Hoc Age - Bradford Grammar School

debating
The school’s two debating societies have met
regularly this term. The Senior Debating Society,
for the Fourth Form and above, has debated such
topics as: This House would allow prisoners to
raise their children in prison and This House would
ban cosmetic surgery. Two senior teams are
successfully through to the Cambridge Union.
Junior debates for First to Fourth Form pupils are
aimed at helping younger pupils gain confidence
at public speaking and debating skills. Junior
debates have included: This House would hold
the Hunger Games and This House would allow
the publication of the pictures of the Duchess of
Cambridge in the UK.
This term has seen the appointment of Stefano
Imbriano from Leeds University as the school’s
competitive debating coach. He brings a wealth
of experience from years of debating coaching
which will benefit our debating squad members in
their preparation for the forthcoming season.
coach
award
Coaches involved in the success of the Brownlee
brothers were recognised at the 2012 UK Coaching
Awards at the Lancaster Hotel in London. The
Coaching Chain Award was presented to five coaches
who have helped shape the careers of the Brownlees,
including Director of Sport Charles Lines and former
member of staff Tony Kingham. The other three were
their current coaches, Jack Maitland and Malcolm
Brown, and Corrine Tantrum. It was recognised that
they each had a huge impact on the brothers and
guided Alistair and Jonathan from Bradford Swimming
Club, through school and on to Olympic and ITU world
titles in triathlon.
imperial
scholarship
Congratulations to Tom Hobson who has been selected
for a scholarship at Imperial College, London to the
amount of £2500 per year for all four years due to his
excellent A level grades. Tom achieved A*’s in Maths,
Further Maths, Physics and Electronics and is now
studying Engineering.
classics in italy
speech day
David Wootton, former Lord Mayor of the City of London, returned to his
former school to present the prizes and speak at Speech Day. The school’s
Price Hall was packed with more than 1,000 guests, staff and pupils.
Lady Lynne Morrison, Chairman of Governors, welcomed and thanked
those who had contributed to school life over the previous year.
Headmaster Kevin Riley, at his first Speech Day at BGS, spoke regarding
Bradford Grammar School and the education sector now and looking to
the future. Mr Wootton spoke about his year as the Lord Mayor which
included roles at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics and
Paralympics. Mr Wootton was at the school between 1960 and 1969 when he left on a scholarship to study Classics
at Jesus College, Cambridge, before changing to law. He has been a lawyer with Allen and Overy for many years.
David said he was delighted that his parents, who live in Silsden, were at Speech Day. His father was a headmaster
in Eccleshill and his mother taught in Buttershaw. One of the school’s Head Prefects, Lizzie Pike, delivered a very
confident speech with details from David’s time at school.
music
festival
Huge congratulations to all the Junior School pupils who
took part in the Yorkshire Accordion and Music Festival
in November. Syndy Cheung, Melody Seifzadeh, Emelye
Gill, Ella Stuttard and Hannah Crookes all achieved first
or second place in grade classes 1 to 3 for their piano
recitals.
switch off
Bradford Grammar
School took part in the
Switch Off Fortnight
2012 campaign which
ran from 19 November
to 2 December. This
year’s activity focused
on the Take it home
message, encouraging
pupils to inspire
families and friends to
save energy at home
too. The Big Green
Society set pupils the
task of auditing the
energy wastage in
their households, from
appliances on standby
to lights left on and
talking with their family
members about why
it is important to save energy and to think differently
about how they use it – Switch Off Fortnight is all
about changing attitudes to using energy, it could
lead to reduced carbon emissions and also lower
energy bills too. The Big Green Society is conducting
a survey in school to identify where the most energy
is being wasted. Society members will also be
distributing stickers to remind both students and
teachers to avoid wasting energy by turning off
electrical appliances.
