Head's Newsletter 16 September 2016

Dear Parents Welcome to the first newsletter of the 2016-17 year. I do hope that your son is now settling down to the new term and to his new year group. I would particularly like to warmly welcome all parents of boys who are new to the school in Year 7 or Year 12. All year groups have parents’ meetings or forums during the course of this term and I look forward to seeing and meeting parents at these events. Please do look at the calendar on Insight to check for important dates, terms and events. We also welcome some new staff to the School this term. Miss Sandhu joins the Classics Department, Ms Harris is joining English, Mr Lloyd Maths and Mr Atkinson Modern Languages. In addition we welcome Ms Varley as our new Careers Adviser, Mr Brown as LRC Supervisor and Mrs Kumar as Physics Technician. We also welcome back a number of Year 13 students from 2015-16, who will be spending part of a gap year with us. As we start the new term, your son will already have noticed the change to the House system. By creating two new Houses we aim to give further opportunities for boys to participate and consequently benefit from the many varied activities that we put on. Exam results We were delighted that once again Tiffin’s exam results were excellent this summer.

In particular the A-level results were the best for 3 years with 87% of grades at A*- B. Coming at a time when the top grades are becoming harder to achieve, these results buck a national trend and are all the more impressive. Most importantly the excellent grades our boys achieve enable them to go on to the courses and universities of their choice. The great majority of our boys will progress to Russell Group Universities, including 22 going on to Oxford or Cambridge this year. It was a great pleasure to have our Leavers’ Celebration yesterday evening at the Parish Church when we paid tribute to the achievements of those students who left the School this summer, as well as welcomed them into the Alumni Association with the presentation of the Tiffin Association tie to all students. We thank James Berry, the local Kingston MP, for attending in order to give out ties and prizes and for his uplifting words to all leavers. At GCSE our results were also excellent with 80% of grades at A*/A. Again this is a great achievement, bucking national trends, and stands these boys in very good stead as they progress into the Sixth Form. They are joined by about 80 new boys who are coming to our Sixth Form with excellent grades from other schools. One of the great strengths and virtues of our Sixth Form is the mixing of a substantial number of new students, with their

IMPORTANT DATES—PLEASE SEE THE CALENDAR ON INSIGHT

Professional Development Day: no boys in school

Monday 3 October Tuesday 4 October

11+ day; no boys in school except prefects

24 October—28 October Half term EVERY ACADEMY SETS ITS OWN INDIVIDUAL TERM DATES; PLEASE CHECK OUR DATES ON THE CALENDAR ON INSIGHT

different experiences and ideas, with the existing students, creating a fresh start for all. We particularly warmly welcome those new Sixth Form students, and wish them all the very best for their 2 years with us. We congratulate all students who took public exams this summer for their hard work and achievements, whether at GCSE, AS or A Level. It seems a long time ago now, but I haven't reported on the last events of the summer term. It was a lovely close to the year with our House events and also our Founders’ Day service of the last week of term. We had a great Swimming Gala and Rowing Regatta and the House competition culminated in an exciting Sports Day when we made our final presentations of trophies. The term may have ended back in July but there were a number of important trips that took place over summer. The choir were very active with a tour to Italy followed by the amazing opportunity to sing at the BBC Proms. It really was terrific to see our boys performing at the Albert Hall in one of the Proms, which was also broadcast live on BBC4. On the sporting front the senior rugby players had a very successful pre-season training camp in Brighton, and there were also a number of successful rowing camps. In addition our Economists, who won the Student Investor Challenge competition, went to New York as their prize! Last week of Summer Term Summer trips

