Dear Parents, Carers and Students Exam season is well underway and is always a period of high tension, evident from the nervous faces as students walk into the exam hall and then the looks of relief as they walk out. I would like to congratulate both Year 11 and 13 on the way they are conducting themselves during this exam season. You are all a real credit.    Exam season also means that for some of our students it is the end of their formal education at TWGSB. Both Year 11 and Year 13 students celebrated their time here with leavers’ assemblies and presentations. As a school it is always a bittersweet moment as we watch them embark on their next steps, but we hope to see many of our Year 11 students return into the Sixth Form. For those who have other plans we wish them well with their futures.  Year 13s have come to the end of what, for many of them, has been a seven-year journey. It was etched on their faces at their leavers’ assembly as the reality started to sink in that they were leaving us. What an incredible group of young men and women. I did say to them, ‘How did you get this big?!’ as we were presented with pictures of them all from Year 7. Thank you for everything you have given back to the school. It is a truly proud moment and as a school we know each one of you will move forward and fly.  There has been a multitude of enrichment activities over this half term as you will see from this newsletter. All of these have been a highlight in their own right. If you were fortunate enough to see our recent production of Treasure Island you will know exactly what I mean. To all the students and staff involved in this show a huge well done and thank you for such a professional production. Fast forward to the summer arts festival next term – please come and support us if you are able.  Unicorns, sharks and dinosaurs competed with gusto in the Sixth Form fun run. As always, the students and staff were incredible – so much laughter, and money raised for a good cause! I cannot wait to see next year’s fancy dress choices.   A reminder for after the break that summer uniform now comes into force. Students do not have to wear their blazers, but they should still have them with them. In hoping that the weather continues to improve, please ensure your child has a refillable water bottle in school.  We have ordered blue skies and sunshine for half-term. I do hope the order is not delayed! Have a lovely half-term – your support is appreciated.    Yours faithfully  Amanda Simpson (Headteacher)

 

POSITIVE PATHWAYS

Well done to all our students for the continued hard work and efforts with their house points! Twenty-six students have now reached gold boundary, five students have reached diamond and two students have reached the platinum boundary, which is a great achievement! 

Well done everyone and keep up the hard work! 

Mr Lewis (Assistant Headteacher)

SIXTH FORM

On Wednesday 3rd May, our Sixth Form had a fantastic time fundraising £267 during our Fun Run for our Head Students' Charities: Tunbridge Wells Welcomes Refugees and Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees.

A total of £3,728.56 has been raised this year by TWGSB6, and will be divided between the two areas. One of the charities' Trustees attended the Year 13 Leavers' Assembly to be presented with the money. Humphrey Pring, another Trustee, said, 'We really are very appreciative of your support, and will ensure that the money is put to good use in support of refugees resettling in our area. Thank you!'

Further photos here 

YEAR 13 LEAVERS' EVENT 

Year 13 students came together for one last assembly on Friday 12th May. We were treated to some great jazz from Joe, Nathan and Arthur. Ms Simpson wished all the students a successful exam season and a bright future. She praised them all for dealing with the pandemic, showing resilience and determination. We welcomed speakers from both Tunbridge Wells Welcomes Refugees and Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees, who thanked the students most warmly for raising so much money to help refugees in our area.

Form Tutors made delightful farewell speeches to their tutees. They were presented with flowers and gifts in turn. Miss Merricks, Mrs Calvert and Mrs Corp all wished the students the very best of luck.

We finished with Christian accompanying us in an ABBA singalong. We then retired for juice and doughnuts accompanied by hectic shirt signing. Staff came to wish the Year 13s a fond farewell. 

Mrs Corp (KS5 Academic and Pastoral Lead) 

YEAR 11 LEAVERS' EVENT 

Celebrating the end of Year 11's time at TWGSB, the leavers' assembly was a great mixture of fun, humour and emotion. The Year 11s were treated to a BBQ (from Southborough Butchers), ice cream van and bouncy inflatables – Gladiator Arena, Bungee Run and Last Man Standing. It was a great event, much enjoyed by all who attended. 

Further photos here 

GEOGRAPHY

Year 10 Geographers travelled to Greenwich at the end of March to investigate the sustainability of two contrasting areas. We started at the Dome and walked along to Millennium Village. Here we toured the area, taking in aspects of sustainability for buildings, recreation, transport, services and open space.

The students completed various surveys to record traffic, environmental quality and sustainable features. We found evidence of sustainability in electric bikes and a cycle path all the way to the city, a car share scheme and modern efficient buildings with all amenities and jobs opportunities nearby. We also walked past the power station, which provides community heating to many of the new build housing in the area. This currently runs on gas but the intention is to use sustainable sources in the future. This is something that many have seen but without realising what it is. It is on the right-hand side on the approach to the Blackwall Tunnel. The chimney is clad in triangular reflective metal shapes: look out for it next time you travel that way.

