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EXTENDED LEARNING WEEK

2017

“GAUDEAMUS” “Let Us Rejoice!”

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Extended Learning Week is now an established part of the life of MGS. It provides a chance for students and staff to enjoy learning together outside of the prescribed curriculum. We want to give students the opportunity to extend and develop their knowledge, skills, cultural and social experiences. ELW is a golden opportunity to encourage and develop relationships across and between the year groups. ‘Gaudeamus’ (Let us Rejoice!) is this year’s motto. We also want staff to engage positively in this week and provide them with the opportunity to develop their own creativity, interests, skills and cultural appreciations. The last four Extended Learning Weeks have been a great success and we received some excellent feedback from parents, including:

� “We have just read the ELW Newspaper to see what the other groups have been doing and it looks amazing.”

� “He came home every evening full of the events of the day.” � “I said to you at parents’ evening, it sounded great on paper, and if you could deliver it, then I would

be impressed, and I was!” School Rules and Dress Code Normal school rules and expectations apply during this week, as in any other week. However, staff and students are permitted to wear smart and casual clothes, or specific clothing, as directed by your activity leader and the task that you are doing. Normal attendance and punctuality rules apply. There will be registration at the start of the day and after lunch and it will be completed by your activity leader. Your Extended Learning Week base becomes the equivalent of your form room for the week. Latecomers must sign in with a senior member of staff at the School Office. The timings of the day will be different: 8.40am – 10.10am Session One To include AM Statutory Registration by the activity leader between 8.40am-8.50am. 10.10am – 10.30am Morning Break 10.30am – 12pm Session Two 12pm – 12.50pm Lunch (The Refectory will be operational as normal). 12.50pm – 2pm Session Three To include PM Statutory Registration by the activity leader between 12.50pm-1pm. 2pm – 2.20pm Afternoon Break 2.20pm – 3.30pm Session Four There will be a slightly earlier finish at 3pm on 7th July. Swap over for 2.5 day activities will be at the end of session 2 on Wednesday 5th July. If parents believe they are eligible for financial support for their child to participate in a costed activity then please contact Miss Johnson or Mrs Sewell in confidence. Please note that, in some cases, the costs below may change marginally as numbers and prices are confirmed. Activities Choice Forms: The activities choice forms will be available to students from Form Tutors on Wednesday 29th March during afternoon registration – for return to Form Tutors to hand as a complete class set to Dr Everett by Friday 21st April 2017.

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ACTIVITIES:

Adventure Kent Duration: 5 days Cost: £125-£150 approx. payable in advance of the week Adventure Kent offers students a week of outdoor sports and activities including climbing, sailing, canoeing, rafting, hiking, mountain biking and an overnight camp. There will be three days of activities in and around Kent, with a two day one night expedition going to the South Downs National Park. Students should expect to learn many new skills, push their physical limits, make new friends and have a great adventure! Basketball Camp Duration: 2.5 days Cost: £0 Horse, 21, Round the World, Streetball 3-on-3, full court... Interested in many different approaches to Basketball? Then this camp is for you. After a brief introductory history of the game’s invention, we will develop fundamental skills: pivoting, passing, dribbling, shooting, and rebounding. After fundamentals development, competitions begin in the Sports Hall, with teams changing frequently, allowing a range of games throughout the day. A mini-fives tournament will complete the competition. After lunch, we’ll cool down with videos like Under the Rim (a history of the short man in professional basketball), and Basketball Bloopers and Blunders. You’ll need good appropriate footwear, changes of T-shirts and socks, a towel, water bottle, and sports tape for weak knees or ankles. Prepare to run, jump, and perspire in copious volumes! Chess Duration: 2.5 days Cost: £20 payable in advance of the week Chess is over 1000 years old and its worldwide popularity has never been greater due to the internet. Anyone can play against anyone anywhere in the world on a smartphone. It's more than just a game though and learning chess has proven to help with study skills, business planning and dementia prevention in later life. As in life, one bad decision in chess can have fatal consequences, but one moment of inspiration can open a door to long term success. We will teach you to play the game if you don't know already, how to avoid careless mistakes and some master tactics to crush your opponents. There will be explanations at appropriate levels and puzzles as well as an overall competition at the end of the 2.5 days. Students will be using both boards and laptop computers.

