Hoc Age Spring 2011 - Bradford Grammar School

cateringsuccessWe are particularly proud of our school cateringteam and the lunches they provide daily forour pupils. In addition to this they provide thecatering for a range of school events throughoutthe year.In January four catering staff enhanced theirhospitality and culinary skills further by successfullycompleting NVQ training and achieving the level 2Multi-Skill Hospitality Qualification. Well done toDebbie Merckx, Jennifer Morris, Christine Raffertyand Amanda Roberts.muncompetitionBradford Grammar School hosted a Model UnitedNations competition on Wednesday 9 February.Schools from around West Yorkshire took part,including over 60 students from BGS, GSAL,Hanson School, Carlton BollingCollege, Hipperholme GrammarSchool, Holy Family and St Bede’s.The debatingcompetition mirrored alot of what happensin a real UNdebating chamber.The topic for debate withinthe General Assembly was ‘The DarfurSituation’. Each pair of students represented acountry and became the delegates for that country.The Chairman, Mr James Proctor, and the judgeswere extremely impressed with the quality of thecontributions on the day. The judges (who includedMrs Baines, Miss Slater and Mr Skelton as wellas judges from other participating schools) had adifficult job awarding the prizes. Matthew Hull andOliver Arthurs from Bradford Grammar School wereawarded Best Contribution.prince’strustOn Tuesday 1 March BGS held the area presentationevening for the Prince’s Trust Schools EnterpriseChallenge. The challenge involved a team of LowerSixth students organising enterprising activities toraise funds for the Prince’s Trust. Over the pastfour months they organised a ‘Snowball Challenge’stall at the Christmas Fair, presented an assemblyabout the Trust where they held a bucket collection,and helped to organise the BGS Tennis Parents’Association Valentine’s Race Night. The Race Nightwas particularly successful; the students held a raffleof donated prizes which they had obtained from localbusinesses. The BGS team came a close secondoverall raising £900 for the Trust.johnhollingworthvisithistory trip to berlinDuring the February half term pupils visited a bitterly cold Berlin. Sites included: SachsenhausenConcentration Camp (the first in Germany), the Wannsee villa (where the Holocaust was planned) and theImperial Reichstag, which burnt down in February 1933 and was the epicentre of the Soviet battle for Berlin in1945. Pupils and staff also saw the Opernplatz, the site of the May 1933 book burning, Goering’s Air Ministry,from which the Battle of Britain was directed and was the site of Hitler’s bunker, which was portrayed in the2004 film Downfall, the prison of the Stasi, East German secret police, and the remains of the Berlin Wall.Travelling extensively by public transport gave everyone a real feel of the vibrant atmosphere and history ofthis extraordinary city.Former Head Boy, John Hollingworth who attended RADA and is now a professional actor based in Londonrecently took time out to return to BGS. He was starring as Jackie Jackson at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in theplay “The Deep Blue Sea”. John spent the morning with English and Drama students in the Hockney Theatre, hadlunch with Sixth Form pupils and gave some valuable advice to students wanting to progress within performingarts. He also enjoyed a tour of the school and was amazed with the developments since he left in 1999.fashion showThe annual BGS Netball Parents’ Association Fashion Show, once again was a triumphant success! The SixthForm and Junior School pupils acted as enthusiastic models and the audience were entertained with someexcellently choreographed performances, many of which were choreographed by Sixth Form pupils. The fashionshow featured a range of clothes including formal wear, sports and riding attire, evening and casual wear, allfrom a number of local boutiques. A cheque will be presented to the Teenage Cancer Trust. TheTeenage Cancer Trust is a charity devoted to improving the lives of teenagers and youngadults with cancer. Other money raised will support the junior and seniornetball tours.religious studies tripsIn the magnificent grounds of Sneaton Castle GCSEReligious Studies students attended revision sessionsand produced some excellent work. As part oftheir GCSE course, students learn about religiousarchitecture and what better place to visit than WhitbyAbbey and the monasticPriory Church of St Hildain Whitby? Everyone reallyenjoyed spending timewith the Sisters, who livein a monastic communityattached to Sneaton Castle.They were really interestingpeople, who were morethan willing