issue number 30 july 2014€¦ · childhood - a ks3 evening of drama it has been another busy year...

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DGGS Times ISSUE NUMBER 30 JULY 2014

From the Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers It is hard to believe that we are already

at the end of the academic year! DGGS is such a busy place with so many different events, trips, visits and opportunities in addition to the “normal” curriculum being offered every day. Term 6 has included a remarkable variety of activities including the highly successful Summer Arts & Technology Festival with an excellent Key Stage 3 Drama production, superb Art, Textiles, Design & Technology and Food Technology displays and exhibitions, and the fantastic Fashion Show. At the start of July the music trip to our partner school in Hanau with Dartford Grammar School received exceptionally positive feedback. Sports Day the same week proved to be a highly competitive event with students representing their Houses (results to be confirmed on the last day of term), and the teachers’ race quite possibly attracting the loudest cheer of the afternoon.

The Curriculum Enhancement Week 7th – 11th July offered students the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities including residential trips to France, Germany, Spain and Cornwall, as well as visits to Brighton, Imperial College, Chessington and a huge variety of different opportunities in school, such the excellent Higher Education Event for Year 12, “Meet the Bugs”, student-organised parties for the elderly and children from a special school, as well as dance, drama, art and music activities. My thanks go to all our staff for the huge amount of organisation,

preparation and hard work needed to ensure that it was such a successful week.

During the final week of the academic year some of Year 7 have been participating in an outward bounds trip to Shropshire whilst the remaining students in the year group are completing a special project to fill and then bury a time capsule to be opened just before they leave school at the end of Year 13, in 2020. Students in all other year groups have been

completing the year’s planned curriculum with their subject teachers. On the last day of term we will also hold our final Celebration Assembly of the year to celebrate the many successes of the students and award the House

shield to the House who have accumulated the most points in 2013-2014. It will also be an opportunity to thank and wish good luck to the staff who are leaving the school at the end of the year. A special mention and sincere thanks and appreciation must go to Ann Roberts and Anne Wiltshire who are retiring after 29 and 22 years’ service to the school; we hope they have a very happy retirement.

Finally I would like to thank parents for your continual support and commitment to the school. I hope that all our families have a relaxing, enjoyable and safe summer break and we look forward to welcoming students back on Wednesday 3rd September for their Academic Review Day/Induction (depending on the year group), and on Thursday 4th September for lessons as usual.

Sharon Pritchard Headteacher

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Examinations

Officer passes

with flying

colours!

2

Childhood - KS3

evening of

Drama

4

My Life in the

Philippines

5

Gold in

Cambridge

Chemistry

Challenge 2014

6

GSK/McLaren Pit Stop Challenge

9

The 2014 Fashion Show

12

The KS3 and Year 9 Exhibition 2014

15

Business Trip to Amsterdam

16

Farewell from Mrs Roberts

17

Sports Results 18

FPTA 19

London-Paris 20

Term Dates 2014-2015

21


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ISSUE NUMBER 30

Working together to achieve academic excellence and personal potential

Governor News

Examinations Officer passes

with flying colours!

GCSE, AS and A-level examinations are over - well, until next year, that is! A huge sigh of relief resounds as the last papers are packaged up and sent off to the exam boards for marking and the ‘SILENCE Exam In Progress’ boards are put away until the next exam season. No more biting of nails or anxious early morning waking for Year 10, 11, 12 and 13 students or for our Examinations Officer, Suzanne Crawley, and her efficient team of invigilators.

The combined efforts of our Examination Officer and her team ensure “the smooth running of the most significant event in the school calendar which impacts upon hundreds of students’ – and their parents’ –lives” (www.theexamsoffice.org). Months of meticulous planning and attention to fine detail are what contributed to the successful completion of 121 exams over a period of 26 days.

Every year, the school is routinely inspected by the JCQ who visit every examination centre in the country to check that the rigorous standards they set are being met. This year, DGGS was awarded 100% which Suzanne Crawley was delighted by, as it is her first year in the role of Exams Officer.

Many congratulations to Suzanne who now begins the groundwork for the next series of exams in 2015!

Wendy Mackenzie Teaching Assistant : English

As we come to the end of another eventful, busy and very successful year for the school, we can reflect on the many changes, achievements and successes this year. The examination results last year were the best ever for the school and a just reward for all of the hard work and commitment of our students, we look forward to this year’s results when published in August and hope that all students achieve the grades that they are aspiring to. A new sixth form centre has been created this year to provide state of the art facilities for our Year 12 and 13 students that has proved to be very popular with current and prospective sixth form students, our aim is to continue to upgrade and improve the facilities for students and staff..

Term 6, as always, has been a very busy term with public examinations, enrichment activities, residential trips, arts events, the FPTA summer fayre to mention just a few. Governors have enjoyed attending and supporting many events including the recent arts festival evenings and fashion show where the talent and creativity of the students was showcased brilliantly and the standard of work was most impressive. I would like to especially mention the impressive KS3 production that took place this year, a marvellous performance with many talented actresses taking part, it was a most enjoyable way to spend a Friday evening. As Governors we appreciate and acknowledge the effort and commitment of staff and students alike that ensures all of these activities

are enjoyable, successful and rewarding for all concerned.

As we come to the end of this academic year, on behalf of Governors, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all teaching staff, support staff, students and parents for their very positive contributions to the school and to its continued success. I would especially like to thank Mrs Pritchard, Mr Jones, Mr Hardwick and other members of the Senior Leadership Team for their leadership of the school this year.

To the students and members of staff who will be leaving the school this year I wish you all continued success on whichever path you choose to follow and hope that you are leaving this school with many fond memories of your time here. I wish you all a very restful and relaxing summer, hopefully with some fine weather, and wish all of those awaiting public examination results in August every success – you deserve it!

A special mention to Mrs Roberts and Mrs Wiltshire who are retiring at the end of this term with an amazing 51 years of combined service at DGGS, we will miss them but hope that they both have a wonderful retirement.

Finally, I would like to thank my fellow Governors for their support over the last year.

Janice Brooke Chair of Governors

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Visiting the building whose hallways, chambers and grounds were actually trodden by the feet of Wolsey, Henry and his various queens bring History close in a way that the pages of a book cannot manage. Our visit is made extra special because we have actual Tudor people (or modern people dressed up - they don’t always say) leading high-quality study sessions. One of these is designed to get young people not just to see but to observe and think about several aspects of the architecture and decoration. There was also a brilliant lesson which took our girls through the whole story of the Reformation (including divergences over the Eucharist - very brave) and put them into role to help make a crucial decision in Queen Elizabeth’s reign.

What made the visit special for me this year was two things. But first, you need to know that there are actual Tudor people from Henry’s court wandering about the place - and this time there is no ambiguity: they really are in role. In addition to bumping into His Majesty King Henry himself (a dignified yet affable gent, considerably more approachable than his sixteenth century manifestation, one can’t help feeling) we witnessed a blistering row between Katherine Howard and

Year 7 Visit to Hampton Court Palace,

21st May 2014

Princess Mary. Katherine seemed to fancy her chances of attracting the attention of Henry, now that he has rejected poor Anne of Cleves on sight. The audience - other than our girls mainly a Dutch party with that nation’s famously superb grasp of the English language and culture - no doubt were thinking, “No, Katherine, no. Don’t do it! It will end badly!” But we were all too polite - and she was too much of a little spitfire - for us to speak up.

The other thing that was notable was the number of highly favourable comments about the behaviour, intelligence and responsiveness of our girls. They were a credit to us and to themselves.

Michael McGinty Curriculum Area Leader: History

Young Reporter Awards 2014

Emma Rossiter 13G, Kailee O’Hare 12G, Olivia Dibua 12B, Hollie Tang 12G, Ella Smith, 12G, Sukirti Lohani 10K and Amy Phillips 10L have successfully completed 8 months work experience with the News Shopper. This is an impressive achievement which requires dedication, hard work and time whilst they are also studying full-time for GCSE, AS and A level examinations. All seven students will now appear in the Young Reporter Awards brochure and their chosen articles will be entered for the Awards which cover the wide range of categories that each student is expected to cover during their work experience. A special mention goes to Emma who has completed the 8 month cycle twice now in two years which shows her real determination to succeed as a journalist. Both years, her local news items have sparked considerable interest among the professional reporters employed by the News Shopper and have been reprinted in local editions of the paper. Many congratulations from all at DGGS and good luck with your future careers in journalism!

Wendy Mackenzie Teaching Assistant : English

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ISSUE NUMBER 30


Childhood - a KS3 Evening of

Drama

It has been another busy year for the Drama Department. In February a number of KS4 students were involved in the classroom comedy Teechers and in a similar vein on June 12th and 13th it was the turn of KS3: their performance was based on the theme of childhood. Over thirty year 7 and 8 students put on a matinee performance for the whole of year 7 on the afternoon of Thursday June 12th and then to friends and family on the evening of Friday June 13th. Instead of focusing on one play students performed a number of pieces all linked together by the overarching theme of childhood. Some of the pieces were based on already existing scripts and others were devised by the students themselves. The

performance started off with (and ended in) a raucous primary school playground with a whole cast performance of sections from Allan Alhberg’s poem Heard it in the Playground. As the stage was plunged into darkness the distinct voice of Neville Chamberlain filled X11 announcing that we were at war. The audience had been transported back to 1939. A small group of evacuees (played by some Year 7

fairy tales; Asputtel and Hansel and Gretel; a witch, a vile step mother and even worse step sisters, a noble prince, a gingerbread house and vegetables (a carrot and a potato that were sliced and chopped to represent the sisters toe and heal in Asputtel) made for some gruesome storytelling. The final piece was created by a group of year 8 students and was inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This tale focused on a young girl named Laura who was being bullied at school and felt that her family didn’t understand her. As Laura fell asleep she was transported into another world where she met some interesting characters and came face to face with an angry queen. As with all good stories there was a happy ending.

All the students involved worked really hard and we were also lucky enough to have a good backstage team made up of four students from my year 9 GCSE Drama group. When putting together any kind of show it is always great to see students working together, supporting one

another and also watching them grow in confidence and challenge themselves. Another round of applause please for the cast of Childhood!

Anna-Maria Stanley Curriculum Area Leader: Drama

students) ran on, confused and frightened. Through the use of diary entries and letters by real evacuees from the time, the students told the story of a small group of children who had to leave their families behind in London and travel to the safety of the countryside. Other pieces included two traditional Brothers Grimm

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My Life in the Philippines Hi! My name is Shaira and I am 12 years old. I came to

England when I was four and a half. I couldn’t speak any English then! My family are from the Philippines where everyone speaks Tagalog so that is my first language. Sometimes I go back to the Philippines with my parents for a holiday and to see our family. We mostly stay in Manila, the capital city. There is a lot of pollution in the city and you can actually see black smoke coming out of the cars!

Life in the city My mum’s family live in Manila and my dad’s family

live in the countryside. In my mum’s family home, there are about 6 people living in one house but in my dad’s house there are about 15 members of the family living together in just two rooms.

The house in Manila is big: it has two floors and a balcony where we dry the washing. We have to wash all our clothes by hand as we don’t have a washing machine. None of my cousins have them either. We have a very old fridge that has been there since my mum was a child so we are planning to get a new one as it does not keep things as cold as it should. Upstairs there are 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. And downstairs there is the living room, the dining room, the kitchen and another bathroom. Water has to be boiled in a kettle and then poured into the bath. We don’t have a shower.

The dog, Brownie, is kept outside on a lead in front of the house because he acts as a guard dog. All the houses in Manila have guard dogs for security.

There’s a basketball court if you go up the pathway between the houses which are tightly packed together but cars sometimes drive through it and stop the games from time to time. If there’s a match, cars are not allowed to go through but if people are just playing for fun, they can.

