Headteacher's Newsletter March 2024

Positive Pathways

It’s been a great term with so many students achieving a large number of positive house points by showing the school's values in their day-to-day life. The total number of positive house points given out this academic year is now a whopping 157,605! To celebrate this achievment, all students who managed to reach 150 points and above, received an invitation to a celebratory breakfast at their campus on Wednesday. 

We are enormously proud of all your efforts and please keep up the good work exemplifying our school values! 

Mr Lewis, Assistant Headteacher

Sixth Form

A couple of weeks ago, our Year 12 students were warmly received at Queens’ College, Cambridge. We were met by Charlotte, Access and Outreach Officer, who took us to a lecture theatre to meet fellow visitors from another Kent school. We completed a quiz to highlight misconceptions and misinformation. We then split up into small groups and enjoyed a tour of the college, crossing the magical Mathematical Bridge, which originally needed no nails or supports! We toured the chapel, libraries and various beautiful courts led by a Third Year Economics undergraduate. We ate a delicious lunch in the stunning refectory and glimpsed Stephen Fry's old room, highly sought after apparently!

This was all followed by a lecture on how to be a strong applicant for High Tariff Universities and the importance of supra-curricular activities to enrich understanding. Moving on, we learnt about how Finance works and how to write an impressive personal statement.

Finally, we divided up into STEM subjects and Arts/Humanities and were treated to a university-style lecture on Plant Defences and a Philosophy lecture on Akrastic Thinking – both were challenging and stimulating.

It was an action-packed day, full of excellent guidance and information. As one student commented 'I cannot believe how much useful information we were given, I feel excited to be applying now!' Thank you Queens' College, Cambridge!

Mrs Corp, KS5 Academic and Pastoral Lead

PTA and Headstudents’ charity quiz 

On Friday the 22nd March we hosted a Parent-Teacher Quiz Night in aid of Age UK, Smartworks and the TWGSB PTA. The evening was a great success raising over £500 for all three charities, with around 65 teachers and parents in attendance compromising nine teams.

Questions spanned six rounds, including music, sport and geography, with food and drink during the evening provided by the PTA. Congratulations to the winning team Beef Wellingtons and the runners-up Bucks Quiz.

Also, a massive thanks must go out to all the senior prefects who were involved in its set-up and running, especially Isaiah E and Stirling T who were fantastic hosts for the duration of the evening.

It was a pleasure to see so many enjoying the evening and we, as a senior prefect team, are so grateful to all the parents and teachers who came along to support the event.

The Senior Prefect Team

Sixth Form careers and enrichment sessions 

In response to our request for professionals to come to talk to our Sixth Form about careers or enrichment, Year 12 students were lucky enough to hear from BBC meteorologist, Sarah Keith-Lucas on Tuesday 25th March. Sarah shared her experiences throughout her career, measuring and broadcasting the weather, as well as climate change. 

Sarah joined the Met Office in 2007 and started presenting forecasts for BBC Weather in 2008. She has done the five-day weather forecast on the BBC One series Countryfile. She also presents occasional weather-based documentaries on the BBC News and BBC World News channels Climate Check and Weather World, which she co-presents with Nick Miller.

Charlie B (Year 12) shared how he enjoyed this enrichment session:

‘We thoroughly enjoyed the fascinating talk on meteorology and broadcasting delivered by Sarah Keith-Lucas to the whole of Year 12. We were given an insider's behind-the-scenes look at her career at the BBC as a weather news presenter. We had invaluable information and insight into her duties and how to explore job opportunities. As a Media Studies student, I found it particularly useful and interesting, I will be researching this area as a potential career.’

Joe (Year 12) tells us about another enrichment session he enjoyed: 

Kevin Ambida a former TWGSB student (Class of 2022) now studying law at Bristol, came in to talk to the whole of year 12 about his experience at the school and his journey from Year 7 all the way to Year 13.

He talked about his experiences throughout his school life, from the lows - varying from really struggling throughout his mock exams due to personal issues, to the highs of achieving triple A* in his final a level exams. Kevin communicated the importance of how his ride wasn’t always a smooth road, and this was particularly apt for us as a year group during a time when we have just completed our mocks. This really related to his audience and how there may be many more bends in the road for us all in these upcoming years, going into adulthood.

Kevin told us how he switched direction from his original career path where he was set on being a musician and producing his own music, to surprisingly studying law at university, after discovering his passion for the legal system. He said he was just as surprised about this news as his parents and teachers were!

