Final first round match of the Sixth Form Inter-House Debating Competition takes place

News > Final first round match of the Sixth Form Inter-House Debating Competition takes place

Congratulations to Oakeley (Emily and Kate) on defeating the motion ‘This House would ditch the annual family holiday abroad forever’ against a strong Farfield team (Tom and Caspar) on Monday night. The debate rested on the merits of a resurgent Blackpool and the cosmopolitan charms of London against the appeal of skiing in the Alps and Brazilian ecotourism. This was a very funny but also very informative debate, which drew on geography, economics, environmentalism, culture, language, and history. The semi-final line-up is Howson’s, Oakeley, Tallis and Woodlands.

Gold Duke of Edinburgh

News > Gold Duke of Edinburgh

During October Half Term, 12 pupils successfully completed their gold Duke of Edinburgh assessment expedition. The Year 13 pupils covered just under 100km on foot to meet their assessment requirements. Their route took them across the beautiful Norfolk countryside, starting from Shouldham in the west of Norfolk, heading towards the coast and finishing back in Holt.

The Biology and Chemistry Societies gather for a joint meeting

News > The Biology and Chemistry Societies gather for a joint meeting
For the first time, the Hodgkin Biology Society and the Wansbrough-Jones Chemistry Society gathered for a joint meeting last week, where all were able to listen to two excellent presentations delivered by Abbie and Ella. Sixth Form students were able to attend in person and socially distance, with the whole event streamed online via teams for students in other year groups to listen to also.
Abbie spoke about proton beam therapy; she used her first-hand knowledge and experience of this fascinating area of medicine to give an inspirational and informative presentation. Ella presented on the psychology of olfaction, leading to an interesting side discussion on anosmia and what this is, made more relevant by the fact it is one of the principle symptoms of Covid-19.
Both presentations were excellent and presented with great passion and professionalism. This was a very enjoyable and highly informative evening and all who attended benefitted from two knowledgeable and inspirational talks.

Lizzie Alexander to join Gresham’s as Deputy Head Pastoral

News > Lizzie Alexander to join Gresham’s as Deputy Head Pastoral

We are delighted to announce that we have appointed Mrs Lizzie Alexander to be Deputy Head Pastoral from September 2021. She joins us from Haileybury School in Hertfordshire.

 

Lizzie was born in the UAE and went on to spend most of her school years in Hertfordshire. After graduating from Nottingham University, she worked in London where she gained experience in graduate and fee-earning recruitment for Macfarlanes Law firm. From there, Lizzie moved to Haileybury as the Registrar in 2003 and then was appointed housemistress of a girls’ boarding house in 2008. She spent 9 very happy years caring for the girls alongside her husband Rob, 2 children and their dog, Samson. For the last 3 years, Lizzie has held the role of Proctor, alongside teaching English.

We look forward to welcoming Lizzie to the Gresham’s community.

Year Group vocal and instrumental ensembles rehearse

News > Year Group vocal and instrumental ensembles rehearse

Year group singing continues and Brass Group have started rehearsals in a very socially distanced fashion making use of the split-level of the Auden Foyer. We plan to start up other ensembles after half term.  Performances have taken place in Year group daily Chapel Services. It is heartening to hear music from the Auden or Chapel at the start of the day.

Gresham’s Girls and Guys continue to meet and prepare tracks in Year group bubbles ahead of their Christmas recording.

Year 1 explore and create expressionist artwork

News > Year 1 explore and create expressionist artwork

Last week the Year 1 children looked at the expressionist painter Martina Shapiro and her colourful painting style. As a class they thought about how they could represent different feelings using various colours. Miss Durban one of the Pre-Prep Teaching Assistants, who is also an artist, then kindly created a self-portrait of every child in Year 1. The children then worked on mixing their own colours to complete a masterpiece of expressionist art. We are so proud of their amazing images!

Success for Kitty in the Young Poets Competition

News > Success for Kitty in the Young Poets Competition

 

Congratulations to Kitty who has won a Top Commended Prize for The Poetry Society’s Foyle Young Poets Competition for the third time in four years! Kitty who’s in Year 10 and Oakley House, was one of just 85 poets who received the top accolade out of 16,000 entries worldwide.

Her winning poem will be published in the Online Anthology and will be read out on their Youtube channel

The CCF returned to training

News > The CCF returned to training

The CCF has been pleased to return to training this term and continues to offer great opportunities to the cadets once more.

Yr10 recruits have focused on expedition training skills culminating in a full day of assessed challenges on field day including navigation, observation, campcraft and a realistic first aid scenario.

Yr11 cadets have caught up and completed their basic proficiency syllabus, including some assessed activities in shooting & section-specific training on field days and now move on to the advanced package.

6th form NCOs have spent time developing their skills and leadership potential with some seniors beginning to assist with delivering the socially distanced training.

We look forward to a junior leadership day at half term and to returning to afloat, airborne and more complex fieldcraft activity over the next months.

 

 

Inter-house debating in Big School

News > Inter-house debating in Big School

Monday night in Big School witnessed another excellent match with Howson’s proposing and Oakeley opposing the motion, ‘This House would vote with enthusiasm for the election of Joe Biden as US President’.

The Proposition stressed Biden’s achievements as senator and Vice-President whereas the Opposition suggested that the US system is so broken that it is impossible to vote with enthusiasm for anybody. Both teams displayed excellent topic knowledge and more gifted oratorical skills than either side in the actual US election. Howson’s (Hector and Joe) saw off a very strong challenge from Oakeley (Shahd and Emily) and now progress to the semi-finals.

  

Music students have been hard at work

News > Music students have been hard at work

It has been a busy three weeks since pupils returned from Home Weekend with the emphasis on recordings for our large GCSE music cohort in Year 11. Over two days 23 pupils recorded the practical element of what will amount to 30% of their final GCSE mark.  It was a joy to listen to the high standard of playing and singing and a testament to the hard work and teaching of our excellent peripatetic staff.