Filipino children are expected to help around the house every day. You would be scared to not work! We have chickens as pets and they poop a lot that’s why they are kept outside! The chickens are white and we have roosters to wake us up in the morning.

Life in the country Life in the countryside is quite different. There is no

electricity so food is cooked on a small gas stove that you can only cook one thing at a time on. We usually use leaves to make soup and there are shops to buy food

such as ‘pan de sal’ which we eat in the morning for breakfast with butter and a drink of water or juice. It is delicious! Fish with rice is a typical evening meal. The vegetables we eat are the same as those you can buy here. There is a big shop called SM which sells everything you need.

Shopping There are different types

of shops. There is a sweet shop near the basketball court and I go there often. I really like the brown sticks they sell for 3 pesos that taste like caramel and have liquid inside.

Holidays I go to the Philippines every two to four years and the

last time I went was December 2013. I came back to England on January 18 so I missed a week of school. My older brother and sister didn’t come with us. The weather is always sunny in the Philippines and there are only two

seasons : one is hot and sunny and the other is hot and wet. They are both summer! The average temperature is between 32 and 34 degrees. I am used to the cold weather in England so I find it hot when I go back to the Philippines. Being bilingual The language of the Philippines is called Tagalog. Our second language is English and our third language

is Spanish. Some of the Tagalog words are like Spanish words : pantalon is trousers; Mayo is May; Miyerkoles is Wednesday.

I speak Tagalog fluently when I am in the Philippines and understand everything that is being said. When I am at school I speak English all the time but at home I mix the two languages together!

I would like to learn more languages so that when I travel the world I can understand everyone I meet. Being bilingual is a good thing : being able to understand two languages means you can help people by translating from one language to the other.

Shaira Tauro, 7H

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ISSUE NUMBER 30


Congratulations to 13 Year 12 students who won various awards in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge 2014. The competition is supported by the Department of Chemistry, St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge. The competition aims to stretch and challenge students interested in chemistry. The questions were designed to be more challenging than those on typical AS papers which encourages them to think about science in the way they would at university.

Asmita Jain, who was one of 6,884 participants this year, achieved the Gold award, which has placed her in the top 7.8% nationally who entered the competition.

Students at Dartford Grammar School for Girls won the following awards: Gold award - Asmita Jain Silver award - Gawsalya Mahasivam Copper awards - Joshua Adeshina, Jasmin Dhillon, Thanbir Haque, Tao Lee, Fabiha Munim, Erica Shrestha, Lauren Smith, Ayo Solola, Rachel Suresh, Caleb Wood

Parminder Matharoo Curriculum Area Leader: Chemistry

Gold in Cambridge Chemistry

Challenge 2014

Blazers: parents and students are reminded that blazers are a compulsory item of school uniform. They should be worn by students at all times in and around school and on the journey to and from school. Jumpers are not compulsory but can be worn under the blazer in cold weather.

Students can remove blazers if they are sitting outside at lunchtime. Blazers should not have sleeves rolled up. If the weather is consistently hot the school may give the instruction that blazers do not need to be worn in school.

If students need a new blazer, these can be purchased throughout the year from Mrs Balmer in SS1. These will be available during the Academic Review Day on the first day of term in September.

Thank you for your continuing support. Anne Mason

Assistant Headteacher Designate

School Blazers

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Faith has just taken AS Economics, Mathematics, IT and Business Studies.

Until the middle of June, Faith was undecided as to whether she should go to university, seek post A Level employment or investigate starting a Higher Apprenticeship. After a number of meetings with me, one thing is certain: Faith knows that she wants to work in a Finance-related profession.

Spurred on to find out more about this sector, Faith emailed a number of Private Banks in The City to request the opportunity to gain an insight into the daily workings of a Private Bank to help her to decide.

SGPB Hambros, which won the reputation of Best UK Private Bank in the FT and Investors Chronicle ‘Wealth Management Awards 2013’, replied to one of Faith’s email requests and invited her to spend two days at their offices in St James’s Square, W1 and Exchange House, in The City.

Société Générale Private Banking (SGPB), the wealth management arm of Société Générale, is operational in 15 countries across the globe. SGPB Hambros is part of the SGPB network based in the UK, Channel Islands and Gibraltar and offers wealth management solutions to high net worth individuals. SGPB Hambros’ offering comprises international wealth planning and trust services, and global expertise in a wide range of investment solutions.

Faith Kulawy, 12E

Faith spent two days moving around from department to department. She spoke face to face with Investment Bankers, Private Bankers, Traders, Wealth Planners and even the Chief Executive Officer himself, Charles Hambros.

The work experience included a trip to Level 72 at the top of The Shard with members of Hambros staff for a social evening.

Speaking to the CEO, Faith asked how she could get a job with Hambros? Charles Hambros told her that the bank only employs graduates.

This experience has helped Faith to decide that university is her passport to Hambros and the world of high finance and consequently she is currently researching a degree programme at Leeds University and Loughborough University to study Business Management and Finance, with Italian. On her university application Personal Statement, this work experience will demonstrate to universities that Faith is a proactive student who has already started exploring her ideal destination.

Good luck, Faith! Ms Carver

Careers Co-ordinator If you have a work experience that you would

like to share with the school community, please email it to Ms Carver:

([email protected])

Meeting artists and discovering new art

A group of the Year 12 Fine Art students made an educational trip to see the post 16 opportunities available at two prestigious London art colleges: Chelsea College of Art and the Royal College of Art. The diverse and exciting work they saw was by students in their final year of their degree and post degree courses. A guided tour was taken at Chelsea College of Art by a second year student who provided great insight into

the course and her experiences. We were also lucky to meet one of the artists who spoke to the students about her work; during this time she revealed her ideas behind the paintings and the technical processes involved in the making of her work. An inspiring conversation!