Kevin talked with confidence and fluency about his life, but also made it clear that this wasn’t always the person in front of us. With the help of staff at TWGSB and other role models in his life, he discovered something that he disregarded in his earlier stages of higher education. His talk was very inspirational and a real motivator for the year group, thank you Kevin.

Media 

TWGSB ‘Oscars’ Evening 2024

The stage was set, the fizz (non-alcoholic) was on ice and the paparazzi was primed. The TWGSB ‘Oscars’ Evening 2024 was ready for action. Last week, media students from both GCSE and A Level cohorts were invited, along with their families and friends, to celebrate the best of the coursework of the previous academic year. It was heartening to see such a good turn-out. Everyone had made an effort and the students arrived and mingled, looking red-carpet ready in their fabulous Oscar-worthy finery.

The evening started with a review of the magazine coursework, showcasing the fantastic work of the Year 11s. Then it was time for the first award for Best Magazine, which was won by George Bruce for his creation Plectrum, an excellent example of the music magazine genre.

Monty Cuthbert was welcomed on stage to receive his award for Best Teen Drama by our guest presenter, Catherine Cooke, a TV drama script editor and storyliner. Ms Cooke praised the excellent script writing, direction and particularly the gripping cliffhanger ending of Monty’s drama, which was then enjoyed by the audience.

The next category of the evening was the Rising Star award, given to the student in Year 12 who the judges felt showed exceptional promise. This year it was deservedly won by Kristian Protopapas. His modern parody of a Western showdown involving rock, paper, scissors was well appreciated by the enthusiastic audience.

Year 13 took the spotlight next. After an engaging compilation of the music videos created by the students, the Best Magazine award was won by George Norman for his music magazine Snap, featuring George’s creation Alek Turner as the cover star.

The Best Visual Effects award was given to the music video Narcissus is Back, brilliantly directed by Anton Bell and starring the considerable acting talents of his sister, who he generously invited up on stage to help him accept his Oscar from Mrs Rose.

Luke McConnell scooped the coveted Best Music Video award with his wonderful video for Tame Impala’s New Person, Same Old Mistakes. Luke had created the persona of Wes Walter as the artist for this video, which was filmed across a range of locations and explored the different sides of the character – a truly excellent video and Luke was welcomed warmly by the audience on to the stage to accept his award.

The final award of the night was presented by Mrs Calvert. She spoke movingly about watching the development of the award winner over his years at school and highlighted his talent and maturity as a creative, which culminated in his outstanding work for A Level. The music video Buttons, together with his accompanying magazine production View, justifiably won Ivan Espanilla the Award for Excellence.  Buttons is a staggeringly sophisticated production which mixed colour and black and white HD footage, some of which had been cleverly graded to resemble retro VHS footage. It was an outstanding end to a fantastic night, which truly displayed the wealth of talent, commitment and accomplishment of the Media students at TWGSB.

Many thanks to Mrs Calvert, Mrs Rose and Miss Turner for their help – and generous praise must also be given to Mr Tidy our Media Technician who ensured the presentation had a professional polish and sheen all evening.

Mr Stephens, Head of Media

Science 

TWGSB CanSat Launch Day

After months of hard work and planning, the TWGSB science teams finally launched their CanSat at Westcott Venture Park. Nick M (Year 13) tells us all about their day: 

On the 26th March 2024 TWGSB took two teams (Hyperion and Need for Delta Velocity) under the fearless leadership of Miss Jones and Miss Trainor and travelled to the regional CanSat launch at Westcott Venture Park.

A little context: CanSat is a competition run by the ESA (European Space Agency) in which a group of 11–19-year-olds spend roughly six months building a Coke can-size satellite that has the primary mission of measuring temperature and pressure and then transmitting the data in flight to a ground station we had set up.

The teams also completed a secondary mission of their choosing. Need for Delta Velocity chose to attempt a guided landing using small servo motors to adjust their parachute in flight and hopefully guide it back to a predetermined point at the launch site, and Hyperion decided to attempt an automatic conversion from parachute to rover upon landing, and then drive the CanSat back to the ground station.

On the appointed day both teams set off, each with a (mostly) working CanSat and arrived at the launch site. After a couple hours of tinkering with code and components, they were in a flight-ready state and we then proceeded to launch.