Once completed we walked to Historic Greenwich to carry out the surveys again in a very different area: old stock buildings, narrow streets and lots of congestion. However, the area seemed much more vibrant and had a wealth of historic attractions.

The students worked extremely well and were a credit to the school. We were able to trust them to work independently for a time at each site to collect meaningful data. The first group who went on Tuesday 28^th March are to be further congratulated on their resilience as the weather was atrocious and many of their sheets were water damaged.

Mr Ash (Head of Geography)

MUSIC

In our inaugural lunchtime piano recital at the end of April, Christian Radu, one of our most passionate pianists, performed a medley of pieces to a select audience in the Main Hall. The repertoire included his own arrangements of Eastern European folk, ABBA and a jazz organ supplement to 'The House Of The Rising Sun'. Our thanks and best wishes go to Christian. Here he is in action below: 

Mr Joris (Head of Music) 

MEDIA STUDIES

The Media Department was proud to celebrate the outstanding production work of Year 11, 12 and 13 Media students this term. The evening was a glamorous event (red carpet and all!) with real Oscars awarded for the best DVD cover, film poster, music video and magazine articles. We were also delighted to see Mr Fiveash receive his Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Further photos here 

Please enjoy this amazing mini feature movie produced, directed and created by our talented media staff: Mrs Fernandez, Mrs Calvert and Mr Fiveash.

 

DRAMA & THEATRE STUDIES 

School Production of Treasure Island

On Tuesday 25^th April and Wednesday 26^th April a cast of 25 students from Years 7–9 performed the school production of Treasure Island at the Tunbridge Wells site. The cast did a fantastic job and created a funny, entertaining and professional performance, which was enjoyed by their families, the public and TWGSB staff. Thank you to everyone who attended the performances; we look forward to welcoming you to the next production in the near future!

A full album of the photos can be found here.

Miss E Turner (Head of Drama & Theatre Studies)

LIBRARY

This is the library’s ten-year anniversary of taking part in Carnegie Shadowing with Skinners’ and TWGGS. Our Carnegie Shadowing team includes students from both campuses. These are just some of them, reading the shortlisted books and gearing up for the annual balloon debate with TWGGS and Skinners’, which will be held at our Sevenoaks campus in June.

Mrs Musselwhite Steel (Library Manager)

PE 

FOOTBALL 

Year 7 B team ESFA National Cup Semi-Final

The team performed brilliantly to reach the Semi-Final (Round 7) of the ESFA National Cup. On Saturday 1^st April we travelled to Shenfield High School in Brentwood, Essex. After 10 minutes we fell behind to an extremely unlucky own goal. The team played fantastically well in the second half and pushed hard for the equaliser. With 10 minutes remaining the Shenfield keeper made a brilliant one-on-one save to keep the score at 1-0. With us chasing the game Shenfield caught us on the break to make it 2-0. Reaching the Semi-Final of the ESFA National Cup is an outstanding achievement and we are very proud of all of the members of the squad. They will have another go next year.

Tolu (Year 11) played for Kent Schools U16s at the Dallas Cup in Texas, USA. Tolu played as a striker and scored several goals. Fantastic experience for Tolu to play in and visit America. Well done Tolu.

Dylan (Year 8) is a player in our Kent Cup winning team. Recently he captained Crystal Palace U13s in matches at the Millwall FC stadium The Den and the Reading FC stadium. He will be playing at the Crystal Palace FC stadium Selhurst Park in half-term. These are fantastic experiences. Well done Dylan.

Sam (would be Year 13, left TWGSB after Year 11) has been offered a professional contract by Gillingham FC. Sam was vice-captain of the U18s and has already made his First team debut in League One when he was just 17. When Sam joined TWGSB in Year 7 he was part of the Arsenal FC Academy. We are very proud of Sam and will be following his football career closely.

Congratulations to our excellent Year 8 U13A team on winning the Kent Cup final 5-1. We are already looking forward to next season when TWGSB will be entering numerous Kent and ESFA National Cups in 2023–2024 at both A and B team levels.

Football practices have continued to take place five days per week across the two sites, using both of our state-of-the-art 3G pitches. Well done to all of the students for attending the training sessions.

Mr Menzies (Head of Football)

CRICKET

Unfortunately all cricket teams were knocked out in the main competition this term. They were all close games, with each team losing by only a few runs or wickets and going the full distance in terms of overs played. This includes the Year 10 game that had to be played over two weeks due to the stormy weather!

Although the teams will be disappointed to lose in the main draw, the players will look to go far in the plate competition. With all four teams still in their respective plate competitions, there is still a lot to play for! Looking forward to seeing how the teams progress next term.