Rachel Oliver Joint Curriculum Area Leader: Art and Design

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Year 9 GCSE Drama Trip to see

The 39 Steps

On the evening of Wednesday July 2nd , we travelled to Piccadilly Circus in Central London to view a theatrical adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s famous 1935 film ‘The 39 Steps’ at the Criterion Theatre. The storyline itself focuses on a bachelor, Richard Hannay, who is falsely accused of murder and at the same time is trying to come to a conclusion about a spy group called ‘The 39 Steps’.

We arrived at the theatre prepared to watch a Pastiche of the original black and white film. A Pastiche, we were informed by Miss Stanley, is a mocking and satirical re-enactment of a piece of literature, work of art or a film. This means that we expected to see a more comical version of the original film on stage. The result was exactly that. After having watched clips of the original film prior to seeing the theatre show, I realised that at different stages of the show, the actors (a cast of only four) applied different drama techniques to make the production less serious and instead, more humorous. The clever use of multi-purpose props, for example an empty window frame representing a window in various locations, or a chair representing a car wheel, well timed and comic sound effects and the characters exaggerated physical movements to show the halting of a train in slow motion or the effect of gale force winds on their clothes all helped to give this 1930’s spy thriller a fast paced, spontaneous and comic feel.

To conclude, it is fair to say that me and my drama group thoroughly enjoyed the light-hearted and hilariously funny production of ‘The 39 Steps’. I would recommend it to anyone and thank you to Miss Stanley for such a great choice of show in an iconic London location.

Natasha Gill 9H The 39 Steps was exciting and filled with action and comedy and it kept us on the edge of our seats the whole way through. The fact that four actors played over one hundred characters was also astounding. We all enjoyed the use of multi role-ing and how the cast made it seem so easy to switch from character to character. For instance, one second a character is a quiet male politician, hard to hear and very shy then the next minute the same actor is playing a

boisterous, larger than life, Scottish female B&B owner decked out in tartan! It was very clever how clear they made everything they did, whether it was with the body language, facial expressions or with their voices.

So in conclusion, it was one of the best school trips I have ever been on. And not just because I enjoyed the play, but because there was such an exciting atmosphere. It also gave us lots of ideas for our pieces of work when we next perform in Drama. I loved the whole evening and I cannot wait until next year when we get to go on more trips for Drama.

Ruby Lamble-Murton 9C

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GSK/McLaren Pit Stop Challenge

On Thursday 12th June, Miss Kent and I had the pleasure of escorting Tors Adams, Mayline Amegan and Tse Uwejamomere to the McLaren Technology Centre as their prize for coming second in the Pit Stop Challenge, a national competition run by GSK and McLaren. This was an outstanding achievement as there were hundreds of applicants and the competition on the day between the six finalists was fierce.

The building itself is incredible, designed by Norman Foster, this large, roughly semi-circular, glass-walled building is one of the most carbon neutral buildings in Britain using the four lakes on the property in heat exchangers controlling the heating/cooling of the building but it doesn’t end there: the lakes are maintained by carp and the carp population is maintained by the herons that live on the property. It truly has its own ecosystem!

We arrived for the day via the VIP entrance, and we were whisked off on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the world-class facility where scientists and engineers work to develop new technology and innovations that have applications beyond the world of F1 racing. The McLaren Technology Centre is an invite only facility, they do not allow tours or sell tickets so the trip itself was a once-in-a –lifetime experience. There were no mobile phones allowed as some of what we saw was top secret, especially as we saw the pit crew working on their current two cars and adding additions before the next formula 1 race! We learned about the materials that are used to create the cars and watched as layers of carbon fibres were added to create each part of the car.

While walking along MTC ‘boulevard’, where the heritage collection of McLaren cars are displayed, we were interrupted by a surprise visit from F1 driver Kevin Magnussen, who had finished his training in the simulator just to say hello to us and answer some of the students’ questions including some fantastic questions from our girls about his background getting into racing and a memorable question from Tse about his fashion

sense, in particular where he got his shoes which she described as “on point”.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, we then moved on to the usually restricted race bay area, where the F1 pit crew was running a live practice session. The team currently holds the record for the fastest pit stop at 2.31 seconds (although Red Bull is challenging this time!). Whether or not the practices we saw were at record speed, we don’t know as the teams aren’t given their times until the end of the day but if you blinked you missed all four tyres being changed! Luckily they performed this quick feat more than once. Exhilarating

to watch and it was loud- I was certainly grateful for the earplugs they provided! The final part of the tour took place in the production centre, where McLaren’s engineers hand build their exclusive road cars. This was unlike any factory floor I have ever seen, with glistening tiles. In

addition, it is almost completely modular, with the exception of the booths for the monsoon test (which is exactly as it sounds!) and the final computer diagnostic tests, all the machinery and equipment can move enabling it to expand and contract as necessary.

A fantastic day out was had by all and the three girls represented the school incredibly well! It has been a pleasure to support them throughout this competition.

Jessica Last Design and Technology Teacher

Our DGGS students with Kevin Magnussen and the other winning teams

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Art Department News

Year 9 Mock Exam Inspired by natural forms and contemporary sculptors, students used the four

hour exam to produce collaborative ceramic pieces. This was their first introduction to ceramics and all involved learned a range of techniques with impressive outcomes. Well done, ladies!

Year 9 Experimental Madness! Following on from the success of the Y9 group ceramic piece, students produced large scale drawings using mixed media. The rules were: There are no rules! Inspired by natural forms and alternative drawing techniques, students worked in groups to

produce these lively pieces…

KS3 Exhibition Well done to all the KS3 and Y9 students who

took part in the exhibition. The stunning collection of work was a true celebration of our students’ achievements. The variety of work demonstrated the wealth of techniques that students at DGGS are introduced to through their first few years.

Siobhan Campbell Joint Curriculum Area Leader: Art and Design

I really enjoyed visiting the Art Exhibition with my Form as there were lots of very creative and inspiring ideas. I really enjoyed looking through the Year 12 and Year 13 art folders since they all have so much experience. I got lots of inspiration from the amazing pieces that were hung up on the wall. We had to choose a piece from units 3 and 4 and say why it was our favourite, which I thought helped us to improve our own ideas in the next project so that we could use more techniques. Also I personally was glad to go as I`m taking Art next year and it will help me in future designs.

