July 2010 Newsletter - Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School

Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School
Newsletter - July 2010
Dear Parents and Students
Welcome to the final newsletter of the academic year. This edition contains articles on many of the outstanding activities and achievements
involving Queen Elizabeth’s students over the past two months. I hope you enjoy the items featuring the Art Department, the House
Competition and of course the Debating Society. We are especially proud of all that our Art students have achieved this summer.
The last two months has seen a lot of changes for schools following the general election. The most disappointing news was the loss of the
Building Schools for the Future Programme which was announced last week. This is a project that many of us in the school have been
heavily involved in for the past 3 years and the impact is going to be felt for years. We now need to look for alternative sources of funding
to improve our building stock, which is not easy in the current climate.
On an entirely separate matter, you will be aware that the government has introduced a proposal allowing schools to become academies:
thus far at Queen Elizabeth’s, this has been only briefly discussed by the Governors and Senior Leadership Team, as the Bill is not yet
finalised and there are many details still unavailable; the Governors have registered an interest with the Department for Education in order
to access information as it is published. I should like to assure you that, when this is discussed next academic year, the views of parents, staff
and students will be sought and very careful consideration will be given to ensure that any change is in the best interests of the school.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the PTFA who have worked tirelessly across the year, supporting the school, by raising funds
which have helped furnish our new student consultation rooms. The PTFA will be hosting a Music Quiz night on Saturday, 13th November,
which I am certain will be lots of fun, so please add this date to your diary.
Good luck to all those students, who in August, will receive the results of the public exams they took recently. I trust they will achieve the
results they deserve, after their years of hard work. It only remains for me to wish you all a very pleasant summer break as we reach the
end of a really productive and enjoyable year.
I look forward to welcoming the Year 7, 12 and 13 students on Friday, 3rd September and all other Year Groups on Monday, 6th September.
Debating Competition: National Final
!
Mr D M Anderson
Over the weekend of 4 th and 5 th July, Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School took part in
the National Final of the Institute of Ideas ‘Debating Matters’ competition, at the Royal
Society of Medicine, London. The competition involved the 8 best debating schools in
the United Kingdom, one school being selected from each region. Queen Elizabeth’s
had an immensely successful weekend, ultimately finishing as runners up, making them
the second best debating team in the UK.
This highly prestigious competition was judged by an extremely impressive array of
talent including former Cabinet Minister - Paul Boateng, Head of the Institute of Ideas
and regular on Radio 4’s ‘Moral Maze’ - Clare Fox, Vice-President of Pfizer - Jack
Waters and numerous other eminent scholars, journalists and contemporary thinkers.
In the quarter final, the Queen Elizabeth’s team of Yasmin Dunkley and Sarah Evans
defeated Madras College from St Andrews, in Scotland, arguing against the motion
‘Trial by Jury is the Best Guarantor of Justice’. The semi-final was against Latymer Upper, a well known private school from London. The
debate was on the topic of ‘A Secular Society Should Not Prevent People From Acting on Their Religious Beliefs’ and was won convincingly
by Annabel McKane and Rachael Shepherd, who argued in favour of the motion. This was widely regarded as one of the best debates of the
weekend. Afterwards Annabel said of the experience “The weekend allowed me to really think about important contemporary issues and
made me get off the fence and defend an informed opinion.”
The final itself was nail-bitingly tense, with Sam Iles and Rose Davis from Queen Elizabeth’s
arguing against Hutton Grammar School from Lancashire on the topic of ‘Genetic Screening
of Embryos Should Be Celebrated, Not Feared’. Both teams played their part in a nervy but
ultimately entertaining final and the judges made it very clear that it was almost too close
to call, but ultimately awarded victory to Hutton. Although disappointed by the defeat, Sam
Iles said “The Debating Matters competition is about far more than just winning, the
weekend was immense fun and a worthwhile experience in itself. Being treated like adults
and respected by experts is really valuable.”
Clare Fox, in her summing up of the event, heaped praise on Queen Elizabeth’s for the
intellectual abilities and general conduct of the team throughout the weekend and said that
the Queen Elizabeth’s Debating Society as a whole has had a profound impact on the
Institute of Ideas approach to expanding debating to more young people.
Tom Finn-Kelcey, Head of the Debating Society commented “All six students did the school
proud, I cannot overstate the pressures that were applied to them by the judges, the TV cameras and the audience. Anybody who has any
doubts about the intellectual abilities of the next generation should seriously think again. When these young people are running this
country in years to come, and make no mistake they will be, we should be thankful that we will be in such safe hands. I would also like to
pay special mention to all those within the Queen Elizabeth’s Debating Society who did not make our final team. We have an absolute
wealth of talent within the school, and all of them should be turning their attentions to going one place better next year.”
Michael Pugh, 12A, co-editor of the Sixth Form newsletter

2009 - 2010 HOUSE COMPETITION
The final term of the House Competition has seen many events, including the swimming gala, sports day, photography competition and the
staff and student tennis tournament.
Sports Day was once again a huge success despite the brief shower mid morning which failed to dampen the enthusiasm and cheers from
the crowd. Despite some fantastic personal performances from across the houses, Q House were dominant once again this year, winning by
a clear margin.
Following Sports Day, the final of the Interhouse staff and student doubles tennis competition took place. This match saw Robyn Marsh (9E)
partnering her form tutor, Mr Kemp, versus defending champion Nick Roy (9Q) and Miss Brinn. It was a great match on centre court
umpired by Mr Care with other staff acting as line judges. The match was watched by a large number of cheering and expectant supporters,
however, despite the pressure Robyn and Mr Kemp shone, playing some wonderful tennis and winning the match 6 games to 4.
What a serve!
Good Sportsmanship
Nick Roy and Miss Brinn
Robyn Marsh and Mr Kemp - The Champions
This academic year has seen more House events than previous years and a personal highlight for me was the Interhouse Christmas song
event held at lunchtime in the school hall. Each House performed a famous festive song with all year groups getting together to make a
magical moment that really brought Queen Elizabeth’s staff and pupils together.
Recently, the Photography Competition saw an impressive array of work submitted, setting Mr Anderson quite a challenge, in terms of picking
a winner. However, after careful consideration, the following students clinched 1st prize:
Years 7 & 8 Winner
Cassie Seal
Years 7 & 8 Winner
Zac Dust 11
Years 12 & 13 Winner
Rosie Taylor
Staff Winner
Mr D Reeves
Events like these wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of the Heads of House and sixth formers who want to give something back to
the school. It is always sad to see them leave, but we wish them all the best in their future studies and careers.
However, the new House team has now been compiled with the Head and Deputy of each House being:
Q: James Blake, Deputy Simon Myhill
E: Tom Markham, Deputy Laura Spencer
G: Samantha Cook, Deputy Sam Bancroft
S: Emily Cook, Deputy Dominic Mulford
These individuals will, I have no doubt, work hard to organise an even better line up of House events for next year and they have already
pledged to involve all sixth form students more in House events. Good luck!
Final House Points 2009 - 10:
Q E G S
631 654 589 602
April
House Totals
FINAL
House Totals
Q E G S
1482 1368 1155 1284
Q - Cole House, will be awarded their House Prize in September which will be one of the first events the new Heads of House will be
organising. It is worth noting that this is the third year in a row that Q have won the House competition, what a fantastic achievement.
Congratulations and well done to everyone for taking part!
Mr Harvey

Netball Tour
Sports Roundup
On 14 th May the Year 10 Netball team, accompanied by Miss Brinn and Mrs Reilly (thanks
guys), went on a weekend tour to Liddington. We competed against several teams and also
took part in many other activities, like climbing, Jacobs Ladder and low ropes.
After our first 2 Netball matches, it wasn’t looking good but we pulled it back with a streak of
successful wins, taking us into the semi-finals. Despite the weather in our final matches, Queen
Elizabeth’s comfortably secured a place in the final, which we won by one goal. We then
celebrated in the rain and were able to take home the gold medals. Well done girls!
The team consisted of Lydia Megbele, Hannah Frost, Ella Clarke-Billings, Sian Merrick, Charlie
Corby, Chanelle Regan-Dunn, Chloe Avery, Laura Clark, Kirstie Elbourn, Lizzie Moss and Jess
Rugg-Easey.
Tennis
Chloe Avery, Lizzie Moss & Charlie Corby, 10Q
This year Queen Elizabeth’s tennis teams have had their best season for 12 years! They have excelled in both the Kent Cup tournament and
the National AEGON league.
The Year 7 boys team beat Harvey Grammar 6-4 to go through to the next round of the Kent Cup against Junior Kings but unfortunately
lost out to an excellent team 5-1. Performance of the evening went to Scott Dale who beat the Kings no 1, 6-0! The Year 7 girls
unfortunately lost in their first round match to Kent College 6-0 but have had excellent training sessions with Mrs Percy & Mr French and
are looking forward to next season.
The Year 8 boys’ team won all their matches in their AEGON U13 league, beating Sir Roger Maywood’s, Norton Knatchbull, Wellesley House
& Kent College. This was a fantastic achievement, which has only been achieved once before in the school’s history! They went on to play
Norton Knatchbull from League A in their play off on the 7 th July, unfortunately losing 7-1 in a tie break. The year 8 girls played Kent College
& Highworth in their U13 AEGON league but sadly lost all their games. Never mind there’s always next year!
The Year 9 boys’ team of Jamie Wallace, Nick Roy, George Mitchell and Dillon Rees-Mawson made it through to the final of the Kent Cup,
with excellent wins against Kings and Harvey Grammar School. The prestigious final was played on Friday 2 nd July, at Tonbridge Wells Lawn
Tennis Club. After a valiant performance the boys were over powered by an excellent Eltham College Team and lost 6-0. The Year 9 girls’
team narrowly lost to Kings in their round one cup match 6-4.
The Year 10 boys beat Herne Bay High School 5-1, but lost to Ashford School, and Norton Knatchbull 6-4. The Year 10 Girls won their
AEGON U15 league with an excellent win against Herne Bay High School 5-1. This was a first for a girls’ team, winning their league which
again is a fantastic achievement. We are awaiting the draw to see who their next opponents will be in the play off.
The senior girls and boys lost narrowly in their Glanvil & Aberdare Cups to King’s & St Edmund’s and both teams unfortunately lost in their
first round of the Kent Cup to teams from Sir Roger Manwood’s and Dartford Girls’ Grammar.
Mrs Percy would like to thank all students for taking part this tennis season. It has been the best season she has known, since Ms Large
introduced Team Tennis in 1998! There has been a lot of tennis played and the commitment to the games and training has been excellent. As
a reward for the achievement of he Year 8 boys’ team and the commitment of the Year 7 girls’ team, all players had the opportunity to go to
Wimbledon on the 26 th June.
Tag Rugby
The Jubilant Year 10 Netball Team
Mrs Percy
On Wednesday, 26 th May, Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ Year 8 Tag Rugby Team took part in the East Kent Tag Rugby festival which was held at
Canterbury Football Club. Their aim was to secure a third place finish, in order to then
go on to represent the School at The Kent School games on the 9 th June. The girls played
some exceptional rugby but unfortunately having been taught full contact rugby in PE
lessons, the adaptation they had to make took more time than thought, as they lost the
first game due to the fact all their tries were scored by diving (which is not allowed)!
They then got their act together and put in some excellent performances against The
Abbey School and Ursuline College. ‘Snake Hips’ McCartney Samples was the player of
the team scoring some excellent tries. This put Queen Elizabeth’s in third place, which
meant they qualified for the Kent Schools Games. At The Kent School Games, the girls’
put in another valiant performance, drawing 3-3 with The Abbey School, but unfortunately
losing to Angley, Swan Valley and Ursuline meant that they didn’t take top spot.
Congratulations to all the team!
Team: Lauren Davies, Eve McCartney Samples, Claire Khan, Truly Bruun Rasmussen, Annie
Risner, Sydnie Gibbard, Faye Crocker, Hayley Vacher, Xanthe Willey and Georgia Anelay.
Cricket
The Tag Rugby Team
Mrs Percy
All teams have had a generally good season. The Year 10 team recorded their first ever win beating The Abbey School convincingly, with
outstanding performances from Robin Legg, Luke Bowers and Chris Stone. Year 9, have won the majority of their games and the highlight of
their season was narrowly losing to Kent College in the District Cup semi-final. Star performances this season have come from Jacob Glenn
and Jon Moores.
Both the Year 7 & Year 8 teams are unbeaten all season in the league. Year 8 have all performed consistently well with excellent morale whilst
Year 7 have shown some promising form with a couple of very talented players; Scott Dale and John Stone. Mr French would like to take this
opportunity to thank Mr Tarver for all his hard work with the Year 8 team and hopes all are looking forward to an even better season next
year.
Mr French

Athletics
All of our Athletics teams have performed superbly this season and have been
going from strength to strength as we progressed through the term. Our Year
7 teams were the first to compete this year in a Kent School Games
qualifying event. All did extremely well and the overall scores were very
close. The boys’ team finished in second place, behind Kent College and the
girls’ in third, behind Kent College and Simon Langton Girls’. Due to the
outstanding performances by many individuals, some of the team were then
selected to represent the East Kent Coastal School Sports Partnerships at
the Kent School Games Finals, including Sam White, Morrison Ayley, Lewis
Greenwood, Sophie Elbourn, Kendhal Sanders, Lauren Fielder, Imogen St Clair
Baker, Kate Brown and Sarah Hammond. All athletes performed really well,
especially given the very high temperatures added to the fact that it was the
day after the sponsored walk. Special mention must go to Sophie Elbourn,
who finished third in the 200m final, Kendhal Sanders, who came second in
the Shot Putt and Morrison Ayley, who came third in the Discus. Hopefully
these performances bode well for our district team next year!
The following week was the highlight of the Athletics calendar, The District
Athletics Championships. We had 42 students competing this year, managed
District Rosebowl Winners
by Emma Blake & Dan Walker from Year 12 and a field of 13 schools. There were some outstanding individual performances once again, the
Year 9 Boys’ team did particularly well as they were competing against mostly Year 10’s from other schools. Lydia Megbele won the Inter
Girls Shot Putt, Emily Martin won the Inter Girls Long Jump, Laura Clark won the Inter Girls 200m, Caroline Robinson easily ran to first
place in the Inter Girls 800m and it was a delight to watch the Inter Girls 4 x 100m team, breeze to victory over Simon Langton Girls’.
There were also some performances to note from the Junior Boys, with all of the following boys winning their events; George Felton –
400m, Rory Burns – Discus, Dominic Snee – High Jump, George Mitchell – Long Jump and Will Palmer – Triple Jump. These results put all
teams in a very strong finishing position for the titles. The Junior Boys’ finished second behind Simon Langton Boys’ and the Inter Girls’
missed out by 2 points to Simon Langton Girls’ – the best result this team has ever achieved. However, this did mean that our combined
scores made Queen Elizabeth’s the winning team of the District Rosebowl, once again! HUGE CONGRATULATIONS go to every member
of the team who earned points for the School that day. It was incredible to watch some of these athletes compete and Mr Kemp, Miss
Brinn, and all of the PE department and School are very proud of you.
In addition to our school events, Scarlett Mann, currently in Year 11 has been competing for Kent in the South East Counties competition.
Scarlett is a fantastic multi-event athlete, who we have watched develop in her Athletics over the past few years. She managed to finish in
1 st place in both the triple and long jumps and third in the 80m hurdles. Well done to Scarlett and hopefully she will continue to compete in
future.
Caroline Robinson, another one of our exceptionally talented athletes, competed in the National Finals of the Biathle discipline (swimming
and running) recently in Liverpool. Finishing in 3 rd place, she really did both herself and the school proud.
Miss Brinn
Sports Day
Sports Day 2010, went off with a bang, enjoyed by staff and students alike. Here are just a few photographs that represent the many events the
students participated in on either pre-Sports Day or events on the morning itself. Performances of note, included Caroline Robinson (10G)
who broke a record that had been held for 20 years with an outstanding run in the 800m. Tom Solomon (10Q) also created a new record for
his performance in the 400m race. Aside from the records broken there were some great athletic displays from many students across all year
groups.
After a well-fought staff relay (not including the students who decided to run again), S house emerged as winners with a speedy race from Mr
Harvey and his team!
The overall winners of Sports Day 2010 were Cole (Q) house, who once again retained the title of Sporting heroes! The PE Department
would like to say a very big ‘well done’ to everyone who participated.

The A level Art Exhibition
Lisa Thomson 12G - Hands
Jess Bell 12G - Dancing
Kate Saunders 13B - Still Life with Pearls
Creek Creative’s Purpose Built Studio
A Level Art Exhibition
Art Review
This year the exhibition took place at the brand new Creek Creative centre on Abbey
Street. The building, which used to be home to the Frank and Whittome Joinery, has recently
been renovated to become a fresh and exciting space where local artists are encouraged to
exhibit their work. The building also houses a surprisingly large number of studios which are
currently occupied by painters, illustrators and wallpaper designers (to name just a few!) and
it was a real privilege for the students to display their work in such a professional
environment.
The exhibition featured a huge and diverse variety of work produced over the last 9 months
as part of the students’ A Level Art coursework, ranging from sculpture, painting and prints
to installation, photography and avant-garde film. The work explored a number of different
themes including obsessions, portraiture, memory, journeys and time. A Private View was held
on the 10 th June and was a great success, with a large number of friends, family and members
of the public attending. Many commented on the impressively high standard of the work, and
a few even made offers of purchase!
Many thanks go to the teachers and technicians without whom this could not have been
achieved. We look forward to next year!
Year 7 Art Club
Josie King ,12D
When art club started we were in the middle of a ‘Colour’ project, based on the Austrian
artist, Hundertwasser. So we started our ‘arty’ Thursdays creating an enormous piece of
artwork in his style. Lots of people joined art club and were obviously interested, so we got
off to a good start.
We began by drawing a design that was based on our local environment. We also included
little portraits of ourselves. We worked as a group and soon covered a space of about 2 or 3
metres with cool drawings and ideas. The painting seemed to grow and evolve. After a few
fun weeks of drawing we finally came to the really fun part - the painting! Hundertwasser’s
work is crazy and consists of concentric lines, patterns and contrasting hot and cold colours.
We decorated our work with the same sort of bold colours. Soon enough, the paint pots
were out and we were putting our ideas down on paper. The weeks went past and we made
progress. Once we had finished the painting we gradually moved onto finelining, to highlight
the drawing. Finally, it was finished and ready for display! Art club is a great opportunity to
learn more about art, improve your art skills and have fun while you’re doing it.
The National Students’ Art Exhibition
A Private View
Hannah Gander , 7Q
After such a successful and exciting year in the Art Department at Queen Elizabeth’s, with
the fantastic A Level show at Creek Creative in Faversham, the ‘A2’ exhibition at the
Horsebridge in Whitstable and the GCSE exhibition at the Fleur de Lis gallery, we continued
the success further when six pieces of A-Level work were accepted into a National Students’
Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London.
The work was submitted at the end of June and after an anxious two week wait we heard
that all six entries had been chosen by a selection panel from the Royal Society of British
Artists. We are absolutely delighted to be involved in such a prestigious event and the
students are thrilled to be exhibiting in a London gallery.
Art teachers, students and their families celebrated their success at the private view on
Tuesday 12 th July. Kate Saunders, Charlotte Moss, Lisa Thomson, Josie King, Jess Bell and
Claudia Hobbs are very deserving of this praise and should feel extremely proud of their
achievement. Their work is excellent, varied in theme, sensitive in conception and extremely
well executed. There aren’t many students who can say they have exhibited at The Mall
Galleries, London. My only regret is that we couldn’t submit more entries as we have such
talent here at Queen Elizabeth’s, however we will continue to celebrate the outstanding
quality of work produced by the students and plan to submit further entries next year.
Well done everyone!
Mrs Hodge

Italian Guests
In May we welcomed 20 Italian students to Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (pictured right). They
come from Meran in northern Italy, which is in the German-speaking region of the country. They
spent the day with us, visiting some lessons and meeting the Year 12 German class. They told us
about their school system in German and we explained ours in English. After some general
conversation in German, which was good timing for the AS oral exams, we had lunch in the canteen, a
new experience for our guests, which they thoroughly enjoyed! They were very enamoured by the
whole experience of a day in an English school and the students have exchanged e-mail addresses and
hope to stay in contact! Long may this last!
Mrs Chandler
Sponsored Walk 2010
This is easy and good fun too!
So, how much further
On the 2 nd of July over 700 pupils, parents, staff and friends of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar
School undertook a 10 mile sponsored walk to the Sportsman Inn at Seasalter and back to
school. This followed weeks of fundraising by pupils and extensive advanced planning for the
day of the walk.
The route of the walk, marshalled by staff, pupils and supporting adults, included the entire
coastal boundary of the South Swale Nature Reserve, which contains a rich diversity of
wildfowl and nesting Marsh Harriers, a rare and endangered predator. Other parts of the
route crossed farmland containing livestock, orchards and included sites of local historic
interest.
Early indicators in respect of the weather were for a warm day, but in the event it turned out
to be one of the hottest days of the year, at 30º C during the midday period! Despite the
physical demands of the walk and the hot weather, all participants completed the route and an
enjoyable day was had by all walkers, who made good use of the water and sun tan lotion
available at key checkpoints to top up water bottles!
The money raised by the walk will be split equally between the Sudan Borehole Project to
provide sustainable fresh water sources for villages in Southern Sudan and the purchase of a
new lighting system for the main Hall. Early indicators show that the target of £10,000 may
well be achieved and money is now pouring in, with over £5,000 already collected. Some
outstanding contributions have been made by individual forms, with 7S and 8G each raising
just under £1,000. Individual pupils have also responded magnificently, with Oliver Welch in 8G
raising £200 on his own. This fundraising event shows much of the best community spirit
typical of the school and is something to be proud of.
Now let’s have the rest of that sponsorship money in!
Mr Stephens
Slow down, Mr McIlroy, my feet are killing me! We’re almost there, I think..... Never again, even PE lessons with Mr Kemp have got to be easier!
Mr Stuart, Outgoing Head of
Maths
It’s Time To Say Goodbye, Adieu, Auf Wiedersehen, Slán, Zai Jian...
As we approach the end of another year, it is time to bid some of our colleagues farewell. Mr Stuart, Head of
Maths at Queen Elizabeth’s for the past 8 years is looking forward to a long and happy retirement. He shall be sadly
missed by all his colleagues for his enthusiasm, humour and interesting tie collection! We are however very much
looking forward to welcoming Mrs Poole, from St Olave’s who takes over as Head of Department in September.
We also say auf wiedersehen to Mrs Alderton, in the Modern Foreign Languages Department, who has been with
us since January along with Ms Wat, our Chinese teacher. We are, however, looking forward to welcoming Miss
Pearce and Mr Naylor to this department in September.
Another new arrival is Miss Dunning, who joins the Physics team in the Science Department, where they are
looking forward to welcoming her.
Mr McDermott, takes his leave of the Art Department (having covered Mrs Higson’s Maternity Leave). Mr
McDermott has been incredibly committed and enthusiastic in all aspects of school life. He will be missed
enormously, we wish him the best of luck and hope to see him again in the future.
Miss Taylor is leaving the Drama Department for pastures new and makes way for Miss Taylor, who will be joining us in September, where
she will be joined by trainee teacher Miss Waller.
Mrs East, one of the technology technicians, takes her leave after ably assisting in the Technology Department for a number of years.
Finally, James Siddle and Rhiannon Mount our ICT/Media and PE Technicians both bid us goodbye. They have worked extremely hard and we
wish them both well.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of these staff for the wonderful contributions they have made to school life, they will all be
sorely missed.
Mr Anderson

Sixth Form Focus
Greenwich Science Summer School June 2010
When we were informed about the Science Summer School at the University of
Greenwich by Miss Slane, we couldn’t have been happier. We made many new friends
and stayed in real university accommodation. We cloned our own DNA and learnt
about DNA isolation, replication and electrophoresis.
The days were excellently planned and there wasn’t a dull moment. The university was
really considerate in paying for all our travel and food costs. We were taken bowling,
had a games night and a final night party! At the end we participated in team
presentations where we shared our experiences of the work we had done. We gained
an impression of university life and the experience confirmed that we definitely want to
go to study at university!
Ellen Anderson - 12E, Tom Richardson & Sam Glenn - 12F
The students cloned their own DNA
Queen Mary’s Biology and Psychology Day
On Wednesday 23 rd June, after a long minibus journey, we passed the Olympic Stadium in South East London and arrived at Queen Mary
University. After a short break we went into the library for the presentations. There were interesting displays by a group of PHD students
on Biology or Psychology related projects. Some of them even had activities for us to try including ‘Are you smarter than a crow’ which
involved doing simple tasks that crows are also able to do, although some of us found them a bit tricky!
We listened to Diane Abbot MP talking about the importance of good universities and then had three presentations about biology research
projects by biologists and the work they are doing. Some of the topics covered included infection and how easily it spreads, which was
interesting, although some of the pictures were hard to view! There was also a presentation from psychologists about addiction and an
invention to help the blind.
Overall it was a good trip and it was interesting to see what students study and research at University and the sort of research we could do
if we continue these subjects after A-level.
Visit to University College, London
University Summer Schools 2010
Ellen Tong, Sarah Putnam, 12D
On Monday 5th July, 9 Students attended a Chemistry day at University College London. After
an early start and getting stuck in rush hour traffic, we arrived at UCL, where the first activity
of the day was a lecture about identification techniques. We were then separated into groups in
which we conducted an experiment, typical of those done early in a chemistry degree.
After lunch we had the chance to find out more about applying to universities and we also had
the opportunity to ask current students about university life. The lecture that followed was
‘Mercury – A window into the invisible’ given by Dr Andrea Sella (often seen on television),
looking at the unusual properties of the metal Mercury. To end the day, we got the chance to
taste ice cream with a difference; made with liquid nitrogen, it tasted much better than
expected!
Overall the day was very interesting and informative, and gave us a very good insight into life
and into the idea of chemistry at degree level.
James Blake, 12E
Mike Pugh, Annabel Rusbridge-Thomas, Alex Cavanagh, Sam Lewis, Jonathan Griffiths and Matt Wake will be taking part in a residential
Olympics and Paralympics school at Christ Church University looking at relevant courses supporting this international event. They will be
discovering sport from practical, scientific, psychological and business related view points
Sam Glenn, Ellen Anderson & Charlotte Joseph are taking part in a four day residential Applied Sciences course at the University of
Greenwich. They will attend lectures, take part in workshops, undertake library based research and prepare presentations.
Stephen Lovelock has been invited to attend this year’s Chemistry UNIQ Summer School at the University of Oxford.
Heather Ingram who is joining Year 12 in September will be attending a Food Science Summer School at Nottingham University.
We look forward to hearing about these experiences during subject based assemblies at the start of the next academic year.
ECO School
Chemists at UCL
This year the eco group, under the leadership of newly elected Deputy Head Girl, Dee Goddard and the tireless
work of Mr and Mrs Wright, have achieved their goal of creating school gardens. The pupil group prepared and
planted 3 beds and Mrs Wright and and her Duke of Edinburgh volunteers recycled nursery plant tables to make 3
more, by the greenhouse that the PTFA bought last year, for the Eco group.
The produce has been sold, used in the canteen and used in Food Technology classes. The garden is organic and
would benefit from any spades that parents might be able to donate. In addition following a visit to the Physic
garden, part of our local sustainability partnership, we have been inspired to start two 'bug houses' to increase biodiversity
in the school grounds. Thanks to everyone who helped pick up litter this year - we aim to be litter free
next year! Thanks also to those who supported the 10:10 carbon emission reduction programme. Have a
sustainable Summer.
Mr Care
Miss Slane, Sixth Form Support
The Eco Team hard at work.

Cross Curricular Week
This year, the two summer focus days expanded to four, when Mrs McIlroy organised a
varied and challenging programme for the younger
students whilst Year 10 pupils were out on work
experience.
The Sixth Form enjoyed a week off timetable
looking at UCAS, university life and the world of
work. The students took part in activities designed
to foster the skills they will need to enjoy all their
future opportunities to the full and they had great
fun building model airplanes too! This was a great
success and the result of Miss Slane, Sixth Form
Support, burning the midnight oil to put the
programme together.
A visit to The Globe and Tate Modern provided Art inspiration Year 7 took on Science and Technology challenges
with rockets flying here, there and everywhere, as
well as visiting Nausicaâ Sea Centre and Boulogne town. Year 8, visited St Paul’s Cathedral in
London and then focused on the Arts, visiting the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern. On their return
to school they produced wonderful 2D and 3D art work some of which related to the reduced
Shakespeare performances which took place on Friday evening.
Friday saw a lovely concert in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust, organised by Year 9 pupils, with
Year 8 girls get wrapped up in the Year 8 Art Project
the help of the Music Department, who also put on an excellent evening of music, organised by Miss
Goodship, presented and conducted by the newly elected Deputy Head Boy, Stephen Lovelock. Year 9 went into the Dragon’s Den with
spray on shoes, self-warming ski boots and automatic fish feeders amongst the business ideas they generated. There was also a chance for
Year 9 to develop their ability to work in teams, participating in all sorts of events around the school and taking an enrichment trip to
Dover Castle proved to be informative for all, not just those taking History for GCSE. Year 9 scientists also welcomed 120, Year 5 pupils
into the labs, for a ‘forensic science whodunnit’. All the young visitors enjoyed the pizza lunch, prepared by the Year 9 chefs.
A huge thank you to the teachers and support staff who worked so hard to make such a great week
possible.
Mr Care
Term Dates 2010-11
Year 7 launch their rockets!
Term 1
Friday 3rd September (Yrs 7, 12 & 13)
Monday 6th September (all other Yrs) to Friday 22nd October
Term 2
Monday 1st November to Friday 17th December
Term 3
Tuesday 4th January to Wednesday 16th February
Term 4
Monday 28th February to Friday 8th April
Term 5
Tuesday 26th April to Friday 27th May
May Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May
Term 6
Monday 6th June to Friday 22nd July
Staff Development Days have been included in
holiday dates above.
Feedback on newsletter to: newsletter@queenelizabeths.kent.sch.uk
Duke of Edinburgh Award Practice
Expedition
On the weekend of the 26 th & 27 th
June, 41 Year 9 and 10 students
completed their practice
expedition for their bronze Duke
of Edinburgh award.
They set out at 9:30 from
Badlesmere Common walking for
six hours carrying all their clothes,
food, camping and cooking
equipment for the two days,
eventually heading for Dunn Street
Farm Campsite near Westwell. On
day two they walked another six
Sixth Form Students building
model airplanes
The tents are up - phew, time for a
rest!
hours from the campsite to the finish point in the village of Wye
with many walking via the Wye Crown to take in the spectacular
views. All students did really well, especially considering the heat
and given that it was the first time they had undertaken map
reading and carried all their own equipment on their own.
All of the students will now go on to do their assessed expedition
24 th - 26 th September which will be based at the Swattenden
Centre, near Cranbrook. Special thanks go to the following staff
who all helped out in some way over the weekend; Mrs Crouch,
Ms Dunkley, Mr Siddle, Mr Stanton, Mrs Dickson, Mr Stephens, Mr
Charlesworth, Miss Banting, Mr Blair, Mrs Geldard and Mrs
Barham.
Miss Goodship