Off on the trip of a lifetime – to New York! Fifty students now at Heathrow Airport looking forward to an incredible five day stay, taking in Broadway workshop and show, Brooklyn’s Street art tour and graffiti lesson and the Steinway factory with the choir singing in the Empire State Building and the Gordon's School Pipes and Drums performing in the Tartan Day Parade and much more! Bon voyage.
The challenge for Year 9 was to learn about the social issues facing the local community and research those charities providing crucial support. Students then split into groups, with each selecting one of the local charities. After meeting and consulting with the charities, each group devised and delivered a social action plan to support their charity.
One thousand pounds was up for grabs from First Give for one of the charities, as the judging panel of Councillors Pat Tedder and Liz Noble, together with teachers James Greggor and James Butler listened to their presentations. The team representing the Grace Dear Trust which campaigns to prevent teen suicide, won.
Graham Dear from the charity was able to attend the final and had high praise for the group, who made an awareness training film and campaign. He was particularly impressed that they had been able to get across the key message that ‘it’s OK to not be OK’ and that as a school, Gordon’s has such a good range of mental health support strategies.
Also listening to the First Give presentations were representatives from the other charities picked by students - Carol Ellis from White Lodge, Gemma Johnston from The Hope Hub Surrey Heath and Irina Bush from Catalyst Support. Congratulations to all the students taking part.
History made on the pitches of Rosslyn Park by Gordon’s girls, competing in the largest school rugby tournament in the world! The U18 team were unbeaten yesterday, winning 31-15 against Moulton College; 29-5 against Dartford Grammar School; 40-10 against Rugby School and 41-17 against New Hall School. This is the first time the girls have made it through to the second day of the Rosslyn Park 7s. Today, in the Quarter Finals, they meet Peter Symonds’ College; Trinity School and Hereford Sixth Form College. Best of luck to them.
One of 12 finalists in the national Springboard Futurechef competition, Matilda Spink enjoyed a night in a top London hotel before cooking a meal for 17 of the UK's most talented chefs, including her idol, Bake Off: The Professionals Judge and international pastry consultant Cherish Finden. Matilda had just two hours in which to fillet a fish and produce four plates of cured and torched mackerel fillets with watercress mayonnaise, potato and butternut fondants, charred shallots and rainbow chard followed by her own take on rhubarb and custard.
Cadets out in force for CCF Field Days at Portsmouth and Hampshire. Royal Navy and Air Force Cadets visited the historic dockyard, enjoying a harbour tour by boat where they saw aircraft carriers; frigates and destroyers. They boarded both the Mary Rose and HMS Victory, which offered a fascinating insight into past and modern practices. Army Cadets were at Longmoor Camp where they fired SA80 GP rifles and all qualified for Army Camp in Scotland in the Summer.
Hot on the heels of Gordon’s Model United Nations (MUN) Conference, was Haileybury MUN, the largest MUN conference in the UK, attracting over 900 students. Gordon’s proved their debating prowess with James, Peter and Nathanial coming away with Highly Commended; Amelie with Distinguished Delegate and the team of Ewan, Amelie, James, Aaryan and Nathanial, representing China, who were Best Delegation of the General Assembly. Congratulations all! For more information on Gordon's MUN, please click here.
Football champs! Fun for over 40 students taking part in ‘Empire Games’, an internal competition with the emphasis on participation and enjoyment. The weekly Empire Games allows students of all abilities to discover and develop their talents in different sporting disciplines on Saturday mornings in a school tournament.
A record eight teams competing in the Rosslyn Park National Schools Rugby 7s starting Monday, with the Pipes and Drums performing at the opening ceremony. This evening in front of the school on parade practice, the girls and boys U18 Cup teams were presented with their match tops by Headmaster Andrew Moss. Best of luck to all those taking part.
Triple success in the National Schools Golf competition at Crowborough Beacon GC for Gordon’s in the scratch, stableford and team events. Zach Mathews clinched the scratch tournament with a -1 round of 71 by two shots with Ben Lovell finishing runner up with a +1 round 73. In the stableford, Gordon’s came first (Jamie McNeil with 43 points), second (Will Unsworth 42 points), third (Cameron Moulsdale 40 points) and fourth with seven golfers making the top ten. And in the team stableford, the boys in green came away with first, second, fourth and eighth places. With just three more events and many golfers now qualifying for the national finals, the school looks set to have a record breaking field at the end of the season.
A chance for Year 10 scholars working on the Schools of Empire project to discuss their research with two of its architects Dr Thomas Smith and Dr Timothy Guard from Rugby School. In addition Year 8 were treated to a fascinating talk on Empire and Artefacts and Sixth Form historians learned about the benefits of studying a humanities degree. The Schools of Empire is an award-winning research project exploring the historical intersection between schools, class and colonialism.
Three new personal bests for Ned Hewson in Sunday’s Surrey Half Marathon! The former Head Boy, who is in training for the Brighton Marathon on 6th April, is now averaging 31.4km a week in readiness for the big day and has reached his fundraising target for mental health charity MIND of 2025!
The 17 year old, who will run the marathon shortly after his 18th birthday, set the following pbs on Sunday in the 21.3km course, which he completed in 1:38:55 - 15km (1:09:46); ten miles (1:15:03); 20km (1:33:51). He said: “With one month to go until the marathon we have officially reached my target of £2025. I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has donated and supported my training. It has now been 5 weeks since I set up my just giving page and have managed to run 178.26km, averaging 31.4km a week”.
Donations towards his fundraising for MIND can still be made here.
Exeat weekend for all but seven students who found themselves in Guildford Crown Court! However, the seven were acting as witnesses, defendants, magistrates and lawyers for the prosecution and defence as part of a Mock Trial. As well as visiting the court, the students toured the holding cells at Guildford Crown Court and were given the chance to engage with a wide range of legal and law enforcement professionals. For more information on Mock Trials at Gordon's, please click here.