Grace Flowers, 8L

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In lessons, younger art students were given focused tours of the exhibition, highlighting the strengths of the students and explaining the context of their pieces. Lively discussions were held in the analysis of the work and it was fantastic to see younger students actively engaged in the themes and creative development of the projects.

A fond farewell… Goodbye to our wonderful Year 13 students! They

have made such an impact on the Art Department and younger students, who have had the privilege to gaze at their stunning work around the art rooms, as they have developed. They are an exceptionally talented year group and will be sadly missed. We will always have Paris and New York. Good luck on your courses next year and please, please, please keep in touch!

Siobhan Campbell Joint Curriculum Area Leader: Art and Design

The exhibition of the older years was very interesting and I found lots of creative ideas in folders that I may use in future. I have been very inspired looking at all the work and I took lots of pictures so I can remember the ideas in my future work. I feel that by looking at this exhibition, I will now have better ideas and my creativity will improve.

Serena Self, 8L

KS5 Fine Art and Textile Exhibition The Sixth Form exhibition showcased the impressive

work of our KS5 Art and Textile students. The work presented demonstrated the variety of skills the A Level courses offer. The standard of work was exceptional in the themes explored by students and the skill with which the range of practices were executed.

The exhibition was interesting and intriguing as it showed the excellence of the art in this school. I enjoyed looking at the year 9 work as it was very inspiring and gave me lots of creative ideas for my future artwork. I really enjoy Art and to be in a room which is full of outstanding and brilliant artwork was an amazing experience.

Zoë Riddleston, 8H

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At 7.00pm on Thursday July 3rd, our Art and Design Textiles students staged the annual Fashion Show in the Main Hall, featuring a fabulous collection of garments and headpieces, created by girls from Years 8 to 13. Approximately one hundred models helped to display the work and the event was

run by our highly capable Year 12 Art and Design Textiles students, with helpers from Years 9 and 10. It was a memorable evening. The show began with our younger students modelling felted headpieces created by year 8 girls, using hand-made felt appliqué, 3D felted embellishments, embroidery and beading. For many of these girls, it was their first experience of modelling on a catwalk and they carried it off with great confidence. We then went on to see superb pieces created by our Year 9 Art and Design Textiles students, from a project that began with a visit to the Club to Catwalk Exhibition, at the V & A Museum. They chose their inspiration from a variety of themes, to create mixed media costumes. For extra

impact, many of these had three-dimensional structures incorporated, to give dramatic height

and volume. The GCSE Year 10 and Year 11 pieces that followed were inspired by a wide range of sources and displayed confident use of techniques such as knitting, weaving, appliqué, pleating and creative tie-dye. Amongst the many dramatic costumes were Penny Jarvis’s illuminated hooded piece; Lilyella Ball’s collection of exquisitely textured knitted pieces and Ella Burch’s fantastic metal and black plastic ball gown. In the final section of the show we were treated to stunning pieces created by our talented Year 12

The 2014 Fashion Show

and 13 A Level students, individually announced. The AS section included an amazing variety of costumes, often incorporating both hand and machine knitting, such as a snake-inspired bodice by Kate Lynch; a superb knitted collection from Indya Dookhurrun and one of our largest ever pieces by Lucy Clarke, which featured latex-dipped knitting. Iona Williams excelled with her amazing bodice created

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from machine stitching with no supporting fabric. In her third appearance on our catwalk, eight-year-old Annie Cutler modelled her sister Emily’s leafy distressed piece with customary aplomb. Our selection of A2 pieces was equally strong. Grace Bowden’s two highly original pieces included a huge wired skirt based on birds. Elizabeth Garwood showed a stunning collection, with detailed sculptural pieces that shimmered on the catwalk. Rebecca Willis had used highly accomplished crochet to create a 1960’s Pop Art themed dress that was modelled to music by the Kinks. Our final two pieces

were also remarkable, both in their construction and their surface qualities. One of these dresses which were both created by Rachel

Holloway, was entirely made of

machine-stitched PVA glue – a first for DGGS! We wish Rachel and all of our Year 13 students a happy and successful future and thank them for their commitment to their creative studies at DGGS. I should also like to thank our outstanding Year 12 Art and Design Textiles students, who ran this superb show. Every single one worked exceptionally hard to ensure its success. I would also like to thank the girls who supported them. Together, they took responsibility for the organization of the models, presenting, lighting, sound and photography. It was a pleasure to work with them and our many enthusiastic models.

A big ‘thank you’ should go to the members of staff who supported us in numerous ways. I should especially like to thank Mrs Bartley, for her tireless support and creative input. It was a vintage year!

Julie Evans-Wild Curriculum Team Leader : Arts Faculty

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The night started like any other, beautiful with a sense of foreboding. We arrived at the hall, already expecting it to be full of our classmates, but to find we were early. We sat and took watch as slowly the room filled. When an unknown signal was given, we all rose and started our journey to the coach that awaited us outside. We clambered into our super cool bus and took seats. Selfie’s later, we arrived in Covent Garden and were given an hour or so to venture around. Rosie and I decided to head down onto the main canal of commuters. With snacks and drinks bought, we carried on our journey through back roads and alleyways, exploring as much as we could. We found ourselves some while later in the picturesque Covent Garden square where we saw Mr. Barton. Mr. B had the grace to admit failure and question us on whether we had seen a card shop. With Mr. Barton on his way, we carried onward our quest.

Rosie and I stumbled into yet another group of our peers and mumbled greetings, while waving ecstatically due to the charge that a night in London can give you. I found a pancake house (years of the love of food can give you this sense of the impending) and we ordered a crepe folded with strawberries, ginger biscuits, Mars bar and white chocolate inside. Realizing the time, we made the order to go and raced back to the appointed meeting point. With minutes to spare we squatted on the inside pavement edge and ate our halves of pancake

The Woman in Black

off Rosie’s lap. Mumblings of interest formed around our luxury pancake expedition and soon a crowd of savage wolves descended around us (hungry teenage girls). Once we had eaten and discarded the evidence, Year 10 formed a single line and took their tickets. Slowly we all trudged into the theatre as excitement grew. We all took our seats, while more snacks were opened and laid to rest, waiting for the show to start.