The CanSats were both stuffed into rockets and launched just in time to dodge the oncoming rain and fast winds, which would have made the launch difficult. They shot up into the air, and at the aperture of their flight they were released and plummeted towards the earth, the parachutes on both of them slowing them to a sufficient pace such that they did not break upon landing and also they moved fast enough so as to not be carried too far away by the slight wind.

Unfortunately, no data was collected as Hyperion had a power issue and Need for Delta Velocity hadn’t encoded their satellite with the capability of distinguishing between radio receivers, and as such, due to almost all teams using 446Hz, were receiving readings from the wrong satellite.

The secondary missions also went awry as Hyperion had overlooked some design features and had trouble fitting their huge number of components into the relatively small space afforded to them under the CanSat guidelines, which even the excellent work of the head of electrical design and head of 3D design could not have foreseen nor fixed. Therefore the custom-printed 3D chassis and outside plating had to be adjusted and cannibalised in order to ensure they had a launch-worthy product.

Need for Delta Velocity struggled with space and also had some coding issues which, compounded with the complexity of their parachute and the interfering radio frequencies, led to them unfortunately also having to abandon their secondary mission.

However, it should be noted that despite the apparent failure of both cans to do anything, they were both launched, which is an achievement in itself – as often cans are deemed unsafe for launch; and the application, determination, creativity and inquisitive attitudes that both teams showed throughout the entire process is commendable.

History

A Level History trip to the National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum promises the discovery of epic stories of exploration and endeavour that have shaped our world today. So, with this in mind, it seemed a great opportunity to take some intrepid Year 12 students who as part of their A Level History studies have been exploring the role of the navy and Nelson in wars against the French 1793–1815.

On arrival, as we were early and the museum was not yet open, we decided to walk up to the Royal Observatory and enjoy a marvellous view over London. We then headed back down to the museum to embark on our adventure.

The students received a talk from a PhD student who shared his expertise about the role of the navy in maintaining the British Empire, which helped students to put their own ideas into a bigger context. This talk was something, which will definitely impact on the way we teach this topic in future years.

Students were then split into groups – one group had the chance to do a self-led tour around the museum with a focus on looking in the following galleries: Atlantic Worlds, Traders, Forgotten Fighters and Nelson, Navy, Nation, while the other group had the chance to delve into some archives and get hands-on with artefacts. A real highlight for Mr Stuart was seeing a note believed to have been written by Nelson in the build-up to the Battle of Trafalgar, stating his now famous plan of attack – exciting indeed!

The two groups swapped round after lunch, before a short plenary session consolidating the learning from the day. All round, this was a positive trip and to paraphrase Nelson, somewhat, ‘every man (and woman) did their duty’!

Mr Pratt, Head of History

Computer Science

Winners of the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge Robot Design Award

On 5th March, Year 9 TWGSB Robotics Team (Austin L, Cruz O, Ishaan M, Liam S, Srikruth C) celebrated winning the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge Robot Design Award. In addition to the robot performance, this also involved a presentation to a panel of judges about the robot design and answering questions from the judges demonstrating their technical understanding.

FIRST LEGO League introduces science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) to children through fun, exciting hands-on learning. The participants gain real-world problem-solving experiences through a guided, global robotics programme. FLL’s three divisions inspire students to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding and design skills. Friendly competition is at the heart of the challenge where teams engage in research, problem-solving, coding and engineering – building as well as programming a LEGO robot that navigates the missions of a robot game. As part of the challenge, teams also participate in a research project to identify and solve a relevant real-world problem.

The teams prepare all season to compete at tournaments, where judges provide valuable feedback on their robot, code and Innovation Project. The final test of their work comes at the Robot Game table, where they race against the clock for a personal best score and the chance to advance to a local championship. 

Our students competed with teams who were much bigger (ten+ team members each and one or two technical mentors) and who have been participating for years, so they did very well.  

Ishaan M (Year 9) tells us more:

‘The mission of the tournament was to build an autonomous robot to perform set tasks and challenges. The team built a robot consisting of motors, sensors and other various attachments; this was then programmed to run on a block coding software. We won an award for the most innovative and multi-functional robot design as well as individual medals. Team TWGSB as a first-year team were able to successfully complete the tasks as planned and compete head-to-head with other seasoned competitors. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed building the robot as well as the experience of the competition day.  During our journey, we picked up very valuable skills such as teamwork, coding and problem-solving skills. I hope more students will be encouraged to participate in the coming years.’

