the fabulous food featured in books such as the wonderful desserts in Hogwarts or the chocolate in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Well now is the chance to try out your baking skills and raise money for the library at the same time. Friday 4th March is Tasty Book Competition Day – to enter the competition you will need to make at

least 6 individual fairy cakes, biscuits, tarts, pies or one cake, biscuit, tart or pie that can be cut up. All entries must be inspired by food mentioned in a story book or decorated in a way that is inspired by a particular book. The poster attached to the newsletter gives you more details.

Mrs Julie Settle

Librarian

PREP SCHOOL BOOK CHARACTER DAY

Thursday 3rd March promises to be one of the highlights of the Prep School year as we will

be celebrating World Book Day with our annual Book Character Day. Pupils are invited to

dress up as a book character and many have already begun planning their costumes. If you

haven’t chosen which character you’re going to be, don’t worry, there’s still time! We will be

holding several exciting activities during the week for all pupils to enjoy.

Mrs Nicki Peace

Head of Preparatory School

7 Issue No 20/2015-2016

BUMPER HOUSE BOOK QUIZ: GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS

OFFICIAL ATTEMPT

On Monday we took part in a world record attempt to achieve the most

people taking part in simultaneous literary quizzes. At 2:00pm the

Williamson Hall was full with over 100 pupils from Prep and Senior

School joining forces to compete for their House, organised into 4 tables per house in mixed

ages from Y4 to Y9. The quiz master was myself and a small army of invigilators were also

in attendance – Sixth Formers and staff marking, scoring and recording plus independent

witnesses were part of the verification process for such an enormous event.

The eventual winners of the House Competition were the

teams from Reeds with 118 points, closely followed by

Millingtons in second place with 114.5 points. Millingtons

Table 4 team were commended for having the highest

table score of 35 points. Mrs Settle said that she was

‘delighted with the success of the event’ and thanked

everyone who participated.

We are looking forward to World Book Day on 3rd March when the result of the Guinness

World Record attempt will be published.

In the meantime do you know the answers to these questions from the quiz?

1. E. Nesbit wrote a classic story about two sisters and a brother – Roberta, Phyllis and Peter.

What was it called?

2. In The Wizard of Oz, who dies when Dorothy’s House lands on her?

3. What do the following have in common: Dinah, Orlando and Mog?

4. Who has a grumpy teacher called Mr Fullerman in a famous series of books?

5. Angie Sage is the author of which famous series of fantasy books?

Mr Bradley Young

Head of English

PRE-PREP NEW OUTDOOR KITCHEN

Pre-Prep pupils have also had a rather special delivery this week. Mr Jenkinson has been exceptionally generous and made Pre-Prep pupils their own outdoor kitchen. They have taken great pleasure in washing up their pots and pans and are all eager to make some mud pies. Special thanks to Mr Jenkinson and his team for producing such a wonderful gift.

Miss Franchesca Atkins

Teaching Assistant

8 Issue No 20/2015-2016

SPORTS RELIEF FRIDAY 11th MARCH

Pupils in the Prep and Pre-Prep School, as well as volunteer Senior

School pupils, are taking part in a sponsored Kilometre-Conga at lunch

time on Friday 11th March our Non-Uniform Day. This is to raise money

for Sports Relief on 18th March. We are aiming to raise as much money

through pupil sponsorship as we do through the £1 donation for non-

uniform. Pupils are being encouraged to wear at least one item of their House colour for the

conga event and we hope that pupils not partaking will offer lots of support on the side-

lines. The kilometre will be measured out around the field on the Fulmerston side of the

school and all sponsorship monies will be collected during the week beginning 14th March.

Photographs will follow!

Miss Daniella Dunsmore

Charities Co-ordinator

BAKE SALE TUESDAY 1st MARCH

This will follow an assembly presented to all

pupils by Mrs Sallyanne Scott. Mrs Scott is raising

money in support of MS and today she presented

details of her marathon training and motivations

behind her fundraising initiatives to the whole

school. To support Mrs Scott, we are hosting a

whole-school bake sale outside the Languages

corridor and the Prep school on Tuesday 1st

March. Any cakes and bakes will be gratefully

received in Roger North or the School Office. If your homemade cakes include any kind of

nut products please label them accordingly. Thank you for your support!

Miss Daniella Dunsmore

Charities Co-ordinator

AU REVOIR THETFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL

A message from Nicolas who has been spending this week

with Y7 pupils. It was lovely to meet you Nicolas.

‘J’ai beaucoup aimé venir dans votre collège pendant cette

semaine. Merci de m’avoir accueilli de cette façon, les élèves et

les professeurs sont très gentils. Le collège anglais change

beaucoup par rapport au collège français. Les cours ne durent

que 40 minutes, les terrains de sport sont très grands, on fait

des cours de théâtre, on peut acheter des gâteaux à la recreation, les classes sont plus petities

et les professeurs sont rigolos! Ce sera pur moi un excellent souvenir.

Merci pour tout!’

Nicolas

9 Issue No 20/2015-2016

I really enjoyed spending a week in your school. Thank you for making me feel welcome,

students and teachers have been very kind to me. School in England is very different from

school in France. Lessons last only 40 minutes, sports fields are really big, you have Drama

lessons, you can buy cakes at break time, classes are small and teachers are fun! I will have

great memories of my stay here.

Thank you for everything.

Nicolas

CONGRATULATIONS

Michael Heslop in Y7 has been offered a part in the ensemble for

‘Goodnight Mister Tom’ with the Cambridge Arts Theatre in May. Well

done Michael – break a leg!