Then it all went black… The show (I shall not spoil) was astounding with a twist in the original storyline in the way in which the story was presented. Suspense grew as the dynamic duo told us the tale of Arthur Kipps. Rosie held my hand and cut off my circulation as the Woman in Black suddenly appeared or glided across stage. By the interval, we had all accumulated a sense of anticipation for the ending. When the show ended, we all sat there suspended in

silence until applause rained throughout the theatre. On the trip home we squealed with delight as people talked of their frights. Rosie thought it to be funny and wear her hoodie, so that when I turned, she looked like the Woman in Black, (not funny really). The rest of the journey passed in a blur as old classics and show tunes blared from the coaches’ speakers. When we arrived, we muttered goodbyes and left. I found my father, and we left the premises.

The theatre trip turned out to be the best school outing as of this year. The play was magnificent, and the memories I have made will be cherished for years to come.

Molly Cumming , 10H

It was a pleasure to see so many students relaxed and rested following the tough challenge of taking their GCSE examinations. Staff and students were excited and ready for our End of Key Stage Trip.

We were fortunate that the weather was dry and sunny allowing full engagement in the water rides. It also meant that very wet girls dried out during the day!

I would like to thank the girls for their cooperation before the day as collecting paperwork when students are in the middle of their exams can be a challenge. The girls were very well behaved and had a thoroughly good day with friends. We are now looking forward to the rest over the Summer Holidays and our students achieving excellent results in August.

Yvonne Green Head of Year 11

Year 11 Trip to Thorpe Park

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As part of our Arts and Technology Summer Festival, our Year 7, 8 and 9 students staged an impressive exhibition in X11, which was open to parents and friends on the evening of Thursday 19th June. For the first time this year, the exhibition featured pieces by our talented Design and Technology and Food Technology students as well as showing Art and Design work. Miss Campbell has reviewed the Art and Design exhibits in a separate article. The Food Technology students treated us to an array of amazing breads,

which were both mouth-watering to look at and tasted delicious. Year 8 students have been enjoying learning about the processes involved in making breads in Mrs Brooks’ lessons and she was enthusiastically supported by a number of these girls during the evening. They worked as a team to serve a constant stream of appreciative visitors.


As well as all this, during the evening there was an exhibition of the robots which were recently finalists in a national competition, along with the impressive trophies.

I would like to thank all of the staff and students who worked so hard to present this show. I’ll leave the final words to a young visitor who wrote in the Visitors’ Book:

‘I love the food, robotic cars and pictures of the Tardis. I thought it was mind blowing.’

Julie Evans-Wild Curriculum Team Leader – Arts and Technology Faculty

The Design and Technology exhibits included superb pieces created in Graphics and Resistant Materials. The exciting displays featured exquisitely-detailed pewter cast pendants; eye-catching clocks

created from Perspex and brightly-coloured desk tidy designs. Graphics was well represented too, showing a strong understanding of 3D drawing and lovely, confident packaging designs.

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ISSUE NUMBER 30


On the 15th of June 2014 forty-three Year 10 Business Studies students had the pleasure of going on a school trip to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. We were told to arrive at school at 7.30am which inevitably meant all of us would be in for an early rise that morning. Our tired eyes swiftly brightened up when we saw each other at the school gates and excitement brewed in the chilled morning air. We departed from school at approximately 8.15am with a lengthy coach journey before us.

After enduring a gruelling 10-hour journey across the English Channel, through France and Belgium, our arrival in Amsterdam was met with cheers of joy, excitement and relief to finally be off the coach. We settled into our cosy hotel and got some well needed rest for the activity packed days ahead of us.

The first day comprised a boat ride through the canals of Amsterdam. We relaxed as we sailed on the calm waters during a slightly overcast day listening to a woman with a severely automated voice

tell us the history of Amsterdam. Many of us used this boat trip as an opportunity to snap pictures of the city we had never visited before and of course some ‘selfies’ were included in our picture galleries. Our next stop was the iconic Anne Frank house. As we toured around her house we stopped in each room to watch videos of people who helped and knew Anne and her family during World War II. They explained what it was

like for Jews living at this time and the emotion that was conveyed in their voices made it a humbling experience for all of us, teachers included. Seeing first-hand the troubles Anne and her family faced made all our own worries and problems insignificant and trivial as we looked on at a girl our own age persecuted for her religion. It was a truly gratifying experience that most of us will always remember.

The day’s final destination was the Heineken Experience where the process of producing a quality product was explained to us; this was the business end of the trip. We saw the whole process of converting raw materials into a sellable product all within one hour. Obviously our ages stopped us from drinking any alcohol, however it did not take away from the learning experience at Heineken.

The first stop of day two was the Vincent Van Gogh museum where Mr Barton’s perfect timing meant we were able to see his infamous ‘Sunflowers’ painting which is currently touring the world and two weeks before was here in London. This was an opportunity for all students, whether taking Art GCSE or not to look at some of the best paintings in the world by arguably one of the best artists to ever live.

Straight after the museum we went SHOPPING! My priority was finding something that was traditionally Dutch yet useful to me… buying clogs was out of the question! I wanted to bring something home which would be a reminder of my enchanting time in the land of the tulips.

The trip was thoroughly enjoyable and a memory that will be carried with me into adulthood. It showed the importance of touring the world and seeing and embracing cultures different to your own. It was incredible to learn as much as I did in such a short time period and I would finally like to thank Mr Barton for planning such an amazing trip for over forty Year 10 students at such short notice, without whom this trip would certainly not have materialised.