Drama and Theatre Studies

Coram Shakespeare Schools Festival

On Wednesday 13th March the Drama and Theatre Studies department took a group of Years 7–10 students to perform their version of The Comedy of Errors at the Coram Shakespeare Schools Festival at The Woodville Theatre in Gravesend. It was an incredible opportunity to spend the day rehearsing, and the evening performing in a professional theatre. The students produced an amazing performance, directed by Miss Turner and Mrs Rose, that they should be very proud of! It was wonderful to see so many family and friends of our students there to celebrate their hard work! 

Two students gave us their reaction to the experience: 

‘For me, the experience of performing in the Woodville Theatre was truly amazing. The staff were extremely kind and caring and the other performers were excellent. The lighting was brilliant and the atmosphere was even better. The crowd were engaged and the jokes made them roar. It has to have been one of the best acting experiences of my life.’
Sam B (Year 8)

‘Absolutely loved it! The people working with our company were extremely nice and made sure that all of us knew what we were doing in regards to the performance and backstage. They gave us a lot of time to prepare ourselves so everyone walked on to stage knowing what they were doing. The stage, lighting and sound itself was phenomenal as well. Overall, I had an amazing time and would love to work with SSF again in the future.’
Luca J  (Year 8)

Upcoming events/announcements

Sevenoaks: Auditions have now taken place with Mrs Rose for our first full school production at our Sevenoaks campus! Rehearsals for Lord of the Flies will begin after the Easter holidays. If you have any questions, please speak with Mrs Rose.

Tunbridge Wells: Auditions for the Tunbridge Wells campus production of Lord of the Flies will take place on Tuesday 23rd April; more information will be sent out to students in their tutor notices. If you have any questions, please speak with Miss Turner.

Miss E Turner, Head of Drama and Theatre Studies

Music

Lodge Hill residential

The Music Department invited students in Years 7–9 to a three-day residential trip to Lodge Hill in Pulborough, West Sussex. The purpose of this regular trip is for the mix of students to enjoy making music in different settings, including whole-group performing, small-group performing and composing. This popular trip is always a highly creative and engaging event for the students.

As well as making music, the boys enjoy fresh-air activities in the forest, the games room, relaxing in the living room with board games/books and evening films on the big screen. This trip aims to deepen friendships and introduces students to other like-minded people in different forms and year groups.

Karson L (Year 9) tells us all about his experience on this great music trip: 

On 6th March, the TWGSB Music Department took 40 Year 7–9 students on a residential trip to Lodge Hill in Pulborough, a 32-acre woodland site offering accommodation, weddings, as well as a variety of indoor and outdoor activities for schools and youth groups. This trip aimed to provide our younger pupils with the opportunity for an immersive three-day rehearsal experience. 

Upon our arrival at the site, we quickly unpacked the coach and went on a treasure hunt in the woods – the winners got a bag of sweets! We returned after our hunt, ate our packed lunches, and engaged in a quick icebreaker game to get acquainted with everyone. We then had our first orchestra rehearsal of the trip, playing ‘I’m Still Standing’ by Elton John. We all had our fair share of difficulties at first, but we swiftly sorted things out and the orchestra launched into action. Following a brief snack break, we regrouped into our treasure hunt teams and worked hard on producing background music for the Marvel Endgame background music – this presented us with a wonderful opportunity to use our imagination and explore our musical boundaries while collaborating as a team. After more orchestra rehearsals and a mini music quiz, we were allocated to our rooms and given time to unpack our belongings, and at 6 in the evening, we were rewarded with a delicious meal of sausages and chips. During our meal, we participated in an intense singing contest between four groups. Group four unsurprisingly chose to sing ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by Rick Astley and earned a well-deserved W. After dinner, half of the group settled in the library, either playing video games, board games, or engaging with intellectual (not) conversations with new friends; the other half spent some time in the games room, equipped with a pool table, a ping pong table, and two football tables for the boys to have fun with. Our last activity was watching Top Gun: Maverick in the music hall. It is such a masterpiece and a thrilling experience for everyone. We concluded our evening in the library with a cup of velvety smooth hot chocolate and headed back to our rooms for a good night’s sleep.

We woke up the next day nice and early at seven thirty in the morning and had cereal and toast for breakfast. We were then given some time for football and walks around the centre, followed by the continuation of our Marvel project that we had started the previous day. We then had yogurt and tomato soup with ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch – it was absolutely scrumptious, especially the Müller strawberry yogurt. Finally, the time came for orchestra sections, during which we refined our playing with the help of our section leaders. After chicken and chips and another session in the library or the games room, we watched the film Red Notice in the music hall – as big fans of action-comedy, we all loved the film. 