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Conan Doyle Duration: 2.5 days Cost: £0 Enjoy an exploration of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Adventures. Based in our Library, discover the mysterious 'Mind Palace' and the impeccable logic of, possibly, the world’s most intelligent sleuth. We will delve into the stories as relayed by Watson, Sherlock’s loyal companion, watch films which are faithful to the writing of Conan Doyle’s works and engage in some Detective Work of our own. We will work through a few of Sherlock’s intriguing case clues, following his path of logic to solve some of the puzzles he faced. Along the way, we may discuss Victorian life, addiction, friendship and much more. There will be ample opportunity for you to research any aspect of Sherlock you choose. Sherlock Fans: join us for a fun filled immersion in the world of Detective Fiction. Creative Pop Duration: 2.5 days Cost: £0 If you love art, have a flair for creativity, or an eye for design, then this is the activity for you! Over the course of 2.5 days, you will be working within a team to develop display boards and areas within the school showcasing and celebrating student work, subject initiatives and excellent classroom experiences. If you would like to spend 2.5 days creating, making and injecting a pop into the corridors, this is the team for you. Fast but not Furious (Technology) Duration: 5 days (maximum of 20 students) Cost: £20 payable in advance of the week Well, it’s time to stir up the dust, extended learning week is back. This year for a technological emphasis, we are going to design, develop, manufacture and compete with some simple vehicles. You will have the opportunity to find real skills in making things go faster. Using some pre-manufactured components and your imagination, you will create your own vehicles. In teams, you will race against the competition. As well as the fame, prizes will be available in a series of categories. Rejoice when you win even if you are not first past the post. It’s hands on and flat out. You will maximise the benefits of your design to achieve this. At the end of the week, your simple vehicle will be yours to keep, assuming you have not destroyed it on the assault course!! So look forward to seeing you soon as you drive into the sunset.

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Feel the Force Duration: 2.5 days Cost: £15 payable in advance of the week Try your hand at archery and develop an understanding of the science behind a perfect bow for arrow flight, as well as researching which materials are used and why. Understand how fundamental forces act in substances to give them weird and wonderful properties, from bouncing custard to plastic made from milk. Consider what forces make some bubbles sink and others float. A day at the Science Museum will help us to discover how we work with forces on a larger scale. Visit the spacecraft that returned Tim Peake to Earth from the ISS, see other exhibitions such as John Dalton - pioneer of Modern Chemistry, Flight, Exploring Space, Who Am I? And Making the Modern World. French Fun Days Duration: 5 days Cost: £0 In this activity, we will give students the opportunity to be a ‘Prof de Français’ in two local primary schools and use what they have learned to devise a series of fun and educational activities for primary school pupils. We will be working with East Borough and Park Way Primary Schools. By planning a carousel of activities, our students will be able to share their knowledge of French and of the francophone world in a creative way: the teaching of numbers through a song, teaching pupils to play ‘pétanque’ in French… Students will be in charge of the creation, the preparation and the teaching, with our support. The idea is that they will use as much French as possible and engage primary pupils in learning French. Games Design Workshop Duration: 5 days Cost: £0 Bored of Scratch? Want to actually create a computer game that you can share with your friends without the need of any additional software? Interested in pushing yourself into programming? Well then, the Games Design Workshop is for you. Over the course of a week, you’ll create and expand your own games, adding multiple levels, enemies or tasks as well as creating your own resources and combining them into a professional looking product. You’ll explore the fine balancing act of making a game hard, but rewarding. We will be using ‘GameMaker’ (designed for the Web, Consoles, PC or Mobiles) from Yoyo Games; a graphical drop and drag games design package that provides a powerful scripting language (GML) to take flat and dull games to the next level. Still not sure, go to http://www.yoyogames.com/showcase and check out what other people have made.

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Golf Academy Duration: 5 days Cost: £55 payable in advance of the week Golf’s winning combination of exercise, sporting skill and social interaction make it the perfect sport for good health and happiness. The Golf Academy, with a little bit of tennis included, is for beginners or golfers of any standard. Golfers with recognised handicaps are encouraged to sign up for this fabulous week which is designed to develop golfing techniques and skills at all levels. Monday to Thursday, you will be in small groups rotating around 5 activities (driving, video analysis, chipping, putting and keep fit) all under the tuition of PGA qualified professionals at the Tudor Park Golf Club, Bearsted. Friday will be Tournament Day for the 4 golfing activities and a golf competition on the course for the best golfer with a recognised handicap. Prizes for winners! Those taking part will have to arrange dropping off and collection from Tudor Park each day. If you want to fine-tune your game for the summer ahead, or want to learn and play golf for the first time, join The Golf Academy! Hadrian’s Wall Duration: 5 Days Cost: £270 (4 days coach travel, 3 nights’ food and accommodation, museum entry and evening activities) Have you ever wondered why the Romans, usually associated with a sunny Mediterranean climate, walked all the way to the North of England to build a great big wall and set up camp? Well then, get your swords and sandals ready to journey to the outpost of the Roman Empire! Find out about life as a Roman soldier and what the Romans did for us through visits to key archaeological sites such as the forts of Vindolanda, Housesteads and Segudunum and the Roman military museum. We will also have a chance to walk sections of Hadrian’s Wall in the footsteps of Roman legions. Stout footwear will be required! Hit List Duration: 2.5 days (maximum 20-25 students) Cost: £0 What is it that makes a song a hit? In “Hit List”, you will have the opportunity to join a song-writing workshop, learning the different components of writing a song, before creating an original piece and rehearsing this ready for a performance, as well as taking home a video recording of the final song. You will be responsible for all aspects of the piece, from the music and lyrics, to the choreography and production of the performance. If you are creative, love singing and playing instruments, and want to develop your song-writing abilities and performance skills further, then this is the activity to sign up for.

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“Lights, Camera, Animate!” Duration: 5 days Cost: £10 payable in advance of the week Stop motion animation is an art form which has seen a number of successes in the modern film industry; “Shaun the Sheep Movie” receiving an Oscar nomination recently for Best Animated Feature. Despite new technologies in CGI, stop motion is still a popular animation method, involving the creation of models and using slight movements and photographs to create moving images. In this 5 day activity, you will be given the chance to become an animator, to devise your own film narrative and iconic ‘clay-mation’ characters, and then to animate them. This will be a great opportunity for anyone with an artistic talent, and interest in filmmaking, animation or storytelling. The end result will be an animated film we can all be very proud of, with a red carpet premiere screening, of course. Mathematical Puzzles and Games (Or What to Do for Fun when the Electricity Runs Out!) Duration: 2.5 days Cost: £0 A 2.5 day activity when we will play all sorts of pencil and paper games and challenges including;

• Boxes

• Nim

• 2D, 3D and maybe even 4D noughts and crosses

• Battleships We will learn how to make codes and how to crack codes. We will design and make polyhedron models – and learn their names (a Rhombicosidodecahedron is NOT a dinosaur!) You will not need to bring anything except enthusiasm and your brain! MGS and the Chocolate Factory Duration: 5 days Cost: £5 payable in advance of the week MGS and the Chocolate factory will be a confectionary extravaganza! Roald Dahl’s masterpiece of a novel presents a chocolate factory where everything is edible. Over the space of a week, we will teach you the skills to make: biscuits, toffees, cakes, jams, caramels, hard boiled sweets, and to infuse these with flavour. We will then attempt to create a scaled version of the chocolate room from the book/film/stage show, where once again, everything will be edible. This will be a very hands-on week requiring you to be very creative and, of course, ready to eat a lot of sweets!