Temilola Adeyemi, 10L

Business Trip to Amsterdam

Anne Frank’s House, Amsterdam

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On Thursday 22nd May, the final of the Year 8 ‘Totally Wild’ Endangered Cat Campaign Competition was held at lunchtime. After their visit to Port Lympne back in March, students

had to create imaginative and informative board games aimed at raising awareness of endangered cats on a continent of their choice. Students were given the criteria of developing a game aimed at primary school students that would educate them about the threats to endangered animals such as loss of habitat and poaching, and possible conservation projects put in place such as breeding programmes in wildlife parks.

Each form held their own competition and three board games were chosen to go through to the year final. The standard of work on display was excellent with some innovative board game ideas and detailed

Year 8 Geographers go ‘Totally Wild’

information throughout the campaigns. Both staff and students voted during the lunchtime event with over 300 votes being collected and counted! The result revealed that Martha Burgin from 8K was the overall winner and will receive a prize in the Celebration Assembly at the end of the year along with the winners from each form.

Overall the Geography department were very impressed with the level of effort and time that had gone into the games from all the students, it was very clear that the projects had been enjoyed by all.

WINNERS: Overall – Martha Burgin 8C – Brooke Clements 8H – Vianney Vinas 8I – Charlotte Wilkinson 8K – Titi Sodimu 8L – Alicia Wee 8P – Yasmin Cerely

Sarah Haydon Teacher: History, Geography

Farewell from Mrs Roberts

At the end of this academic year I will be leaving after having joined the school in 1985. Many things have changed at DGGS during that time. When I came originally there were only four forms of entry, eight hundred girls and you could hear a pin drop as you walked along the corridors – on the right hand side. But that was the 20th Century version. Today, DGGS is much bigger, over 1100 students with six forms of entry and it is certainly not quiet – at least, not unless it is appropriate. Lessons are more interactive, the school is striving towards excellence and the student experience is rich and broad. Students at DGGS will emerge as competent and well-rounded individuals if they seize the opportunities they are offered here. I need only to look at my daughter Laura to see the successful product of a DGGS education. I attempted to work out how many students I have taught since 1985 – certainly many thousands. I have many happy memories of events such as the Sleepover, The Bar National Mock Trial, Challenge of Management Conferences, national debating competitions and Sixth Form rousing at the docks. How fortunate to look back on nearly fifty years of

teaching and be able to claim how happy I have been. There is a recipe for that enjoyment. It is a mixture of the right environment, students keen to accept challenge – both academic and enrichment, a Senior Leadership Team willing to let individuals take risks and an outstandingly talented teaching staff. There is one other group within our school community who must be mentioned, and they are the Support Staff. We are so fortunate at DGGS to have such a proactive group of men and women who see themselves as part of our school community. They are the cement that holds us all together – my thanks to you all. So, I go with much sadness but will watch with interest the progress of all of you at DGGS in the future. It has been a real pleasure to be associated with Dartford Girls Grammar School.

Ann Roberts Assistant Headteacher

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ISSUE NUMBER 30


Sports Results

U13 Tennis Molly Jones (1) vs. (2) Mayfield 1 Aanu Fowowe (0) vs. (2) Mayfield 1 Pair 1 (3) vs. (0) Mayfield Pair 1 Pair 2 (1) vs. (2) Mayfield Pair 1 Pair 3 (0) vs. (3) Mayfield Pair 3

U12 Benenden Tournament Molly Jones and Aanu Fowowe lost in the quarter finals.

Kent Schools Finals - CJC Molly Jones and Aanu Fowowe Lost to Tunbridge Wells 1st pair 6-4 2-6 10-12 Beat Canterbury first pair 6-2 6-0 Lost to Highworth first pair in the play back final 6-3, 3-6, 9-11

U15 Tennis 12/06/14 at Cobham hall CJC

Pair 1 – Joint 2nd in their group Zahra Crane & Katie Moran

Pair 2 – Joint 1st in their group Santini Holmes & Eve Moseby

Pair 3 – 5th in their group Michaela Hill & Rebecca Burford

Pair 4 – 2nd in their group Ella Bailey & Emma Fenton

Cricket DGGS U13 (274-2) vs. (260-3) Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School DGGS U13 (262-2) vs. (277-2) Mayfield Grammar DGGS U15 (271) vs. (206) Mayfield Grammar

Athletics

Regional Finals Inter Girls team - 7th with 288 points

Year 7 and 8 athletics at St Georges Year 7: Nimi Oyelude 100m – 4th , Tolu Ibuoye 200m – 2nd, Camille Cerely – 1500m – 1st, Relay Team – 1st

Year 8: Katie Woolcott 100m – 1st, Susi Sampson 200m – 1st, Claudia Bates 1500m – 1st, Relay Team – 1st

District Athletics Year 7 – 1st overall with 91 points Year 8 – 1st overall with 94 points Year 9 – 2nd overall with 73 points Year 10 – 1st overall with 103 points

1st in their individual events: Camille Cerely – 1500m Molly Jones - Discus Tolu Ibuoye, Madeline Wesley, Seye Alaran, Nimi Oyelude – Relay Katie Woolcott – 100m, Long Jump Susi Sampson – 200m, High Jump Claudia Bates – 1500m, 800m, Discus Claudia Bates, Grace Akala, Susi Sampson, Katie Woolcott – Relay Abbey Greenwood – 100m Michaela Hill - Discus Deborah Olorunda – Shot Putt Nancy Badu-Kusi – 100m Vanessa Elver – 300m, Triple Jump Olly Metson - Discus Toyo Bolusire – High Jump Philippa Whewell – Javelin

Rounders Year 7 (SLO) 24th June Dartford (8½) vs Mayfield Grammar (3½)

Year 7 Benenden results Won 2 of 8 matches. Winning scores: Dartford (7½) vs Benenden U13D (3½) Dartford (5½) vs Benenden U12A (2)