Congratulations to the following pupils who received certificates from Mrs

Peace in a Prep School assembly this week.

George Bullen Thomas Hayden Gabriel Galveias

Connie Foreman Sophie Peace Arlo Greenwood

Thomas Lyes Sam Sidery Owen Wortley

Joshua Kriehn-Morris Maia Foreman Ethan Harris

Cassidy Goodwin Ben Mason

Also, well done to those pupils listed below who received their Norfolk Winter School

Games Cross Country certificates this week.

Arlo Greenwood Thomas Hayden Matthew Kendall Ryan Bourne

The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music certificates were awarded in assembly

this morning. Well done to the following pupils:

Tom Bercovici Grade 1 Singing - Merit

Elliott Sanders Grade 3 Singing – Merit

Finn Humphris Grade 5 Singing – Pass

Sophie Ogilvie Grade 2 Piano – Pass

Elizabeth Wright Grade 3 Piano – Pass

Kate Doyle Grade 3 Piano – Pass

Jacob Wright Grade 4 Piano – Merit

Kirishoban Sanjeevvijay Grade 6 Piano – Pass

George Rupp Grade 7 Piano – Pass

Shaswathan Sanjeevvijay Grade 1 Alto Saxophone – Pass

Finn Humphris Grade 7 Violin – Pass

George Rupp Grade 5 Cello - Pass

10 Issue No 20/2015-2016

MATCH RESULTS

Tuesday 23rd February U12 Netball v Thetford Academy

U13 Netball v Thetford Academy

Won 8 - 1

Lost 6 - 7

Thursday 25th February U13 Netball Area Tournament:

1) Northgate High

2) Thetford Academy

3) Old Buckenham

4) Wymondham College

Won 8 - 1

Won 6 - 0

Won 5 - 2

Won 5 - 2

NEXT WEEK’S FIXTURES

Saturday 27th February U11 Football Tournament (A) Finborough 9.30am

Tuesday 1st March U15 Football v Eccles (A) 2.30pm

U18 Netball v Finborough (H) 4.00pm. Pick up 5.15pm

U18 Football v Finborough (H) 4.00pm. Pick up 5.30pm

Wednesday 2nd March Y4 – Y6 County Swimming Gala UEA 12.30pm. Return TGS 5.00pm

Y7 – Y9 County Swimming Gala UEA 9.00am. Return TGS 1.00pm

U12 Netball v Finborough (H) 2.45pm. Pick up 4.00pm

U14 Area Semi-Final v Old Buckenham High School 4.30pm. Pick up

5.45pm

Thursday 3rd March U15 Area Netball Tournament @ Thetford Academy 4.00pm. Pick up

5.45pm

Friday 4th March U11 Hockey v Glebe 7-a-side (A) 2.30pm. Pick up 5.00pm

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Monday 29th February Y7/8 Workshop with Alex Scarrow

Pre-Prep – Y2 Pirate Adventure with Mandy Hartley 11.30am

Tuesday 1st March Charity Bake Sale in aid of Multiple Sclerosis

Wednesday 2nd March

Y8 Parents’ Evening Williamson Hall 6.00pm – 8.30pm

County Schools Swimming Gala at UEA 12.30pm

Thursday 3rd March World Book Day

Prep School Book Character Day

Y4 - 6 ‘The Story of Mary Anning’ with Mandy Hartley at

11.45am

Y4 – 6 Fossils with Mandy Hartley 1.40pm

Y10 Skills East Careers Fair

Friday 4th March Tasty Book Competition

General Studies talk Old School 11.00am – 12.00pm. Parents

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welcome

Monday 7th March Y7 Castle Hill, Thetford visit

Tuesday 8th March Parents’ Focus Group 8.30am – 9.30am.

Wednesday 9th March Y12 visit to Nottingham University – depart 8.00am.

Y6 Crucial Crew visit at Letton Hall 8.45am

‘Eggstravaganza’ for Pre-Prep School

Thursday 10th March German Exchange Outbound

Friday 11th March Non-Uniform Day in aid of Sport Relief

Sponsored Kilometre-Conga

SIXTH FORM GENERAL STUDIES

Parents are invited to attend Sixth Form General Studies on Friday 4th March, when Dr Lee

Jarvis, Reader in International Security at UEA (and author of Anti-terrorism, Citizenship and

Security) will be our guest speaker. The event will take place in Old School from 11.00am-

12.00pm. Please register your interest through the school office.

Mr Stephen Spencer

Head of Sixth Form

PRE-PREP EASTER ‘EGGS’TRAVAGNZA OPEN MORNING

We are holding the above event on Wednesday 9th March in the Goldcrest Classroom from

10.15am – 12.00 noon. If you have any friends or family who have pre-school children all are

welcome to attend. Please see the attached flier.

Mrs Nicki Peace

Head of Preparatory School

LOST PROPERTY

Ethan Harris ‘Patrick’ Rugby sock – named

Hamish Russell Blue Sondico Shinpad

Gabriel Galveias Black gloves – they have a ‘star wars’ picture on each one.

ATTACHMENTS

Tasty Book Competition Poster click here

Easter ‘Eggstravaganza’ Poster click here

FORTHCOMING LETTERS

Y6 Under 11’s Football Tournament at Finborough School

Y4 -5 BBC Radio 2 – 500 Words Competition

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Y4 – 6 County Swimming Gala at UEA

Y6 Crucial Crew Visit

Y7 Castle Hill, Thetford visit

Y8 Y8 Parents’ Evening

Y11 Leavers’ Day Celebrations and Y11 Prom

Y11 Study Leave arrangements

If you would like a printed copy of this newsletter please contact the office.