to answer somereally thoughtful questionsfrom our students. Onthe trip the group also climbed the 199 steps tothe Abbey, had a time of reflection at Caedmon’smemorial before the Abbey; visited Whitby Abbey;ate fish and chips and spent time hard at work at theCastle. It was a fantastic trip with staff and studentsreturning spiritually refreshed and ready for the examseason ahead!The RS A level students attended some exciting oneday philosophy and ethics conferences in Manchester.These were university style lectures and were afantastic opportunity for those studying ReligiousStudies at A Level to deepen their knowledge andunderstanding of thecourse. Dr Peter Vardywas the main speaker atboth conferences. Hehas a real passion forengaging young peoplewith the big questionsthat affect them andhas done more thananybody else to inspirethe resurgence in thepopularity of studyingRS. Bob Bowie, Lord Alton and Mary Ann Warnockalso gave fantastic talks on their subject areas.The final debate of the day, ‘Should euthanasia belegalised?’ proved to be lively, with students beinggiven a chance to discuss with each other their viewson this topic area. All in all a great day was had by allof the students!armyscholarshipJack Blackhall has wanted to join the Armyfrom a young age. Following advice fromthe school’s Careers Department, Jack wasintroduced to Colonel Gunson who visits theschool regularly. Colonel Gunson guidedJack through the process of interviews andthis, alongside his GCSE results, led to Jack visitingthe Army Officers Selection Board at Westbury. Jackwas delighted to hear that he had been successfuland will obtain an Army Scholarship earning him acontribution towards university fees and eventually aplace at Sandhurst.fairtradeThe purpose of the BGS Fairtrade group is toraise awareness of Fairtrade and the group’smain aim is for all pupils at BGS to understandthe importance of buying Fairtrade products.Fairtrade ensures the producers in developingcountries receive a fair wage for their work, aswell as safe working conditions and an extrapremium to pay for community projects such ashospitals and schools.Second Form pupils Manisha Islam, HopeSilver and Davina Puri attended a Fairtradeconference at Leeds University on Friday 21January. The opening speaker was Hilary Benn,Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. Itwas a fascinating conference, with hands-oncreative activities as well as the chance to hearabout the impact Fairtrade has on farmingcommunities in developing countries.The girls also met pupils fromother schools who areraising awareness ofFairtrade.This year’stheme forFairtradefortnight, 28 Februaryto 11 March 2011, wasCotton. The whole ofthe Second Form at BGSwere involved in making 140cotton flags which were fastenedtogether to create a bunting over 10metres long. The BGS bunting wastaken to Bradford city centre to join with otherbunting from around the city and was strungacross Darley Street. All Fairtrade fortnightbunting is sent to the Fairtrade Foundation inLondon who will attach it all together in line withthe Guinness Book of Records requirements.They want to have it ready for display on WorldFair Trade Day, Sunday 8 May 2011.The current record for bunting is 2,696 metres.The Fairtrade Foundation’s target is 4,350metres (2.5 miles). They need at least 12,500flags to achieve this; one for each Fairtradecotton farmer in Mali and Burkina Faso.Other Fairtrade activities this term have includedmaking and delivering Valentine’s Day Fairtradechocolate hearts.drama tripto londonFifth and Sixth Form Drama students impressedover one hundred moderators in London at AQA’sannual standardisation meeting in January 2011when they presented four plays at the Park CrescentConference Centre, Regent’s Park. Two devisedplays, Puppet about a degenerative illness and SmallDark Realm based on the writings of Jean Genet,were complemented by extracts from Diane Samuels’Kindertransport and Atonin Artaud’s Jet of Blood. Asa reward from AQA the students had return train faresto London, a night in a central hotel and excellenttickets to see the musical “Wicked” at the ApolloVictoria Theatre. An email from the Chief Moderatorcontained the following comments: “the studentswere a real credit to their drama teachers and theschool. It was the best organised and presented livework I can ever recall at this meeting. The studentsbehaved impeccably and performed to a highlyprofessional standard. Many thanks.”evensongOn Monday 4 February Bradford Grammar JuniorSchool were invited by Bradford Cathedral Choirto sing Evensong with them at the cathedral.Having practised very hard over a long period tolearn the