On the third and last day, we had more orchestra rehearsals and finally recorded our final product of ‘I’m Still Standing’. We also had the opportunity to perform our compositions for the Endgame scene. Everyone showcased their creative abilities on their respective instruments and we all had so much fun. Unfortunately, that was our final performance at Lodge Hill, and it was time to go back to school.

This trip to Lodge Hill was a privilege to be part of. We were surrounded by the most welcoming people and had such a blast getting to know one another and sharing music with everyone. 

A big thank you to Mr Joris and Mr Brush for organising this trip – it would not have been possible without you!

For the full photo album and another student write up click here.

Design Technology

Design Technology residency

Oscar Couchman (Class of 2023) returned to TWGBS for a Design Technology residency. The residency opportunity was set up for former students to apply for and runs over a three-month period, which allows the chosen candidate to make use of, and showcase, the new technology we have in the DT department.

Oscar was the successful candidate and he completed several very impressive self-initiated design projects, as well as learning new software design packages. He learnt how to use our state-of-the-art machines, as well as our traditional workshop kit.

These tools include four 3D printers, a laser cutter, a CNC router, and Virtual Reality headsets. Additionally, he acquired proficiency in SolidWorks, a 3D modelling software heavily utilised in industry and newly integrated into the DT students’ curriculum.

Throughout his placement, Oscar gained invaluable real-world experience as well as focused advice and guidance with regards to navigating the design industry post-education. The outcome was a solid mini-portfolio that he can now present to an employer or university. Well done Oscar – these designs are fantastic!

Read Oscar's full story on our alumni platform: TWGSB Connect

Tim Griffin, Design Technology Technician

Modern Foreign Languages

Languages in business

On Tuesday Duncan Payne came in to speak to the students about the opportunities using languages in the Finance industry. The talk was attended by Year 10 and 11 students, interested in potentially taking a language at A Level. The talk focused more on the opportunities that languages can give a candidate and the added value of speaking a language rather than working in the field of finance. 

Duncan Payne has a degree in Applied Languages (French, Spanish and Russian) and worked for 22 years at NatWest International, covering lending to banks and corporates in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Latin America. In all of his time at NatWest he was never posted abroad but spent approximately ten years regularly travelling to Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, France and Benelux where he carried out multi million-pound deals and once dined in the same restaurant as the King of Spain!

Duncan's talk was entertaining, very informative and at the end of his talk a large number of students showed an interest in potentially taking up a language at A Level. 

Ms Blenkin, MFL Lead for Spanish

7C French students made Easter cards in French to give to each other. They also really enjoyed learning about Easter traditions in France. 

Mrs Gray, MFL Curriculum Lead for French

Library 

Fellowship of the Reads Club enjoy author’s visit

The library’s new book club, The Fellowship of the Reads, which began in October has proved to be popular and very well attended at our weekly meetings. FOTR is a joint literary scheme with The Skinners’ School.

We read an 11-book shortlist and enjoyed many book-focused activities. An aspect of the book club was the 5X5 challenge in which boys were encouraged to hand in various pieces of work such as alternative endings or creating quizzes based on one of the books. Many house points and prizes were won.

One of the authors on our shortlist was Simon James Green. We were delighted to welcome him to our library event, which was the culmination of FOTR before the start of the Carnegie Shadowing season.

We started the event with a pizza tea and a lot of very excited students. After the refreshments the boys had the chance to browse and buy books from a bookseller who said ‘It was so encouraging to see so many keen boy readers. They were incredibly polite and well behaved – a pleasure to be around.’

Simon signed many books before and after his talk, which was about his writing featuring the perils and pitfalls of growing up and life as a teenager. Although now writing as an adult, he has total recall of that age of awkwardness. He related many cringeworthy tales, which many of us could relate to. He spoke with humour, kindness and empathy. It was wonderful to see the students laughing their heads off and nodding in agreement about some of Simon’s teenage experiences.

The boys tirelessly asked Simon many questions about being a writer and his experiences of the publishing industry. We, staff and students from both schools, enjoyed a hilarious evening full of positivity and energy.

Of the audience Simon said ‘Honestly, it was such a pleasure – a complete delight to spend time with so many enthusiastic readers and book lovers! They were a gorgeous audience, so attentive and engaged, and I loved talking with them all. And I was delighted how many wanted to buy books and get them signed, and really impressed that they were all so unbothered by any with LGBT content – which is the way it should be, of course. This is clearly down to you, and the great work in the schools, and I think it’s wonderful.’

