Head's Newsletter 10 November 2017

Dear Parents It was good to see all the boys return after the half term break, which I hope boys and parents found refreshing. This half term is quite long, although it is broken up in the middle with two professional development days spread over the weekend. It was good to see so many Year 13 parents at the consultations on Monday and we hope their sons are progressing well, as they also look to submit their UCAS forms

trip to Rome over half term, the Geography field trip to Devon and Dorset just before, and the day trip to Bath last week. You can read reports of some of these in this newsletter. It was also fantastic just before half term to see some of the amazing successes in Performing Arts. The sixth form play was incredibly well done, and was performed in front of packed audiences in the Drama Studio in the week before half term. It was also great to be present for the Year 7 inter -form choir competition held at the parish

for entry to Higher Education. Today was a special day with our annual Remembrance Service. With the temporary location of the canteen to the Main Hall during the building works, we instead held a whole school Remembrance Service in the Sports Hall, where wreaths were laid and later transferred to the memorial tablets in the Main Hall. In particular, on the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele, we remembered the seven Old Tiffinians who died at that

church just before half term. Last week we also had Year 8 participating in the Capoeira dance day. The choir have of course been busy, and are currently rehearsing for the Oratorio on Sunday 19 November, when we look forward to them singing alongside the many other people making up the oratorio choir.

Sport has got off to an excellent start after half term and you can read about the successful rugby and cross country teams. We look forward to more excellent matches. Yours, M D Gascoigne, Headteacher

battle. You can also see in this newsletter some of the art work that Year 9 have been doing associated with remembrance. There have been many trips taking place over the last few weeks including the Art

IMPORTANT DATES

Year 7 trip to London Zoo

Tuesday 14 November Tuesday 14 November Sunday 19 November Wednesday 22 November

Ensembles Concert, Walden Hall 7 pm

Oratorio Concert, Sports Hall 7 pm

Year 9 trip to Natural History Museum

Professional Development day; no boys in school

Friday 24 November

Professional Development day; no boys in school

Monday 27 November

House Public Speaking Final, JLT at 7 pm

Friday 30 November

On Tuesday 31 st October 77 Year 9 Latinists set out to Bath to explore the remains of the ancient city of Aquae Sulis which they are currently studying in their lessons. During the course of the day the boys had the opportunity to interact with an archaeologist from the Museum, to translate Latin inscriptions and to handle real artefacts excavated from the site. In addition, they toured the excellent

Museum and some were even brave enough to try the water from the Sacred Spring - definitely an acquired taste! The boys did us proud in terms of their engagement and conduct and I would like to thank my colleagues who accompanied us on the day. Mrs O’Connell Head of Faculty of Languages

On Monday 30 th October all year 8 students participated in a Capoeira dance workshop. Students learned about the history of this fascinating dance style and were exposed to a variety of different ways of playing Capoeira game/ fight. Students enjoyed a performance from the workshop leaders at the end and hopefully will be able to implement skills and techniques in their own performances.

Rehearsing for the performance

GEOGRAPHY A LEVEL FIELDTRIP

On Saturday 14 th October, we departed for the Geography A level fieldtrip to Dorset and Devon. The week was focused on strengthening the students understanding of, and bringing to life Water and Carbon Cycles, as well as Coastal landscapes and Change, both integral components to the A Level course. Below, the students’ feedback on their personal experiences: Day 1 – Saturday 14 th October “After a grueling journey, we made it to Lulworth Cove in Dorset, it really was astounding; photographs will never do it justice in that glorious moment. The first day gave us the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the coastal landscape, this include the Co-op near to our accommodation. The discovery of 4G at our accommodation was an important discovery of the day, being careful not to undermine the fascinating revelation, that was the Holocene Maximum.”

Mr Horwood and Miss Caudwell tricked us into putting our ears against the muddy cliff face, in belief that we would hear Patrick knocking on it from the other end, it’s fair to say we got played. We stopped at Swanage Bay for lunch and discussed coastal management in place here. The afternoon was going well, until a few members of our group were late back to the bus, thinking that the Mr Horwood taxi service would run into Swanage. Little did they know its last service was cancelled “Today we explored Old Harry’s Rocks, walking carefully onto the cliff edge, as Mr Horwood heroically risked his life to protect us from the elements. The views along the Jurassic coast were pretty incredible. After looking at sand dune succession at Studland bay, we stopped for lunch, however the fish and chips was too expensive, so we opted for the bargain £5.95 kids meal.” Day 4 – Tuesday 17 th October “Today began with a catastrophic event; Connor grazed his knee! Armed with our banging tunes, much to Mr Horwood’s delight, we boarded the minibus to Exeter for the second leg of our trip. Upon arrival, we admired the ‘globally recognised’ flood management strategies, but more importantly the excellent wifi service. We then travelled to Dartmoor, where we explored the drainage basins we would be subsequently crawling through.” before the Devensian Ice Age!” Day 3 – Monday 16 th October

Day 2 – Sunday 15 th October “The day began badly at Kimmeridge Bay;

TO DORSET AND DEVON

Day 5 – Wednesday 18 th October “Wednesday was a day full of excitement from battling the East Bovey River, some groups tackled depths of 22cm, its fair to say they got a little wet. We then staged a precariously boggy walk on the moor up to Bellever Tor, invoking the wrath of Mr Horwood in the most Tiffinian possible way, with some questionable navigation skills.”