difficult music, the choir sang Stanford’ssetting in C of the Magnificent and Nunc Dimitis, apsalm and the anthem O Thou the Central Orb byCharles Wood. A good time and experience for allwho took part.journalist ofthe yearIn February Fourth Form pupil Jack Appleyard wasnamed as Young Motorsport Journalist of the Year.The contest invited youngsters aged 11-17 to write ashort report based on race footage from either a FIAFormula Two Championship or an MCE Insurance BritishSuperbike Championshipevent. Three winners wereselected from the competition’stwo age categories, the 11-13year olds and the 14 years andover, by a panel of MotorsportVision judges. The chosenentries were then reviewed by a Motorsport Newsjournalist and the 2010 Renault Motorsport AssociationYoung Journalist of the Year. Jack won a day behind awheel of a BMW 1 series, on a Motorsport Vision youngdriver introductory driving lesson at Oulton Park.victorian dayOn 8 February Junior School pupils travelled to the Bradford Industrial Museum. The girls dressed in Victorian clothes -a long dress, apron and a mop cap and books. Boys wore a shirt, a cap and trousers tucked into their socks. MrSmales and Mr Sykes had long black coats and a cloth tucked into their shirts and parted their hair. Staff and pupilswere given Victorian names such as Mary Francis and Mr Smales became Ebenezer Smales.At themuseum the pupils saw theworking horses, original buses,cars and bicycles from the Victorian era and typicalVictorian terrace houses as well as gaining a detailed insight into lifeworking in a mill at the turn of the 19th century.After lunch pupils attended lessons in a Victorian classroom and were given a lesson on the use of coal.dofeThere are now nearly 240 Bradford GrammarSchool students who have achievedtheir Bronze Award. A further 55 havecompleted their Silver Award and over 30have achieved the Gold Award. There arealso a staggering 110 current Fourth Formstudents participating in the Bronze Award.The expedition training is taking place afterschool and is going very well. The expeditionseason starts with the first four-day GoldAward training expedition to the Lake Districtin April, with the Bronze Award studentshitting the hills in May. Good luck to all thoseinvolved and fingers crossed for some moreglorious weather.musicdancesucessAs part of a group from DM Academy Dance School,sisters, Rachel and Sarah Varley performed at theAlhambra Theatre in a production called Earth, Windand Fire. Their tap dance, Feet of Flames, wasspotted and selected to be performed at the RoyalAlbert Hall over the Royal Wedding Bank Holidayweekend. Both sisters will be performing at BGS on31 March and 1 April in the production “Girl Power”.Congratulations to Lewis Day and Ed Paget who havebeen cast in the lead roles in a performance of BillyElliot at Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre. Lewis is to playBilly and Ed is playing, Michael, Billy’s best friend.Once again the Music department have had a very busy term holding an extremely well performed Concert of ChamberMusic on 3 March, they have held weekly lunch time recitals, and along with the help of the English department, pupilshave performed at a series of Music and Poetry evenings. The term ended with a production of Girl Power in theHockney Theatre. The all-female cast entertained their audience with lively singing and dancing routines.The Junior School held its annual Music Competition where pupils enter a wide range of categories which are then dividedby ability. The winners of each section came together to perform at the end of term concert held in the Price Hall.speech dayBGS was delighted to welcome back, former pupil, Peter Foy to one of the most significant events of theschool year, Speech Day, where Peter addressed an audience of over 1000 pupils, parents, staff and guests.Peter has enjoyed a remarkable career since leaving Bradford; he is a former Managing Director ofMcKinsey & Co UK, the leading international management consultancy firm. He was a member ofMcKinsey’s worldwide Board and spent ten years as head of the firm’s European Consumer Goods practice. Previously,he held a number of marketing positions with Gillette, L’Oreal and Colgate-Palmolive.After leaving McKinsey Peter became Chairman of Baring Brothers International which had been acquired as the corporatefinance arm of ING’s Investment Bank. More recently he has held the following posts: Deputy Chairman of P&O PrincessCruises plc, Chairman of Whitehead Mann plc, and a Director of PepsiCo Inc., and Safeway plc. Peter was recentlyappointed as the Chairman of ‘Streaming Tank’, a leading company in the ‘video streaming’ market.In addition to these roles Peter has served as Deputy Chairman of the Royal Ballet School and maintains a closeconnection with Oxford University as a Fellow of St Peter’s and St Anne’s Colleges, a Faculty Board Member of theBusiness School and a Trustee of the Higher Studies Fund. Amongst his many notable interests Peter is a member of theboard of the British Film Industry, a role that brings him back to Bradford and the National Museum of Film.Congratulations to all those pupils who received their prizes from Peter.senior ski tripSam Garnett reports:As the fireworks exploded, illuminating the sky in breathtakingcolour and the throbbing beat of “Duck Sauce” pulsed loudlythrough the cold night air, the swell of several thousand peopleerupted in celebration. Nationality was forgotten as peoplecheered the arrival of 2011 in the way that only “Snow Hounds”know how. This was no ordinary New Year’s Eve... this wasSenior Ski Trip 2010!In the early hours of Boxing Day morning, 31 members of the Fifth Form, Lower and Upper Sixth and staffflew to France to spend a week skiing and snowboarding in Tignes and Val d’Isere. Ability ranged from theabject beginner to the outright advanced and the Espace Killey never disappoints, providing spectacular terrainsuitable for every standard. As always, Mr Taylor led the charge and the group spent a minimum of five hours aday either in lessons or with a professional guide, meaning no inch of the mountain was left unexplored. Eveningentertainments were, as ever popular and varied, culminating in a New Year’s Eve party few will ever forget!We might return tired and emotional, battered and bruised, but there is one thing for sure... we can’t wait fornext year!health & safetycompetitionA competition held by the BGSHealth and Safety Department andthe Junior School was intended toraise the profile of health, safety andwelfare within the school and also toreduce the number of playgroundaccidents. The pupils wereasked to create a poster usingpaints, pens or computergraphics to illustrate thedangers that are present inthe playground. They were askedto consider playing ball games andrunning in wet or icy conditions. TheJunior School pupils were asked to submit their poster entries followingthe half term break. The competition winners were selected by the school’s Health and SafetyOfficer then put on display for the Governors before being placed on display in the Junior School.Staff and Governors were extremely impressed with the quality of the ideas and the posters.classicsMarch has been a busy month for the ClassicsDepartment. A trip to the British Museumbrought the ancient world to life for a group ofSixth Form pupils, as they visited the extensiveGreek and Roman collections, and took in aspecial Egyptian treat. Journey into the Afterlife,an exhibition on the Egyptian Book of The Dead,provided a fascinating insight into the highlyskilled industry and elaborate beliefs surroundingdeath in ancient Egypt. The Sixth Form werealso treated to two talks by Dr KatharineEarnshaw of St John’s College, Oxford, whocame to the school to share her thoughts on theLatin texts being studied for A level.Earlier in the month, 22 pupils from the SecondForm to the Upper Sixth visited Leeds Universityto take part in the Classical Association’sannual Classical Reading Competition, readingpassages from the works of Ovid, Livy, Xenophon,Aeschylus and Plato. First prizes were wonby Manisha Islam for Junior Latin, and LilyMacTaggart for Junior Greek; second prizeswent to Henry Websdale in Intermediate Latin (acategory in which BGS fielded a splendid teamof nine) and to Alec Mann and Georgia Flavell inthe Greek Drama category. Chris Silberberg, theyoungest competitor in the Senior Greek category,received an honourable mention for his readingfrom Plato’s Crito.On the 18 March 2011 a group of pupilsconsidering studying Classics at universityenjoyed a visit to Oxford University’s Open Day.topgcseCongratulations to RaviPrasad who won a nationalaward for his impressiveGCSE results. Ravi won anaccolade for being the topAQA GCSE Mathematicscandidate. He was oneof only five top performingGCSE students in thecountry to receive anaward at the Assessmentand Qualifications Allianceceremony held in London. Ravi was presented with asolid silver medal and a framed certificate by Andrew Hall,Chief Executive of the exam board AQA; these were alsopresented in a school assembly by Stephen Davidson.debatingTwo teams from BGS competed at the Durham round ofthe International Competition for Young Debaters againstthirty teams from across the north. The teams of GeorgeGoddard, Mathew Hull, Dan Sanderson and