Simon will be taking part in the Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival at the Amelia. The event has been billed as a celebration of books and stories that help make the world a kinder, happier and more accepting place.

We couldn’t agree more!

Library regulars say farewell to staff member

These wonderful young men (many of whom have used the library for break times, clubs and study since Year 7) as well as wonderful young women who joined us for Sixth Form, came together with some Year 12s to say farewell to a long-standing member of the library staff.

Watershed moments in the school library are usually when Year 13 students come to the end of their school career and are ready for their next steps in life. It is always bitter-sweet each year as we say goodbye and wish them well, having known them for seven years, so it was great to see them voluntarily come together for this occasion.

Students get used to familiar staff in the library and feel it is an important moment for them when they leave. Their expression of good wishes underlines the positive experience that school libraries make to young people, be it for reading or for study.

The students made cakes and bunting, helped set up the refreshments, presented gifts and created a farewell rich in warmth and good humour. This celebration by the students is testament to the part school libraries up and down the land play in the lives of young people.

Mrs Musselwhite Steel, Library Manager

Art

Trip to the Tate Britain

Our GCSE Art students had the opportunity to visit the Tate Britain gallery last week. MJ (10B) told us how he found this wonderful trip:

The experience was truly inspiring as I got to see a wide range of artworks from different artists and time periods. The diversity of styles and techniques on display was fascinating – from classic masterpieces to cutting-edge contemporary pieces. I was especially drawn to the abstract sculptures and vibrant paintings that challenged my perception of art. The gallery staff helped me understand the context and techniques behind each piece, expanding my artistic knowledge and appreciation.

I particularly enjoyed the interactive exhibits where I could create my own art pieces. Overall, the visit has encouraged me to experiment more with my own art and to continue exploring different art movements. It was a truly enriching experience that sparked my creativity.

Witnessing the passion and creativity of the artists first-hand left me feeling inspired and motivated to continue exploring my own artistic talents. The visit to the Tate Britain gallery was a memorable and eye-opening experience that will stay with me for years to come.

Geography 

Year 10 Geography trip to Greenwich

On consecutive days this week the Year 10 Geographers travelled to London to compare two urban areas for sustainability. We started at the Dome and walked to the Greenwich Millennium Village, or GMV as it is known locally. The students were led on a tour of the housing and facilities to find examples of sustainability. They were then tasked with surveying the area themselves using a sustainability tally, environmental quality assessment and traffic counts. They were looking for provision of open space, public transport, sustainable facilities such as electric bikes and paths, local provision for sport, entertainment and leisure as well as nearby employment to reduce commuting.

Once this was complete we walked to Old Greenwich. On the way we passed the power station (intended to be a waste incinerator but currently running on gas), which provides residential heating to the new builds in the area. I am sure many people have passed this on the road to the Blackwall Tunnel with realising what it is. The chimney is clad in a multi-faceted metal material – look out for it next time you drive to the Dome or North London via the tunnel, it is on the right below the fly over.

On the way to old Greenwich we looked at the older Victorian housing stock to compare sustainability. While the housing was well maintained we did see that there was no provision to store recycling bins, which blocked part of the pavement. Parking was at a premium in the narrow streets and was by permit only. Furthermore, there was no provision for charging points for electric cars.

On arrival at old Greenwich the students were again shown round and then repeated their survey work at three contrasting locations.

The students were a credit to themselves and the school and completed all tasks diligently. Many commented on what an enjoyable day they had and how much more they understood about the concept of urban sustainability.

Mr Ash, Head of Geography

Food and Nutrition

Chef and former TWGSB student returns to give a talk to students

We were delighted to welcome back Cameron Jones (Class of 2020) to TWGSB at the beginning of March, who came to speak to the Food & Nutrition students about careers in the hospitality industry. Cameron has worked his way up one of the toughest known industries to gain a job working for the Roux Family at their prestigious restaurant, The Waterside Inn, Bray. This restaurant is one of only nine in the UK to be awarded Michelin's highest award of three stars and only 138 in the world so it is a very special place to work indeed.

Cameron talked to four different classes about his career, how he got to where he is now, the experiences he has had and the determination you need to succeed in the fast-paced hospitality industry, and especially in the culinary world. He spoke of his passion for food and cooking and Year 10 and 11 students were treated to a skills demonstration as well.