After a walk down to Lanacombe Bay where we looked at relic features as a result of level fall, we drove to Slapton for lunch, where we treated ourselves to pizza and chips. Following this, we walked around Slapton Ley and learnt about how lagoons are formed, and the development of the hydrosere. We then returned to the hostel for our last supper.” I think it is fair to say we all had a great week away. The boys were exceptionally well behaved, engaged and inquisitive. They worked very hard and bonded as a group.

Day 6 – Thursday 19 th October “ The final day! We started off at Kingsbridge to get a better understanding of rias, as well as how the tides operated.

Tiffin rugby has seen much greater success in recent times and there is a feeling amongst the boys that we have turned a corner and are developing well after a few fine performances.

for the senior squad who have struggled with availability and commitment at times, a 1 st XV 38 – 24 victory against Christ’s Hospital, the performance of the week. Special mention must go to Rory Coats who stepped in at fly half and looked like a natural and Gavin Griffith who has been outstanding all season and added to his ever-increasing try scoring tally with another two. The squad are looking to carry this positive performance into Saturday against London Oratory, who are a new addition to the fixture list and thus an unknown quantity. Tiffin v St Georges

Josh Bennett goes over in the corner

A highly successful weekend against St George’s Weybridge saw Tiffin with a majority of wins, with the most notable performances coming from our youngest players in year 7 who strolled to victories in all A, B and C teams. Played 11, won 7, lost 4 is not a bad return at all! Further to this were victories for the U14A team away at Rutlish and, most pleasing

1 st XV 7 – 22 L 2 nd XV 12 – 15 L U16A 28 – 0 L U15A 34 - 0 L U14A 27 – 0 W U14B 10 – 5 W

U13A 25 – 20 W U13B 40 – 0 W U12A 35 – 5 W U12B 30 – 5 W U12C 50 – 5 W

Follow us on twitter @tiffinrugby for updates on school rugby!

Jie Long prepares to pack down

GRAND SLAM AT X-COUNTRY BOROUGH CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Borough Championships took place on Thursday 2 nd November in the grounds of Surbiton High School. The run, although not particularly long, was challenging due to undulating terrain and a particularly steep hill. It was therefore interesting to pace oneself on this course to ensure performance was maximised on the flatter ground. The races were split into four year groups. In Year 7 Connor Foley took first place and Oscar Luck came second. In Years 8 and 9 Tom Armstrong came first, Will Murphy came second and Euan Sinclair came third. In Years 10 and 11 Eric Williams came first and Eyoel Abebaw- Mesfin came second. In Years 12 and 13 Aaron Bruce won second. As well as these great results, it was particularly pleasing to see such a high turn-out from all year groups. The fantastic performance of all our runners culminated in Tiffin winning a grand slam of all 4 titles, for the first time this decade. Aidan Porter, Year 13

Their work focused on the historical significance of either WW1 or WW2. All three were commended for their efforts and are pictured with their certificates. Well done to all three.

OLD TIFFINIAN SUCCESS

On Wednesday 29 th November from 6 to 8 pm, Ham Youth Centre, Ham Close, TW10 7PL, is hosting an information evening for parents and young people aged 10-19 on fostering safe and healthy use of technology. This is part of the In Safe Hands Project. Topics include:  online safety  cyber bullying  screen time  emotional wellbeing  social media and computer gaming To book a place, contact Ben Skelton at: ben.skelton@achievingforchildren.org.uk T: 020 8288 0916 M: 020 8288 0916

James Lawn, last year’s captain of boats, won in a quad for Nottingham University last weekend. His boat came first overall at Nottingham Autumn Head.

YOUNG HISTORIAN AWARDS

In July, Rasnaam Grover (left), Joseph Parkinson (centre) and Arth Kochhar (right) entered their end of year history projects in the Historical Association’s Young Historian Awards.

TIFFIN SPORTS WEBSITE

The Tiffin School Sports Department has just launched a new Sports Website which contains all the details for rugby fixtures, dates, times, team sheets and match reports.

PUBLIC SPEAKING

Please join us on Friday, 30 th November at 7 pm in the JLT for the House Public Speaking Finals—quality entertainment and a glass of wine. Everyone is welcome—and it’s FREE!

ART & DRAMA

Year 9 students’ art work com- memorating Remembrance Day; it consists of portraits of British and Commonwealth veterans from WW1.

The sixth form production, Accidental Death of an Anarchist , featured a cast of 11 boys and 3 girls. This impressive cast managed to juggle a very hectic 5 week rehearsal schedule alongside their academic studies to perform successfully to crowded audiences. This farcical play, written by Dario Fo, was very demanding on the actors, including masses of lines, countless props, multi-rolling of characters and fast paced action. I was one of the two who had been cast as the ‘ Maniac’, the main character, and am incredibly grateful to my supporting cast who covered up my mistakes, the technical team behind the lights, sound, and set, and of course Miss O'Connell and Miss Hughes. Ben Willows