YousafMahmood were ranked first and second on the day, andwill attend the international final in Cambridge in June.worldolympicdreamsAs part of the World Olympic Dreams project theBBC and the British Council launched OlympicDreams – School Search, a competition for primaryand secondary schools across the UK to twin withOlympic athletes’ schools all over the world. JamesBrindley School in Birmingham was one of thewinners and was partnered with BGS as AlistairBrownlee’s former school. On January 14 CharlesLines, Director of Sport, and Abby Mae Parkinson, acurrent student and cyclist met up withrepresentatives from James BrindleySchool in London at a seminarhosted by the BBC andthe British Council. Theytook part in a weekend ofevents held at the BritishMuseum, meeting staffand pupils from around theworld who had links withOlympic athletes. BGS isnow planning art, musicand sport projects withour twinned school, someof which will be filmed bythe BBC.

amnestyAs part of an annual greeting card campaign runby Amnesty International UK, the BGS AmnestyGroup sent cards to various prisoners across theworld whose human rights have been infringed.In order to raise awareness of the plight of theprisoners to the wider school community the groupgathered more than 200 signatures from both staffand pupils in the space of 40 minutes during onelunch time.The Amnesty Group provides an excellent forumfor learning more about world affairs and humanrights issues in particular, but it also encouragesawareness of different cultures and stimulatesgenuine debate and discussion.Annabel Hewitt, a member of the BGS Amnestygroup has been short-listed for AmnestyInternational’s Young Human Rights Reporter of theYear. Over 1,000 entries were received from acrossthe country and Annabel has finished in the top tento earn a place in the final. The final judging willtake place in the next few weeks and the top threein each category will be invited to attend a specialceremony at Amnesty International’s Headquartersin London.viking dayIn January J6 pupils visited a replica Viking village inYork. They dressed up and lived the life of a Viking forthe day. Pupils took part in various activities includingguard training, oil lamp making, grinding flour, weavingand housekeeping. The pupils also enjoyed a Viking stylemeal along with associated manners and revelry. It wasan excellent day of fun and learning.crosscountryEmile Cairess has had a fantastic Cross Countryseason finishing second in the West YorkshireSchools’ Cross Country Championships and thereforebeing selected to represent West Yorkshire in theEnglish Schools’ Cross Country Championships.Emile ran extremely well and was the first counterfor West Yorkshire. Congratulations also to KatyBoden, Libby Linfield, Natalie Brown and Alex Rhodeswho all represented Bradford in the West YorkshireSchools’ Championships. Emmerson James won theU12s race in the Bradford School’s Cross CountryChampionships.red nose dayOn 18 March the Junior School pupils were a mass ofred with vibrant clothes, red wigs and noses, featherboas and hats. Each pupil paid a pound to dress innon-uniform and entered a competition for the persondressed in the most red. As part of the day, the JuniorSchool pupils ran all sorts of Red Nose Day themedgames including bobbing for red noses, red spacehopper races and a sale of fantastic treats. Fun was hadby all whilst raising £668 for an excellent cause.rugbyThis year’s Sixth Form General Studies programmehas offered pupils from Bradford Grammar School theopportunity to complete the RFU’s Young Officials Award,the first step on the RFU’s officiating pathway. Underthe guidance of Will Halford, Referee DevelopmentManager for the North East and Yorkshire, Neil Spence,Community Rugby Coach for West Yorkshire, andmembers of Bradford Grammar School’s PE & Gamesdepartment, seven pupils have completed theorysessions and developed their practical skills.“I am absolutely delighted with the success of thisinitiative. The boys have made a huge contribution to allthe tournaments we host here” commented Director ofSport, Charles Lines. “I understand that BGS are the firstschool group to have fully completed the award, which isa great credit to the staff and pupils involved. The boysare already looking forward to graduating to the EntryLevel Refereeing Award and taking charge of officiating atour Junior School fixtures next year.”Congratulations to Edward Hainsworth, George O’Hara,Francis Berryman, Callum Foster, Josh Green, Jack Smalland Henry Walker.rowingTwenty members of the BGS Boat Club took part at theEnglish Indoor Rowing Championships in Manchesteron the 30 January. In the J18 