They were shown how to prepare a whole duck and Cameron demonstrated how to cook Duck à l'Orange. He explained how the restaurant plate up so beautifully, how the amazing menus are created, and introduced us all to the extensive team who work at the restaurant and keep all the parts moving like clockwork. The restaurant is often frequented by celebrities and notable figures, but no secrets would he divulge to the inquisitive students. Ever the professional! We all learned a lot of cooking techniques you never hear about in cookbooks or on programmes, and Cameron answered all the students’ questions in detail.

Thank you so much for coming in Cameron and sharing your expertise with us, it was a very enjoyable and inspiring day for all!

Physical Education 

Rugby

The rugby sevens season has been a rollercoaster of excitement and challenges, showcasing some incredible performances by our teams. 

Under 12 Team (U12): Our U12 squad has made a great start to their rugby at TWGSB, with development matches against local schools and a positive showing at the Judd School Rugby Sevens tournament. 

Under 13 Team (U13): Following wins in all of our 'A' team matches this year, our U13 team kicked off the sevens season with an outstanding victory at the Kent Schools Rugby Sevens warm-up tournament hosted by The Judd School. Their stellar performance not only secured the win but also set the stage for what promised to be a successful season. However, their anticipation for the Kent Schools Rugby Sevens Championship was met with disappointment as bad weather led to its cancellation.

Undeterred, the U13 team showcased their talent and determination at the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens, where they emerged as runners-up in their group. Their only loss was to the eventual winners, highlighting their competitive edge and quality of play.

Under 15 Team (U15): The U15 team displayed commendable effort and skill at the Kent Schools Rugby Sevens Championship. Despite playing some exceptional rugby, they were unable to clinch any silverware. Nevertheless, their effort and resilience were evident in every match they played.

Under 18 Team (U18): Our U18 team emerged as champions at the Kent Schools Rugby Sevens Developing Schools Competition, showcasing unbeaten performances throughout the day. The improvements made over the last two years for our U18 squad was clear, with some particularly high-quality rugby being played in the final, leading to a convincing victory.

A thank you to our parent volunteer coaches for the U12 and U13 squads. They have helped to grow our base of players in the younger years at TWGSB, which will further support our development moving forward.

Mr Woods, Head of PE

Football

Year 8 U13 A team: In the ESFA Elite National Cup (where schools can select an unlimited number of professional club academy players) the team performed fantastically well to reach the semi-final.

We travelled away to play the current national champions, Northampton School for Boys who had five pro club players in their team. The game was a very high standard, and although we lost 4-0, our team played very well. Playing against a team of exceptional quality our team produced a performance full of effort, determination and skill. Three of the goals were from corners in the first 20 minutes. Our team matched our high-level opponents for long spells of the game in open play.

In the quarter-final we made the long trip to Exeter, Devon to play St Peter’s CofE School, which was a very exciting match. Trailing 2-0 at half-time the team staged a brilliant comeback to score three goals in the final 15 minutes and win the game 3-2.

In the Last 16 we won 3-0 away at St John's Leatherhead, the Surrey champions.

Our squad is made up of ten students based at the Tunbridge Wells campus and five students based at the Sevenoaks campus.

Year 8 football practices have been very well attended since the start of September. Very well done to all involved.

Year 7: With both the U12 A and B teams reaching the Kent Cup semi-finals this season the year group has shown that it has a great deal of potential. In Terms 5 and 6 we will be launching the Year 7 Inter-Form football competition, which approximately 150 Year 7 students will be involved in. All ten forms across the two sites will have a team.

Football practices after school: We had after-school football practices in Term 4: Year 8 on Tuesdays in Tunbridge Wells, Year 8 and Year 9 on Wednesdays in Sevenoaks, Year 7 on Thursdays in Tunbridge Wells and Year 7 on Fridays in Sevenoaks. Very well done to all of the students involved with representing our school teams and attending after-school practices.

We plan to keep running these after-school practices in Term 5 as they have proven to be very popular and well attended.

Mr Menzies, Head of Football

Well-being

Exam season is creeping up on us and many of our young people may be starting to feel the pressure.

Please see below a link to a very helpful guide on dealing with the lead-up to the exams and what to do on the day. There is also a booklet about supporting your friend’s mental health.

Please share this with your child especially if they are in Years 11 and 13.