On 19 October, at 2:15am, forty-four Second Form Classics pupils and five teachers began their journey to
the Bay of Naples. They enjoyed extremely warm weather, impressive views from Vesuvius and visits to the
ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum which were buried in AD 79 by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Their first stop was the Naples Archaeological Museum to look at the many ancient artefacts taken from
the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, followed by a tour of a large Roman villa with a huge pool,
grounds and many rooms to explore, which had been extremely well preserved by the eruption.
A highlight was the visit to the forum which had many features such as baths, temples and law courts. The
trip ended with a pizza and ice-cream supper in Sorrento. This trip, particularly the time spent exploring
Herculaneum which was the best preserved of the towns, helped the pupils to visualise the ancient times
they have been studying.
ju jitsu
Junior School pupils have won awards at the National
Junior Atemi (weapons work). Tom Deacon won
the gold for the yellow belt section. Rizvan Faisal
got the bronze for the yellow belt. Sam Bryan won
the special award at Orange belt for his bravery and
perseverance.
Senior School Second Form pupil Lewis Day
won silver in the national competition open
category in weapons defence and also passed
the assessment to become a junior instructor.
This meant that he was awarded a Black
Hakama, which is a special Japanese black
cotton garment worn over ju jitsu trousers and is
the same garment that Samurais used to wear.
To gain this award he had to have held his
brown belt for at least one year as well as
gaining experience at teaching other juniors at
his club alongside his instructor. The judges
were impressed with the level of his
teaching skills and knowledge
for someone so young. He
will now be
training
towards
his black
belt.
language
day
Modern Languages staff and Sixth Form pupils
celebrated September’s European Day of Languages by
dressing up in the stereo typical dress associated with
the modern languages taught at the school. The day
started with a tongue-in-cheek assembly for the whole
school depicting the differences between the cultures
of Spain, Germany and France. The day is aimed to
encourage pupils to appreciate the different cultures
as well as promoting the learning of a new language.
The Catering department provided a themed lunch of
Bockwurst, paella and crêpes.
gold
awards
This term four former BGS students, Nathan
Chalk, Lottie Driver, Aiysha Puri and Jamie
Davidson, were presented with their Gold Awards
by the Duke of Edinburgh in the magnificent
Throne Room of St James’s Palace. Nathan is
at Nottingham University reading Law; Lottie
is at Birmingham reading Languages; Aiysha
is at Imperial College studying Medicine and
Jamie is spending his Year in Industry with
Syngenta before reading Chemical Engineering
at Cambridge.
agamemnon
Aeschylus’ Agamemnon was first performed in Athens two and a half thousand years ago, in the Theatre of Dionysus
at the foot of the Acropolis.
This November, twenty pupils from the Fifth and Sixth Forms brought the play (in an English version) to the Hockney
Theatre, as part of an Introduction to Greek Theatre, hosted by the current Lower Sixth Classical Civilisation set. The
production was assembled in under a month, but was an impressively polished performance. The central role of the
murderous queen Clytemnestra was shared between five Lower Sixth actresses (Zoe Dickinson, Hollie Smallwood,
Parvathi Kanakath, Poppy Briggs and Anisha Kaur), while Will Truby took the title role of the king. Fine performances
from Hatty Meakin as the doomed prophetess Cassandra, Chris Silberberg as a splendidly evil Aegisthus, and strong
support from a Chorus led by George Goddard, Lily MacTaggart and Tyne Anderson combined to make the evening a
memorable one.
This is the tenth year that the school has supported the Secret Santa Appeal. All Forms are asked to supply gifts for
children in the West Yorkshire area. Bradford Junior Chamber of Commerce runs this annual Appeal and delivers the
gifts to children who are either in hospital or who are unlikely to be receiving presents. The school was delighted to
be able to donate just under 300 gifts to the project due to the generosity of the pupils and their parents.