TENNIS

It has been an excellent term for the U15 tennis team, winning all three of their matches and dropping only three rubbers in all competitions so far, including an away journey to Sandwich. The U15s have their last tournament fixture in the first week back and will look to finish the season undefeated!

The U13 team have also had a strong start, winning one of the ties 6-0 and narrowly losing 4-2 in a very close match. The U13s have two matches booked in for the first week back, with one other to fit in before the tournament date closes.

Good luck to both teams who will look to reach the finals in their competitions.

Mr Boddy (PE) 

TERM 5 TRIPS & VISITS

TWGSB had an amazing time this Easter break on the Year 10 skiing trip to Sauze d'Oulx in Italy. The sun shone, the snow was great (once you were up the mountain!) and the students had a fantastic time learning to ski; plus great Italian restaurants in the evening and karaoke! Thank you to all the staff who organised such a fantastic opportunity for the students. Here is a video of the trip's highlights: 

 

CLUBS

DRAMA CLUB

On Thursday 23^rd May we held our first Teatime Theatre event at the Sevenoaks campus with the members of the Drama Club performing an extract from Treasure Island. Parents, carers, grandparents, friends and staff joined the cast and crew prior to the performance for refreshments and cake served by our lovely parent volunteers.

This was then followed by a swash-buckling performance, which included students from Years 7 and 8. It was exciting to hold our first performance at Sevenoaks and Miss Turner and I are already making plans for a production next academic year. We’d like to say thank you to everyone who supported us by donating cakes, serving drinks and attending the event and, of course, a massive well done to all the students involved.

Mrs Rose (Assistant Headteacher)

ULTIMATE FRISBEE

In Term 5 there was a taster session after school at Tunbridge Wells and then four more sessions on Wednesdays for Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 students. In Term 6 there will be six more sessions. This club has proved very popular with the students and continues to grow. At our Sevenoaks campus we recently started up an ultimate frisbee club for Year 7 and 8 students. This will also continue in Term 6.

OTHER NEWS

Well done to Ben (Year 11) who won the U17 Boys South East Regional Table Tennis Championship earlier this month. This event is open to any boy of this age group across five counties so he had to beat some strong opposition to get to the final and then win it. Well done Ben! Great achievement!

Here he is receiving his medal and in action:

Harry (Year 7) has been cast as Jeremy in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Assembly Hall Theatre this May half-term and also features in an article in The Times of Tunbridge Wells this week. The part is no small undertaking with numerous and intense rehearsals three times a week. We wish you all the best with the performances, Harry – we are sure you will smash it!

Many congratulations to Matt (Year 7) who managed to attain a bronze medal in one of his three categories at Taekwondo Scottish National Championships. He was up against some of the best in the UK and it was a long day. Matt says he's come away with an even more determined attitude to up his achievements in the next competition, and usually trains on average three times a week.

Well done Matt – we are all proud of you!

Congratulations to Will and Ollie (both Year 11) who were part of the Tonbridge Juddians RFC U18 National Cup winning team Saturday 6^th May (televised), beating Olney RFC 23-12 at the Sixways Stadium in Worcester. They played fantastically well in extremely challenging conditions. Well done boys! You have made TWGSB proud!

Amir (Year 12) has gained professional sponsorship to enter the esteemed Jiu-Jitsu professional event called Polaris. The event is known for being the ‘world's most exciting professional Jiu-Jitsu event’ and will be streamed on UFC Fight Pass Stream on Saturday June 3^rd 2023. The event is being held in London this year with a huge super fight card, featuring the best grapplers in the world.

Amir has been learning the martial art for only 20 months but has already gained a blue belt because he trains two or three times a day, six days a week. He was recently spotted by one of the organisers who asked his coach if he would like to compete. The fight is on 3^rd June and we believe that only one other 17-year-old has ever taken part in this professional fight against adults – Nicky Ryan whose brother is Gordon Ryan, the best in the world and two-time ADCC gold medallist.

We wish you all the best Amir. We are very proud you have been selected and TWGSB is rooting for you!

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MARKETING, DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI RELATIONS

Parents and students, please do get in touch if you have any news you would like to share with us. We love celebrating our students’ achievements on our website and social platforms so please do let us know if someone deserves a pat on the back. Simply email: feedback@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk or ltipler@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk.

Here are our latest inspiring alumni news stories, which can help show our students what sort of careers are out there and how they can make an impact: 

Alex Puffette (Class of 2022) recently stood in our local elections.	Dillon Hobbs (Class of 2021) Breaks Tunbridge Wells Harriers' 30 Year club record
Interview with Cameron Jones (Class of 2020) who is excelling in his Career as a Chef	Tom Powell (Class of 2008) has a highly acclaimed debut film out now

TWGSB is now on four social media platforms – please follow us:     Alumni, please follow our TWGBS Alumni CONNECT socials to hear when new alumni news is published:     Please send all your alumni news, updates and achievements to: connect@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk