In this week of national remembrance, all Year 9 History classes have been undertaking an archival research project to find out more about Gresham’s and its pupils at the time of the First World War. Classes have been introduced to documents from the Gresham’s Archive by School Archivist Izzy Farrow. These included photographs, prospectuses, school magazines, books, medals and other contemporary documents. All the pupils enjoyed a unique opportunity to get ‘hands-on’ experience with original sources relating to Gresham’s and the First World War. 

Our U14A rugby team met with Finborough School on Saturday 5th November. Both teams played extremely well and the opponents made for a great match. We left the pitch triumphant with the game finishing 26-21, with tries from Toby G (2), Alec A and Daniel M. Player of the match was Alec A. 

The Senior School boarders came together on All Souls Day for a special service to remember those that we love but see no longer. The Chapel was lit with the warm glow of thousands of candles and the choir sung music from the beautiful Faure’s Requiem.

The inaugural Gresham’s School Inter-House target sprint competition took place at the end of January.  Each of the seven Houses entered a Junior team (Year 9 & Year 10) of five competitors and a Senior team (Year 11, Year 12 & Year 13), also containing five competitors. The event was adapted slightly, in order to make it very spectator friendly and also to allow those that had not done very much shooting the opportunity to be competitive. Each competitor was required to run 200 meters before coming into the air rifle range and shooting down five targets. Once the five targets had been knocked down then the next runner set off around the track. The event was made slightly more exciting as it was run under floodlight, at 8 o’clock in the evening. Both the track and the range were floodlit to create a wonderful atmosphere.

A huge congratulations, and thank you, must go to all those that took part and that were involved in the event. Particularly well done to Howson’s for winning the Junior trophy and to Oakeley for winning the Senior trophy. Oakeley also won the overall trophy, so very well done to them.

On Saturday night we held our annual Bunfire Night on the Senior School grounds. Relocating this year to the new venue by the Auden Theatre proved hugely successful, and despite the rain over 500 members of the School community were in attendance. FOGS kindly offered refreshment stands throughout the evening to support the busy food vendors. Farfield, Edinburgh and Tallis jointly won the Guy Competition with their various eclectic efforts. The grounds team with the support of the Headmaster put on a great display for the crowd; all in all the event raised nearly £2000 for our School Charity, The Holt Youth Project.

Our stunning Chapel was given a fresh look last week as we received delivery of two beautiful new altar frontals. The frontals have been created by the talented team of broderers at Norwich Cathedral as a kind gift from FOGS and the Gresham’s Foundation. The frontals were blessed in a special service by the Archdeacon of Lynn.

Isla, who is currently in Year 11 and attends Ormiston Victory Academy in Norwich, has been awarded a scholarship for a Sixth Form place at Gresham’s from September 2023. Here, Isla will experience independent school life, benefitting from a multitude of enrichment activities, a wide range of sport and the Dyson Building, the School’s centre for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) education. This is well fitting for Isla, who expressed a keen interest in the STEAM subjects and co-curricular activities surrounding Design and Science.

Once Isla completes her GCSEs at her current school, she is looking forward to studying Spanish, Geography and Maths. Going forward after her time at Gresham’s, Isla hopes to be studying at a Russell Group university where, post-university, she hopes to broaden her language skills before going travelling and potentially volunteering with non-governmental organisations.

Headmaster Douglas Robb said “We will be delighted to welcome Isla to Gresham’s in September. She will have the opportunity to develop her current skills and interests here, by making use of the School’s facilities and co-curricular activities. I wish her every success both during her time here and in the future”.

Gresham’s has been partnered with the Ormiston Academy Trust for a number of years, offering scholarships to Ormiston Academy pupils every two years. In 2020, Gresham’s awarded the OAT scholarship to Gabriella, who is now in Year 13 and studying Maths, Spanish, Physics, and Chemistry at A level. She is also enjoying a range of extracurricular activities on offer at Gresham’s such being involved in Team-Eco.     

IN THE NEWS

Our pupils in the school’s choir, or Schola Cantorum, visited Malta during the half term to perform at multiple concerts around the island for their choir tour.

The pupils performed at the Rabat Concert at Basilica of St Paul in Rabat, where they also had the opportunity to explore Rabat and see the beautiful views that Malta has to offer.

The trip also included a guided tour around Valetta, Malta’s capital. Pupils later performed at the Birgu Church and finished the tour with an incredible concert at the breathtaking Mosta Dome. we hope that our pupils had a great time and look forward to seeing them back at school after half term.

Many of the major world religions have ‘Festivals of Light’ (such as Hannukah, Advent and Diwali) as the nights draw in at this time of year.

Pupils were invited to celebrate, Chapel was filled with hundreds of candles (and doughnuts)! on the evening of the 13th October.

The pupils and staff at Gresham’s School, Holt, are acutely aware that we live in difficult and uncertain economic times and that many people in the local community are struggling as a consequence. All three Schools have been working closely with local organisations this half term to do what they can to help the most vulnerable. These projects have included collecting a vast amount of quality clothing for the Community Clothes Bank at the Holt Youth Project, Gresham’s long-term charity partner, as well as raising £1,000 for the Holt Community Fund which will help those who need support with their energy bills this winter.

The Charity Committee are committed to helping those in need in as many ways as possible, and have reached out to a number of local charities to help provide support. They have raised £1,000 for the Holt Community Lunch, which will provide local residents in need with a traditional Christmas dinner on Christmas Day. The Committee also organised for left-over food from the school kitchens top be distributed to the local community, and helped facilitate the donation of books, toys and practical help to Norfolk YMCA, who support people across the country who struggle to afford adequate accommodation.

The school also recently collected one tonne of food during Harvest Festival, to then be distributed to local families via the North Norfolk Foodbank, alongside donating food to the Community Fridge at The Treehouse in Holt.

The Charity Committee are planning many more projects next term, including support for families who might struggle to buy presents this Christmas.