New building As you know we are delighted to be able to replace our tired old canteen with a brand new two storey building containing a dining hall downstairs, five classrooms and an IT suite upstairs. This represents a massive investment in the School and is a truly exciting development that Tiffin students will benefit from for years to come. Construction will be starting in January. Although our core funding for the building is in place, I will be talking at the parents’ meetings this term to explain how you will also be able to take the opportunity to contribute to the project, so that we may raise further funds to finish and furnish it as we would wish. Thank you very much to those parents who already generously contribute to the Tiffin Education Fund, without which the School would not be able to achieve what we do. If you do not do so already, I would urge you to contribute to this voluntary fund which allows the School to deliver the first class education which we desire for the boys. Please see this link for more details. As parents you can also support the school in other ways, especially in attending fixtures at Grist’s and supporting any team that your son may be in! Parents interested in singing may also wish to join the Oratorio Choir, about which there is more in the newsletter. We look forward to an exciting term and year, and I wish your sons every success in whatever they are doing. Yours, M D Gascoigne, Headteacher

LEAVERS’ CELEBRATION EVENING

performance at this year's BBC Proms. The choir performed Mahler's 3rd Symphony alongside the London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra with Bernard Haitink. The performance had special significance, as Haitink (aged 87), respected for his interpretation of Mahler's Symphonies, was returning to the proms on a significant anniversary of his first proms performance. Rehearsing in the Royal Albert Hall to the orchestra's busy schedule was fascinating.

MUSIC

In July, the Boys' Choir returned from their rewarding tour to Milan. The tour included singing mass at the cavernous, gothic Milan Cathedral, and performing concerts in two very different venues: a candlelit garden on the shores of Lake Maggiore and at the ornate, baroque church of Santa Maria presson San Celso. Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia, Howells Te Deum Collegium Regale and Parsons Ave Maria formed three beautifully contrasting parts of an all English programme. Excellent weather and ice cream were present throughout the trip, as was the opportunity to climb man- made structures, including the cathedral and the statue of Carlo Borromeo, at one time the largest bronze statue in the world and under whose shadow we performed.

The conductor helped the boys' choir to relish their moment in front of the full house drawn by this significant performance. The concert was broadcast live to hundreds of thousands, on BBC4, the distinctive Tiffin blazers standing out on television and computer screens. Tiffin Oratorio is reverting to the Autumn term and rehearsals are now under way for Mendelssohn’s Elijah to be performed in the school’s Sports Hall on Sunday 20 th November at 7.00 pm. Rehearsals will take place in the Main School Hall 7-9 pm on Wednesdays. The subscription cost is £40 and Novello scores are available to purchase for £10 at the first few rehearsals. New parents at the school are warmly encouraged to join the choir, with the normal arrangement that they can sample a rehearsal or two before committing. You can follow Tiffin Oratorio at www.facebook.com/TiffinOratorio .

BBC PROMS

This summer, fifty of Tiffin's trebles spent a week at school in preparation for their

Year 8 Tiffin Boys closed the International Youth Arts Festival in Kingston in July with a final performance at the Arthur Cotterell Theatre at Kingston College. Dancers did an amazing job with lots of compliments from the audience and producers!

HOUSE CHAMPIONSHIP In addition to winning House Swimming, KM won the 2015-2016 House Championship . Many congratulations to them. Pictured below are Edan Umrigar and Joe Mills, House Captains.

HOUSE SWIMMING Also at the end of last term we held our annual House Swimming competition. Pictured with the Headteacher above are Mr Ingall, Head of the winning house, Kingsley Montgomery, with Y9 captain Joseph Niblett and Ben Couzens, Y7 captain.

Three players leave the 1 st XI having played their first games as Under 14 players. Captain Arjun Rana, Vinay Samtani and Bashir Bhatti have made an enormous contribution to Tiffin cricket over the years and we thank them for their runs, wickets and enduring enthusiasm for the game. No less important are Max Talman, Ira Shokar and Dominic Jones who made invaluable contributions over the last two seasons.

Two brilliant sides dominated the school cricket season, a season that produced so much exceptional cricket. The Under 15 XI won the Surrey U15 Cup after comfortably out-playing Trinity, to whom they had lost in the 20-20 Cup, in the semi-final.

Tiffin U15 XI. Surrey U15 Champions 2016

Five of members of this talented team represented the 1 st XI at the end of the season when examinations deprived the regular 1 st XI of most of its Upper 6 th players. Worthy of mention is Aum Joshi whose all-round talents as batsman and bowler slotted seamlessly into the 1 st XI and who captained the U15XI throughout the season whilst Sami Shori was on permanent 1 st XI duty. Two 20-20 tournaments were won in July, the Kingston Festival and the Cheam Festival. In both, Tiffin’s batsmen and spin bowlers dominated every match in which they played.

The summer holidays saw the Tercels in action at Sunbury and at Worcester Park. It is marvellous to see so many past 1 st XI players and staff now playing regularly for the side, many of whom also accompanied the Tiffin Invitation Touring Society in its 40 th year of touring Devon. Tiffin 1st XI. Kingston Festival and Cheam Festival tournament winners.

ROWING

House Regatta Congratulations to Scott House, winners of the House Rowing competition held in July. Below and right are a couple of photos taken at the event.

The Boat Club ran a fantastic summer camp for two weeks this summer. It attracted over 60 boys and girls from all year groups with over half coming from Years 7 & 8. We even had a Year 6 who has since started at Tiffin. Everyone learnt how to capsize, how to stand up in a single, how

Retiring Captains of Boats: Joseph Everest and Cormac Molloy

to press up in a boat and the inevitable dab craze continued on! (pictures left and right) Next camp October half term.

Manish on his hard work and successful result. For more details about the

RUGBY CAMP

Arkwright Scholarship Trust see http://www.arkwright.org.uk/ SHINE

Senior Tiffin rugby players enjoying a light snack before their next gruelling training session at their camp in Brighton over the holidays!

Dr Frost has been successful in securing the funding for his new educational platform, via the SHINE trust, an education charity that gives children the opportunity to acquire the skills and confidence they need to turn their potential into success at school and beyond. Patrons of the charity include David Beckham, Sir Alex Ferguson and Nick Robinson. The 9 grants awarded annually attracted 74 applications so very well done to Dr Frost. Further details of the charity can be found at www.shinetrust.org.uk DRAMA During the final week of the Summer term, a small group of student actors led a production of Laura Wade’s Posh. Touching on aspects of stereotypical Etonian and Oxbridge lifestyles, class warfare, privilege and gluttony, the boys (and girls) managed to successfully sell out both nights of the production - a token of the quality of the performance, especially in the ten days they had to rehearse. It was a very successful affair and a fine way to round off the Drama department’s brilliant year. Congratulations to all involved.

Tiffin Arkwright Scholar We were very pleased to be informed that Manish Manoj, now in Year 12, has been accepted as an Arkwright scholar and will be sponsored by The Peter Storrs Trust.

The application process involving rigorous examinations and personal interviews narrowing a cohort of 1600 applicants down to the top students. This is a significant achievement, given typically less than 200 awards are given each year. The sponsorship is aimed to support future engineers within their studies at A level via financial award, mentoring and access to industrial experience. We congratulate

NEW YORK! You may remember from the May Newsletter that four of our boys, then in the Upper Sixth, won the 2016 Student Investor Challenge, the prize being 5 nights in New York. Here’s a few pictures showing the wonderful time these boys— Aditya Shrimanker, Arjun Popat, Lucas Tishler and Michael Tallent—had.

Royal Economic Society Student Essay Competition 2016 Esteemed Economics teachers from around the country met at Royal Grammar School Guildford in mid July to complete the first stage of judging in the Royal Economic Society Essay Writing competition 2016. This prestigious competition attracted 1690 essays from pupils from throughout the UK and overseas, and judges read through each entry before forwarding a shortlist of essays for the final stage of judging. All of the judges were impressed with the standard of writing, the level of research and the ability of so many pupils to make such carefully drafted arguments. Tiffinian Jack Parker submitted his essay in which he discussed the proposition that “ Allowing more immigration of refugees would be good both for refugees and for the economies they come to." His essay showed excellent understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the economics of refugee migration, supported with well researched data and presented in a clearly written piece. Jack’s essay was placed in the final 50 and judged Highly Commended.

The boys were filmed for a number of different media outlets and the links are below. Studio Panel: https://www.assettv.com/player/default -player/101745 NYSE Students: https://www.assettv.com/player/ default-player/101746