Mrs Rose, Assistant Headteacher

Exam Support Guide (cloud.microsoft)

Co-Curricular

Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award 

If the challenge of recent mock examinations were not enough for Year 10 students, 34 of them embarked on their Silver DofE Practice Expedition on Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th March.

The six groups were journeying around Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, where they were met with a more challenging terrain than their Bronze Award. After starting their expedition in the heart of Ashdown Forest on Friday, students made their way over to a campsite in Forest Row where they were able to show off their camp craft skills, including pitching a tent and cooking a meal; it seemed that pasta and sauce was the order of the day!

The second day bought inclement weather. Groups had to battle through downpours of rain and hailstorms but thankfully the weather brightened up towards the end of the day when they arrived at the Hammerwood campsite. On the final day, students were met with sunnier and warmer weather as they made the transition from East Sussex back to Kent, ending their expedition at Adamswell Campsite. The Kent DofE staff were glowing about how the students conducted themselves throughout the expedition and the step-up that they made to the Silver Award. 

Well done to all the groups who completed their practice expedition; they are now on course to do their assessed expedition in May. Students will be using the next couple of months to reflect on their expedition, ready for the assessed expedition.

Students across Bronze, Silver and Gold are reminded to keep their ‘eDofE’ online system up to date, making sure that assessor reports are being submitted.

Thanks to Mr Roberts, Mrs Fedrick and the Kent DofE staff for supporting and undertaking the expedition. 

Mr Hamilton, Assistant Headteacher

Science Club

This term students have been growing and observing crystals from a variety of salt solutions. Using pipe cleaners, students grew crystals in the formation of letters or shapes. Pipe cleaners were placed in sodium chloride solution, the slow evaporation of which resulted in crystals forming in their chosen shape.

Students also grew blue copper sulphate crystals in evaporating basins, the slower the evaporation the larger the crystals formed. Students investigated how temperature affects the formation of crystals. As with volcanic eruption and the subsequent formation of crystals in rock, using microscopy students observed that slow cooling enabled large, well-formed crystals to be produced.   

To finish the term students are busy designing, building, and testing egg landers. On the final day of term, they will put their designs to the test, seeing whether they can successfully land an egg from a drop of 5m without being broken.

Ms Hunter, Science

Gardening Club

The PTA put in a bid for a regional competition run by Tesco called Stronger Starts, which raises funds for schools. The scheme is open to all schools, registered charities and not-for-profit organisations, with priority given to projects that provide food and support to young people. Our application to raise funds for our Greenhouse and Hot House Club was successful and our project will be put forward to a customer vote in Tesco stores. 

We would therefore like to ask all our parents, carers, staff and students to vote for TWGSB when you make a purchase of any value within store. You will receive one token per transaction (and it's not necessary to purchase a carrier bag in order to receive a token).

The students benefit in many ways from the funding from our PTA and in this club by learning new skills and improving their knowledge of sustainable foods, which in turn benefits the whole of society going forward.

The project with the highest number of votes across our region will receive £1,500 (or the amount that was requested up to this value), the second placed project £1,000 (or the amount that was requested up to this value), and the third placed project will receive £500. 

Please remember to ask for your tokens at the till and to vote for us from the first week in April until the end of June 2024 when you are in any of these local stores:

3304    Grosvenor Road, TN1 2AH
5102    Paddock Wood Express,TN12 6EL
3007    Pembury, TN2 4NE
3246    Southborough Express, TN4 0PX
6885    Tunbridge Wells Express, TN4 9TU

Thank you!

Mrs Rose, Assistant Headteacher

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 let us know if someone deserves a pat on the back. Simply email: feedback@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk or ltipler@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk.

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TWGSB Alumni Connect News 

Some inspiring news stories have been submitted on our Alumni Portal, TWGSB Connect, from former students who tell us what they’ve been up to since leaving TWGSB, and inspiring our students and recent leavers as to what options could be available to them after leaving school. 

Alumni and former staff, please click on the stories below to explore TWGSB Connect News and join our rapidly growing community of 728 members if you haven't already done so: Join | TWGSB Connect

Thank you so much for the story contributions and please keep them coming in.

Oscar Couchman (Class of 2023) Returns to TWGSB for a Design Technology Residency	We are saddened to hear of the passing of Tim Evans, Former Head Boy of TWGSB (1972-1979)

Alumni, please follow our TWGBS Alumni CONNECT socials to hear when new alumni news is published: 

Send all your alumni news, recent releases, career updates and achievements to: connect@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk