Newsletter Spring

Conway Year 7 Transition
An important event in helping students to
settle into Stretford Grammar School is the
annual trip to The Conway Centre in
Anglesey. Students and Year 7 Form Tutors
set off for the Menai Straits for 3 days. After
settling in and learning how to put a duvet
cover on (difficult for some!) students took
part in a programme of team building and
physical activities.
One key activity is working in small teams to
complete a range of physical challenges to
gain points to buy items needed for raft
building later in the week. It was wonderful to
see students sharing ideas, trying to convince
others and sometimes taking a leadership
role.
Rafts were then built and launched on the
water in a hilarious, but very competitive
obstacle race and most students managed to
stay dry - just about!
Other activities included canoeing, indoor
climbing, bushcraft, high ropes and zip wire
and with the expert instruction by the Centre
staff, students were soon demonstrating their
new skills. In the evening students enjoyed
orienteering, stories around the campfire and
the much anticipated disco on the final
evening. Students and teachers all returned
exhausted but very positive having learnt lots
of new things and getting to know each other
a little better.
STEM Challenge
Twelve Year 9 Students represented the school in the competition this year. They
worked with students from a range of schools to solve a number of STEM challenges,
including: programming a robot car, designing and building a bridge, designing and
building a drag racer and using team work to recall facial features and produce an e-
fit of a persons’ face.
The Stretford Grammar School team were split into pairs and soon found themselves
working with students from other schools on practical tasks against the clock. Our
students stood out as confident team players who really got the most out of the
experience that they could, despite some tough challenges. Aidan and Ismael
showed great humility as they laughed off the shortcomings of the e-fit software
glitches that left them with facial hair that could not be removed. Ahmed and Mujtaba
had a breakthrough moment in their drag racer design but it was narrowly beaten by
a rival team in the final showdown. Eloise and Jaydon showed great competitive
spirit producing a solid bridge that came very close to winning the destructive load
test. Aisha and Anab were noted for their excellent teamwork skills, being highly
commended by the judges and Sean and Amaan’s confidence attracted the attention
of the Mayor who delighted in discussing their ideas. Mr Hillary even briefly
considered a life in crime as he realised that no one could make an effective match of
his face in the e-fit challenge!
However William and Felix were victorious in the robot challenge which required
them to program a Lego Mindstorm® drone to negotiate itself around a maze picking
up points on the way. William’s ponderings no doubt led them to making the best
decisions on their journey! Well done to all for a very positive and rewarding day out.
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