3SEH held a very successful chocolate auction raising an astonishing £502 for this year’s Secret Santa
collection.
economics
On 22 November at the Royal Institution, Mayfair, London last year’s Head Prefect Ravi Prasad was
presented with his prize as runner-up in the prestigious Young Economist of the Year. Whilst still a
pupil at the school, Ravi gained second place in the International 2012 Young Economist of the Year
Competition. From the final shortlist of eighteen essays drawn from a total entry of over 750, the
judging panel of Professor Richard Blundell (RES), Charles Bean (Bank of England) and Stephanie
Flanders (BBC) selected four winners. The overall standard was extremely high, with a number of
entries from international schools. Second place was awarded to Ravi for his essay answering the
question A break-up of the euro provides the best hope for a durable recovery of the European
economy. The judges commented that ‘the essay is notable for its careful analysis of the roots of the
current difficulties in the euro area, noting that there are three interlinked problems – a fiscal crisis, a
banking crisis, and a growth crisis. There is a particularly good discussion of the costs of exit, drawing
on the experience of Argentina inter alia. A really excellent essay’.
sailing
Hector Simpson has been named the RYA Yorkshire and
Humber Young Sailor of the Year 2012. He is a talented
Laser sailor and is a keen member of Yorkshire Dales
Sailing Club. Hector competed in the 2012 RYA Volvo
Youth National Championship at Pwllheli, Wales where he
was crowned Laser Standard Youth National Champion, a
title that he will defend in Largs, Scotland in April.
“I am very proud and I feel honoured to have won the RYA
Yorkshire and Humber Young Sailor Award,” said Hector.
“I owe my success to lots of people who have helped and
coached me over the past few years.”
drama
There has been an abundance of top quality drama productions this term from
all age groups. At BGS one of the aims of the English department is to persuade
students that Shakespeare plays are not words on paper but blueprints for
a production and that every production is one interpretation of the play. Fifth
Form pupils from 5SDR have been studying Hamlet for their English Literature
examination. A slideshow of images from the recent production can be seen
through the News section of the school website.
October Midsummer Madness on 18 October was an evening of dramatic
madness as Lower School Drama performed The Demon Headmaster, Upper Sixth
Theatre Studies students showed their version of The Trial and Second Form pupils took inspiration from Shakespeare’s A
Midsummer Night’s Dream! Following half term the A level Theatre Studies group presented a mature interpretation Our
Country’s Good.
secret santa
netball
The netball teams have had an excellent start to the
season with wins against Woodhouse
Grove, Stockport and Cheadle Hulme,
to name a few. The 1st VII had their
best ever win against local rivals
Ashville 37-19. The U16A
team are unbeaten in their
Saturday fixtures so far this
season and show real
strength and depth.
The U16s have also
won the Bradford
Schools’
Tournament.
We missed
out on the next
round of the
National Schools’
Competition by
a whisker, but
all age groups
performed well
on the day. The
weather has not
helped our fixtures
over the last few
weeks but we
have some
strong fixtures
to look forward to.
He is in his final A level year studying Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics so juggling time between
sailing and studying is hard, especially as a lot of training and competitions take place down on the
south coast. Despite the hard work, Hector hopes to be part of the GBR squad for some international
competitions next summer which will depend on his RYA Volvo Laser Standard National Youth Squad
training over the winter.
chatterbooks
Joanne Harris famous author of Chocolat, Lollipop Shoes and Gentlemen and Players visited
school on 24 September. Joanne was met in Reception by members of the Chatterbooks Club
who also enjoyed lunch with her. Joanne gave an illustrated talk about her new book Runelight
and was also available to answer questions and sign books.
There was also a very exciting opportunity for all Chatterbooks members to take part
in a live Skype chat with Charlie Higson (author, comedian, and actor). BGS
was one of five schools invited to take part in this
new venture, which included the author reading
an extract from his
terrifying new book
The Sacrifice and answering
questions on his life as a writer and a
TV personality. Pupils asked question such as:
“How long does it take to write each book? What is
your Halloween Fancy Dress costume of choice?”