lightweight category LiamDay and Dominic Marshall were placed 2nd and 3rdrespectively. Angus Mather added to the medal hoardcoming 2nd in the J15 category.On Saturday 26March 2011, tenmembers of theBGS Boat Club wereecstatic to breakthe 24 hour IndoorRowing World Recordfor the aged 18group.At 7am, the team began their record breaking attempt.The Sixth Form pupils, together with Angus Mather fromthe Fifth Form, took turns to row at sprint speed for 5minutes each, allowing a 45 minute rest. Sleep wassnatched within these short intervals.Many, many congratulations, on this world beatingperformance, to Jonathan Schneider (Captain),Dominic Marshall (Vice Captain), Ben Balmforth, JamesMcWhinney, Sam Walsh, Rowan Arthur, Jack Blackhall,Liam Day, Angus Mather and Tom Killian.The team are raising money for a new boat for a crew of8, costing around £20,000. If you would like to supportthem, please phone Tel. 07784 623586 to donate.Larger Corporate donations earn a logo on a boat.hockeyGirls’ hockey is now in its third year at BGS and hasmade amazing progress during that time. There arenow teams from U12 to U16 competing regularly andover 120 girls attend practice sessions. The teamshave also had a very successful season, winning theBradford area tournaments at U12, U14, U15 andU16 age groups, with the U13s yet to play.The end of the season was marked with a juniortour to Blackpool. The girls enjoyed beach games,Pleasure Beach rides and reported it to be the ‘thebest tour ever’.youth parliamentAfter the weather caused havoc with the remainder of the15 a-side season the junior tour to Edinburgh was a greatsuccess. There were some hard fought matches withEdinburgh Academy, but a very pleasing clean sweepof victories against Kings School Tynemouth. After halfterm an abbreviated version of the game was played,with good performances from all sides, but particularlypleasing performances from the U13s and U12s.At our own BGS tens tournament we were runners upin all the groups and only lost the overall title on pointsscored having achieved the same league points.The U13s have won the Nottingham and Woodhouse Grovetournaments. The U12s won the St Olaves tournament.The season will end with the national competition at RosslynPark for the 1st, U16 and U13 teams.swimmingThe senior girls’ and boys’ swimming teams travelledto London in March to compete at an eight schools’gala held at Whitgift School. The boys won three offour individual events and came first and second inthe medley and freestyle relays. This gave them firstplace winning the event for the first time since 1973.Well done to George Mack, Tom Hobson, DavidBrown and Ben Balmforth.Clare Mack was presented with two awards at theBritish Long Distance Swimming Association AnnualDinner in March; Clare was awarded the Tom ButcherTrophy for Junior Swimmer of the Year for the 2010season, and was also awarded the Junior Grand PrixTrophy. 2010 was Clare’s first year of competition inlong distance swimming events, and culminated withher winning the Junior Coniston race in which sheswam the 5 ¼ mile length of Lake Coniston. Earlierin the year she was a member of a three-person relayteam which swam the length of Coniston in bothdirections. She has also taken part in junior openwater swimming events at Albert Dock, Liverpool(1st Junior Female) and Wykeham Lakes, nearScarborough (3rd Junior Female).Congratulations to Sian Morgan and David Brownwho have qualified for the Open and Youth NationalChampionships and also to Freddy Hoban who hasqualified for the Junior National Championships to beheld in June.visitingspeakersLast term saw a number of very interesting,informative and enjoyable talks from a variety ofspeakers including Old Bradfordian, JohnTempest, onthe work of the “Bradford Soup Run” charity, Dr DaveLewis of Leeds University spoke about the dangers ofchemicals in the environment particularly hair dye! DrMandy Turner, University of Bradford came to speakto the Sixth Form about the Gaza Strip. The FifthForm was visited by representatives from the WestYorkshire Police who gave advice on personal safety.Congratulations to Fifth Form pupil Ben Scantlebury who came first in the Shipley area youth elections which were heldin March. Ben spent a week campaigning before being elected and will now be one of the thirty young people fromacross the district who will represent other young people across five constituencies.The results were announced at the Hilton Hotel in Bradfordon the 12 March. Ben will attend weekly meetings withfellow Shipley members of the Youth Parliament and berequired to attend regular ‘public meetings’ in BradfordCity Hall. Ben is planning to campaign for