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In the News Duration: 5 days Cost: £0 Do you fancy yourself as a Newspaper Editor or an Interviewer? Well, this may be your opportunity to do both – along with any other super job in the Media World of the Electronic Newspaper. During Extended Learning Week, you will be part of a team running a daily blog on the various activities that are taking place in and around the school. You will also produce a newspaper on Friday which will hopefully bring together all that has been happening and give the results of competitions. There will be opportunities to go around and interview staff and students and photograph the different exciting things that are taking place. There will also be an introduction into the KM Media Group Newspapers in Gillingham, where you will get the chance to meet an editorial team, speak to a reporter and see the process of a news story from shorthand notes to print. You will also get to meet the ‘Kent-on-Line’ news team and see how the online stories now attract over 2 million unique users per month. You will also have the added bonus of meeting the KMFM radio news team. So, if you fancy yourself as the next big Media Mogul, sign up! Midsummer Mayhem Duration: 5 days Cost: £15 payable in advance of the week Calling all budding actors, musicians, singers, dancers and stage managers! It can be tough rehearsing for a play when you have homework and lessons to go to. NOW you have the opportunity to spend a whole week devoted to the fun of putting a show together, with the added excitement of performing to an appreciative audience of primary school children on the last day. Based on Peter Pan, our summer panto will include the very evil Captain Hook and his dastardly pirates, the heroic Peter Pan himself, the magical Tinker Bell, Wendy, the Lost Boys and a very cunning crocodile. Nana, the pantomime dog, is bound to be a hit with her dance routines. And there will be flying! Good musicians and backstage staff are essential to make the show a success. There will be opportunities to sing and dance as well as act. Rowing Duration: 2.5 days (maximum of 12 students) Cost: £20 payable in advance of the week This activity is really aimed at students who have never rowed before to give them an opportunity to learn how to both row and scull. Students will initially learn rowing techniques on rowing machines and then transfer that knowledge to a boat. Students will learn about water safety, boat handling and how to move a boat efficiently. All participants must be able to swim. The activity takes place at Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club over 2.5 days and will culminate in some races on the final day. On Monday, group 1 will meet at school and students will thereafter travel to/from Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club independently. On Wednesday afternoon, group 2 will meet at school and students will thereafter travel to/from Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club independently.

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MGS Sports Media Week: Duration: 5 days Cost: £0 For all those interested in competition and analysing performances with technology and media! Be the star of your team and of your own sports video! You will be competing as a team in a number of sporting events, including: Rugby Sevens, Volleyball, Penalty Shootouts, T-Ball, and Street Hockey, to top the table and win a trophy for your efforts. Using video cameras, performance analysis software, GPS and statistic apps, you will be able to produce your own ‘Match of the Day’ or ‘Sky Sports’ style programme detailing the events of the week. For the sportsmen and ‘techies’ amongst you! Tennis Duration: 5 days Cost: £55 payable in advance of the week South-Eastern Tennis coaches will be offering an intensive week of tennis coaching during the MGS Extended Learning Week this summer at Penenden Heath. The idea is to teach those with limited experience the basic strokes and rules allowing them to play a game. (Other more advanced players may learn specialist strokes and tactics and compete in fun competitions). Students will have an opportunity to continue either playing for fun by hiring courts, going to Summer Holiday Camps, or playing in competitions at the excellent public facilities at Penenden Heath, or Maidstone Lawn Tennis Club in Allington. Boys will need to arrange their own transport to and from Penenden Heath and provide their own drinks and lunches. Warhammer: Duration: 5 days Cost: £0, but students provide their own models and materials such as paint. Warhammer is a table top strategy board game played with dice and models. We will be spending a week learning how to play Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. Monday will be spent getting to know each other, learning the basics of playing the game, with the rest of the week painting models and playing. A visit to Games Workshop in Maidstone will be arranged to look at models and structures. We will learn how to play the game (at all levels) and how to paint models during the week.

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Wooden Ships Iron Men Duration: 5 days Cost: £10 payable in advance of the week Do you like learning about the Age of Sail? Do you like learning about the time when Britannia ruled the waves? Do you like learning about Admiral Nelson and his famous naval battles? This activity explores life aboard a British ship-of-war in the 18th and 19th centuries, when squared-rigged sailing ships dominated the seas. We will look at the work of the crew, at ship manoeuvres and at fleet actions. You can construct and paint your own die-cast ship model and use it to take part in a grand battle between two fleets.

MORE PHOTOS FROM ELW 2016