Despite some technical difficulties on the day it
was a brilliant success and the students took away
some great tips on writing!
law
careers
Members of the legal sector were
invited to school for a lunch in the
Pavilion. Former pupils, former
parents, current parents and new
contacts networked with staff and
current pupils who are considering
a career in law. Guests also had
the opportunity to see and hear
about the school. The school’s
Careers Department invited
pupils from the Fifth and Sixth
Forms to attend a seminar the
evening before at which former
pupils, James Crookes of Pinsent
Masons and Dominic Crossley
a barrister, guided pupils on
what to take into account when
considering a career in Law.
The following lunchtime the school held a Law Lunch
and the pupils had the opportunity to mingle with
guests, who generously gave valuable time and advice.
Many sectors of law and Bradford and Leeds law firms
were represented.
medieval
times
The children in J4 thoroughly enjoyed their day
outing to Danelaw Dark Ages Village where they
became citizens in a medieval village. On arrival
they were met by Master Michael, who
informed them that the Lord of the Manor
wanted to see them as they
were expected to work for
him, for free! They quickly
disembarked and were
given their uniforms for
the day. Sitting in the
Banqueting Hall the Lord
of the Manor explained
how their day would
shape up and advised
them on some of the finer
points of medieval life.
Following instructions
the pupils trooped
off to meet their
new quarters. The
children revelled in
the activities and got
stuck into village life.
They baked bread, made candles, toiled in the
garden and valiantly protected the village from an
intruder! They were well rewarded with a feast in
the Banqueting Hall.
jubilee wall hanging
After a couple of initial disappointments, Bradford
Grammar School Stitch Club pupils had their stitch
work take pride of place in the Lord Mayor’s Office
for a Heritage Day event at City Hall. The hanging
was entered into the Group Handicraft Competition at
Bingley and Keighley Shows, but unfortunately both
were cancelled owing to the weather. The Lord Mayor,
a former pupil of the school invited the girls to visit him
at City Hall.
The school holds a twice-weekly group which meets
at lunchtimes for pupils to learn new handicrafts and
produce gifts and keepsakes for themselves and
their families. This group project was themed on
the Diamond Jubilee. Each pupil designed a block
based on their own ideas relating to Britishness and
the Diamond Jubilee. The final piece included a block
depicting the school motto – Hoc Age. A wide variety of
techniques and embroidery stitches were used and the
final blocks were machine-pieced to form the hanging
and hand-tied with buttons. The pupils who contributed
were Meg Boyle, Emaan Zia, Jemima Lee, Bea Taggart,
Maryam Hussain, Amaara Noor-Mundiya, Ellie Pinder,
Maddy Silberberg, Hannah Rawnsley, Milly Websdale and Charlotte Pickard.
The Jubilee Wall Hanging is now proudly displayed in the Headmaster’s study.
national story
winners
Congratulations to Grace Lancaster who recently won a national
short story competition run by Grid Club and Chronicle books.
Grace, Georgia Pope and Astrid Knox-McConnell all entered
excellent stories of 600 words with a hero theme. The stories were
judged by children’s author Annie Barrows. Grace did amazingly
well to win the age 11 – 12 category. She has won her own
collection of books, twenty-five books for the school library, a school
Skype chat with author Annie Barrows, a one-year membership for
school to the Grid Club and a bag full of goodies. Georgia’s story
was also shortlisted.
rowing
The Boat Club was delighted to celebrate David Wootton’s year as Lord Mayor of the City of
London by inviting him and his family to their riverside location on Saturday 17 November.
David was an avid rower and Captain of the Boats whilst at the school and has
continued rowing ever since, earning his Oxford Blues. Pupils, parents and staff
gathered to surprise David with the David Wootton. Headmaster Kevin Riley
and Head of the Boat Club Simon Darnborough said
a few words before David officially named the
boat using a bottle of Saltaire Blonde. The
Boat Club community enjoyed fine weather
and celebrated with mugs
of tea and bacon
sandwiches.