cheaperpublic transport for young people.health promotionHealth promotion is a large part of the nurses’ work at BGS. By the SixthForm the pupils have heard about puberty, healthy eating, alcohol and smoking risks, debated aspects of healthyrelationships within their family and peer groups, considered peer pressure and its effects, been warned of sexualhealth risks and encouraged to take responsibility for their own health, learnt how to check for male/female cancerand how to challenge the effects of stress and lack of sleep.The nurses were delighted to be invited to join in with the Duke of Edinburgh training and teach first aid. Inclassroom-based sessions the pupils were introduced to an Accident and Emergency based assessment linked withconsidering the mechanism of injury, encouraging self-awareness, observation skills, safety, casualty conscious leveland signs of injury, along with treatment options.Moving outside, with great enthusiasm and energy despite the cold muddy conditions, our Fourth Form pupils puttheir decision-making to the test. Skill and knowledge appeared in each group as resuscitation manikins werecompressed, recovery positions practised, various pulses found and bandaging and slinging of sprains and fractures,allergies, nose bleeds, blisters, fainting and panic attacks were all assessed. The decision-making process was putto the test and as usual good humour shone through.table tennisThe U19 girls’ team took part in the Butterfly National Schools’ Competition in March. The girls competedwell in extremely close and exciting matches. The BGS team battled hard to finish 4th nationally. Well done toAnisah Rasul, who is also the individual West Yorkshire Schools’ Champion, Chloe Pinkney, Anika Prasad andPascale Fisher who have qualified for the individual National ETTA finals by finishing second in the region.Bradford Grammar Junior School U11 boys and girls squads became West Yorkshire Schools’ Table TennisChampions in December. As a result they took part in the English Schools’ Zone finals in January and bothteams finished a fantastic third. Congratulations to Miles Loney, Hugh Berry, Alastair Holbrough and ThomasYoung and Ava Hepworth-Wood, Hibah Mahmood, Hannah Chaudry and Katie Robertshaw.forthcomingeventscalendarMay 4Jun 9Golf OBA v school team, OBA5 Fourth Year Music & Poetry Evening,Auditorium7 Spring Fair12 Leavers Concert13 Leavers Lunch, current U6, OBA14 BGS Tennis Parents’ Association MayBall, Price Hall17 Third Year Music & Poetry Evening,Auditorium21 Class of 40’s Reunion Luncheon,OBA24 Second Year Music & Poetry Evening,AuditoriumFirst Year Music & Poetry Evening,Auditorium12 10.30 Race for Life, Lister Park22 Junior School Grandparents &Relatives Day28 L6 Music & Poetry Evening,Auditorium29 19.00 Junior School Prize Giving, Price HallJul 1 Cricket OBA v school team, OBA3 BGS v Saltaire Cricket Club, OBA6 Battle of the Bands, Hockney Theatre7 Folk Group Music ConcertnetballThe highlight of this netball season has been theU19 girls reaching the national final of the firstIndependent Schools National Cup. The girls beatBishop Stortford in the semi-finals and will meetMillfield School in the final.Other notable achievements include; the U12s, U13sand U19s have all won their Bradford Schools DistrictTournaments, the U16s reached the regional finalsof the National Schools Competition and narrowlymissed a place in the national finals by one goal, andthe U15s were runners-up in their Regional InviteTournament.nationalscienceweekDuring National Science Week pupils throughout theschool were invited to a number of activities ranging frommaking slime to making indicators from red cabbagejuice. The highlight of the week was Wednesday 16March when in order to celebrate the new developmentsof the Learning Link and the Alan Jerome Building theschool’s benefactors were invited to join in the school’sNational Science Week activities. These included avisit by Space Connections who brought into school amobile planetarium and a Wow space bus. So pupilsexperienced a journey through the night sky, they learnedhow astronauts live in space and they also made rocketswhich they then launched. The benefactors and pupilsenjoyed two fascinating presentations, the first fromProfessor Adam Carey, who passed on advice whichhelped the England Rugby Team and England CricketTeam, Improve Performance on and off the Pitch and thesecond from Old BradfordianProfessor John Dainton whoenthralled his audience withan account of the night hewitnessed the discovery ofthe quark. A great time washad by all.Produced by Staunch Design - 01993 815919 - www.staunch.com Photographs by BGS and DRW Photographics