Year 8 Benenden results Won 4 out of 8 matches. Some scores below: DGGS (4½) vs Benenden U13A (10) DGGS (6½) vs Benenden U12C (2½) DGGS (1) vs Marlborough House (6½) DGGS (2) vs Claremont 1st (6½) DGGS (10½) v Benenden U12B (3) DGGS (6) v Battle Abbey (2)

Year 10 (3) vs. The Leigh A (7) Year 10 (7) vs. The Leigh B (4) Year 10 (6½) vs. Chis n Sid (12½)

Year 9 vs. The Leigh (CJC) Lost to The Leigh A team 4½ - 5 Beat The Leigh B team 12 - 2

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Sports Results (continued)

Kent School Games Beach Volleyball- 4th July Pool Games DGGS (19) vs. Ashford B (31) DGGS (18) vs. Dane Court (21) DGGS (24) vs. Aylesford (14) Plate Competition DGGS (23) vs. Westlands B (16) DGGS (22) vs. Westlands A (12) DGGS (19) vs. Ellington & Hereson (18) This was the plate final that we won.

Volleyball – Year 9 & 10 DGGS (19) vs. Ashford B (31) DGGS (18) vs. Dane Court (21) DGGS (24) vs. Aylesford (14) DGGS (23) vs. Westlands B (16) DGGS (22) vs. Westlands A (12) DGGS (19) vs. Ellington & Hereson (18) This was the plate final that we won.

Handball – Year 9 & 10 East Kent (2) vs. DGGS (2) Medway (1) vs. DGGS (1) Ashford (3) vs. DGGS (0) Ashford won it overall.

Thank you for a successful year! We had a very pleasing day for our Summer Fair at the end of June. The rain held off for the duration of the event and we had some amazing stalls. These included several cake stalls, many fun quiz stalls, a guess the number of loom bands in a flag

competition, a home made bath bombs stall, a beat the goalie competition, a limbo stall and coconut shy. There is no way we could run such an event without the support and help of our many hardworking DGGS students, their form tutors and other staff, including Mrs Mason, and Mike Sheehan the Site Manager and his team. All the money we raised will be given back to the school to benefit the students.

This year we’ve been able to allocate £6,000 to the school for some new lights for the Drama

department and have money left over to give to other departments in September. Thank you to all of you for your support with our events over this past year, which include the Quiz Night and Christmas Raffle. Do contact us if you have any fundraising or event ideas and send us an email if you’d like to join our mailing list. We are still quite a small committee so would welcome some new faces at our meetings and events.

Our first committee meeting next term will be on Tuesday 9th September at 7.30pm in the Canteen.

Joanne McCrone Chair of the DGGS FPTA

Friends, Parents & Teachers Association

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ISSUE NUMBER 30


London - Paris

On the weekend of the 5-6th July, I set out to try and cycle from Blackheath, London to Paris, as one of 300 riders. Not only would we try to complete the 275 mile ride, but we were all given the challenge of trying to complete it in 24 hours. We were all raising money for the disabled persons charity Scope.

At the start I received support from Emma Warner, Hannah Garry, Lawrence Mann, Harry Sprowell, Aston Hunt and Head Girl for this year Olivia Farren, all Year 13, who turned up at Blackheath to see me start. The ride kicked off at 12 noon, and the 90 mile ride to Dover was relatively straightforward, completed in 5 hours 30 mins, and the weather was dry and favourable. I also had the huge advantage of going through Crayford, my hometown, and almost the whole route involved roads I’d cycled on as part of my training ground, including in Dover. The Shepherd’s Lane crossroads was the closest I got to DGGS.

The stop in Dover and the ferry crossing gave me around 5 hours of rest before resuming in France from Calais, by which point it was nearly midnight, and dark. The first 32 mile leg was flat and straightforward, but it was also wet at times. The second leg however was trouble. Climbing overall, the stage also had wet conditions and headwinds to withstand, and I was also badly losing concentration, almost to the point of a “tiredness can kill” situation at times. As a result, after this 40 mile leg, I decided to avoid the third leg and took the coach, so as to rest my mind and regain composure.

When we got to the next stop, after sleeping on the coach, I was now feeling very sick, even though I was thinking better. I now chose to avoid the 4th leg for this reason too. By the last stop point, the start of the 5th and final leg, I was in a fit condition, but now the weather had turned very wet and windy, which made for very unfavourable riding conditions. In the end I joined 50 riders on the coach once more for the last leg, and reached the finish line by 3pm (BST+1).

In the end I only rode 165/275 miles, but was happy with my performance. I still greatly enjoyed the celebration events in the evening and next day however. I also learned that the wet and windy conditions for much of the French part meant only 8 riders finished in 24 hours, and normally the first riders would be 1-1.5 hours early, not the 10 minutes early they were in this case. I was also apparently the youngest rider, aged 18.

Bradley Whitaker, 13F


TERM DATES 2014 – 2015

STAFF TRAINING DAY 1

Monday 1st September 2014


Tuesday, 2nd

September 2014

TERM 1 Wednesday 3rd

September 2014 to Friday 24th October 2014


Friday 3rd

October 2014

HOLIDAY Monday 27th October 2014 to Friday 31

st October 2014

TERM 2 Monday 3rd

November 2014 to Friday 19th December 2014

HOLIDAY Monday 22nd

December 2014 to Friday 2nd

January 2015

TERM 3 Monday 5th January 2015 to Friday 13

th February 2015

HOLIDAY Monday 16th February 2015 to Friday 20

th February 2015

TERM 4 Monday 23rd

February 2015 to Thursday, 2nd

April 2015

HOLIDAY Friday, 3rd

April 2015 to Friday, 17th April 2015

HOLIDAY Monday 4th May 2015 Bank Holiday

TERM 5 Monday, 20th April 2015 to Friday 22

nd May 2015

HOLIDAY Monday 25th May 2015 to Friday 29

th May 2015

TERM 6 Monday 1st June 2015 to Friday 17

th July 2015


Monday 20th July 2015


Tuesday 21st July 2015

issue number 30 july 2014€¦ · childhood - a ks3 evening of drama it has been another busy year...

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