The Choral Society performed Duruflé and Fauré Requiems in their Lent term concert

A term of rehearsals and lots of practice at home culminated in the Lent Term Gresham’s Choral Society concert on Sunday 3rd March in Chapel. Members of the Community and School came together, accompanied by an accomplished orchestra, to perform the Duruflé and Fauré Requiems. For many of the Chorus it was the first time they had sung the beautiful yet challenging Duruflé while Fauré’s Requiem for singers and audience alike is a favourite choral work. Unfortunately, illness precluded two of our female pupil soloists to perform but Zinny B stepped in and as well as singing soprano arias, found her bottom notes and rose to the challenge at the last minute to sing the alto scored Pie Jesu in the Duruflé.  Jimmy T, Sebastian C and Milan H proved themselves to be impressive male soloists.

Well done to Miranda and Eva who attended the Finals Day of the Oxford Union Debating Competition

Well done to Miranda and Eva who represented Gresham’s at Finals Day of the Oxford Union Debating Competition, competing with the best teams across the globe. They won their last two debates and finished between 30th and 50th out of 121 international teams. This is our best finish in a national competition for at least 15 years, which is a fantastic achievement!

The Careers Department have arranged talks for pupils on opportunities with The Jimmy Choo Fashion Academy and Norland Nannies

The Art Department welcomed Annabelle Barton from The Jimmy Choo Fashion Academy to give further information on their range of courses – full time and short courses. It was a superb presentation, thoroughly enjoyed by the student audience who were keen to find out more about Annabelle’s studies at the Academy and the range of opportunities they offer.

Also, Norland Nannies visited Gresham’s to talk to pupils about their Early Childhood Education &  Care degree course. Kate Morgan, Outreach Officer with Norland, gave a very informative presentation on the course learning, both academically and vocationally, with an insight into the potential opportunities and salary as a qualified Norland Nanny.

Mother Tongue Other Tongue Poetry Competition 2023/4

Mother Tongue Other Tongue was devised by staff at the Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Manchester Metropolitan University and Routes into Languages North West in 2012. It has since been adopted as a Laureate Education Project and rolled out across the country. In June 2023, in what has become an annual event, Gresham’s pupils from Years 9, 10 and 12 wrote poems for the competition.

There are two categories:

Mother Tongue – pupils whose first language is not English, or who speak another language at home, are encouraged to submit a poem or song in their mother tongue. This can be an original or a ‘remembered’ piece. It can be written in any language, except English. Entries are judged on a short paragraph in which pupils explain the piece and its significance to them.

Other Tongue – pupils learning another language in school are encouraged to get creative with their other tongue and submit an original poem for the competition. 

Massive congratulations to the following pupils who were shortlisted for the final :

Other Tongue

Year 9 (2023): Alastair S and Alice H

Year 10 (2023) : Josh B and Romilly H

Year 12 (2023) :  Kitty R

Their poems will therefore feature in the Mother Tongue Other Tongue anthology, published late this year and pupils will receive a copy.

Four pupils then went on to win the East Region Mother Tongue Other Tongue Poetry Competition. The results were announced at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge last Thursday at the finals event which was part of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas. Congratulations to:

Kitty R – KS5

Josh B and Romilly H (joint) – KS4

Alastair S – Year 9

Each pupil will receive a certificate, trophy and a copy of the anthology of all winning poems, with all works also translated into English.

We have never had so many winners before. Well done to you all on this superb achievement!

Well done to Pullo and Cerys who represented Gresham’s in the National Finals of the Cranmer Awards Public Speaking Competition

On the last Saturday of half term Pullo and Cerys represented Gresham’s in the National Finals of the Cranmer Awards Public Speaking Competition in the beautiful surroundings of Hampton Court Palace in London.

Both pupils put in exceptional performances which received glowing comments from everyone present. In the end Cerys came second in the Senior competition winning a cash prize of £150.

Cerys and Pullo are hoping to go one better next year and take the national title.

The Senior School celebrated World Book Day with a Literary Bake Off, a visting author and ‘DEAR’

All in the spirit of World Book day, Gresham’s hosted its annual ‘The Great Gresham’s Literary Bake Off’, which saw creative bakers and avid readers unite to produce some wonderfully whacky and delectable literary treats. The judges were impressed by all entrants: their level of teamwork, their commitment to their designs and the celebration of their chosen text from the literary world. Each of the competitors thoroughly conquered the challenge of ‘ready…steady…BAKE!’

And the winners were:

1^st Place for ‘Creativity’:

Polina Z and Audrey B, Year 11, for their ‘Alice and Wonderland’ inspired cake.

1^st Place for ‘Link to the Literary brief’:

Grace S, Year 10, for her ‘Lord of the Rings’ inspired cookies, with actual ‘Elvish language’ scripture engraved on them!

Special mention

Harry L and James M, Year 9, for their ‘James Bond’s 007 gun’ inspired cake.

Thank you again to all those keen bakers and literary enthusiasts who took part, your tasty treats were enjoyed by many of the Gresham’s pupils and staff alike!

Furthermore, local poet, performer and author Lewis Buxton visited the school and asked: ‘Poetry is….?’. On Wednesday 6th March, and as part of World Book Day celebrations, pupils were given a dynamically inspiring Chapel Talk and participated in workshops lead by local performance poet and writer, Lewis Buxton. Through these sessions, Lewis promoted the power of the spoken and written word, and shared what poetry meant to him as a form of self-expression, individualism and making sense of the world around him. Pupils were inspired by stimuli such as ‘What is Poetry…?’ and ‘Love is…?’, thoroughly enjoying his humour, anecdotes, and passion for the literary world. Our favourite question of the day, “How long does it take you to write a poem?”…his answer: “Anything between 31 seconds to 31 years.”

Thursday 7^th March 2024 marked the return of ‘DEAR’ (Drop Everything And Read) sessions at Gresham’s. The instructions were simple; grab a good book, READ and be ready to discuss! In the words of Margaret Fuller: “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader”.

Also as part of World Book Day celebrations, tutor groups competed in our annual cryptic quiz, this year solving book title riddles and guessing the staff ‘shelfies’ and disguised readers. There were some excellent entries – and some staff had pupils well and truly stumped as to their identity! –  with Miss Gathercole’s Oakeley tutor group showcasing their literary credentials by emerging victorious overall. Mr Kinder’s Queens’ tutor group and Mrs O’Donnell’s Tallis tutor group were narrowly beaten into joint second.  

A diverse range of local companies attended the Business Breakfast

We welcomed a diverse range of local businesses to the event to give Year 12 pupils the opportunity to practice their networking skills and meet businesses. They were able to find out about job roles, career pathways, work experience opportunities and summer jobs.

It was an energised event with superb employer engagement and excellent pupil interest and enthusiasm. Many Old Greshamians returned for the event in their employment capacity.

Thank you to all businesses for giving their time for this event, which provided insight and encouragement to the next employment generation.

Well done to Francis who has been shortlisted in the Northeastern University essay competition

Well done indeed to Year 12 pupil Francis R who entered the Northeastern University essay competition and has been shortlisted for the title he wrote on philosophy/history: Philosophy: To what extent, and in what ways, can the past be a good guide to the future?

Year 9 pupils heard from Justin Pritchard about the importance of languages in industry

Justin Pritchard, who is a Headhunter in international industry, talked to Year 9 pupils about the Importance of Language in Industry.

The presentation included examples of successful career pathways that include the command of at least one language.

Justin’s talk resulted in a very proactive and engaged Q&A, together with a stimulating conversation about the importance of languages across a range of employer sectors.

Thank you to Gresham’s Languages for organising this opportunity.

Daisy Hughes spoke to pupils about her career journey

We welcomed Daisy Hughes to speak to pupils about her journey to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art straight from school and her performances in numerous plays, TV and film. She then stopped acting in order to fully commit to six years of training to become a stunt woman. Also, she is an athlete, fitness instructor, personal trainer and yoga teacher and founded the charity ‘Girls Who Pull’.

Daisy had a busy afternoon of talks to Year 13 pupils, all the girls from Year 12, and Drama pupils.

Her talk to Year 13s illustrated that, as they come closer to leaving school education and discovering their post school paths, they will take changes of direction. They should not be fearful of failure, and instead embrace new things, do something positive and look after their wellbeing, both mentally and physically.

The girls enjoyed an inclusive talk and Q&A session with Daisy on Inner and Outer Strengthening.

Daisy’s finale was an insightful talk with pupils interested in Drama on applying to Drama School, getting an agent and nailing the interview!