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NuntiusAutumn 2015

Cross Lane, Bebington, Wirral, CH63 3AQ Tel: 0151 644 0908 www.wirralgrammarboys.com

WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys

Charity Achievements It has been a busy and enjoyable start to the academic year. In the early weeks of this new academic term it was the utmost honour to present a cheque for £12,340.39 to Mrs Anne Hodgson, a representative from Walton Neurological Centre in Liverpool.

This was a record sum of money and all boys are to be immensely proud of their collective efforts last year. The school charity for this academic year is ‘Wirral MIND’ which helps support people in our community with learning disabilities and mental health needs. The charity was selected in memory of former pupil Matthew Siddorn who sadly passed away in April this year. It was the school’s great pleasure to welcome a representative from ‘Wirral MIND’, who talked to us about the inspirational and magnificent work that the charity performs in the community. Moreover, we learnt of the projects for which money raised this year can be used. Our fundraising total currently stands at just over £2,000 following a fantastic range of fundraising events run by House Captains and House Groups. I thank you immeasurably for your support this term and in anticipation for the forthcoming new year!Ben Mark Turner – Head Boy

Winners of the Princess Diana Award for the Second Year RunningFrom creating Anti-Bullying policies in primary schools to raising over £800 during national Anti-Bullying Week, the outstanding efforts of the Peer Support Group over the past year have not gone unnoticed, as we won the prestigious Princess Diana Award for the second year running- an unprecedented feat.

On 24th November, accompanied by Mrs Smith and Mrs Turner, we were invited to an awards ceremony at the Lowry Manchester, in which all our members were nationally recognised for their contributions in terms of time and effort, and where we were also individually able to work with other Diana Award winners to share our ideas in terms of societal contributions. Our awards were presented by Afshan Azad, best known for playing the role of ‘Padma Patil’ in the Harry Potter film series. During the afternoon we were able to discuss and plan different social action projects in our community such as helping the homeless, keeping young people off the streets, and making people feel more confident in themselves. This was extremely successful as we were able to employ skills such as organisation, teamwork and leadership in order to work with pupils from other skills to plan successful ideas. This was then followed by a series of workshops conducted by Barclays LifeSkills giving us tips for interviews, CV writing, and presenting, which we found extremely helpful; especially those of us who are targeting a place at university. All in all the day was extremely fulfilling and informative, we were able to meet lots of inspirational young people from around the North West, forming a network of contacts who we can rely on in future projects, and hopefully what we have achieved will live on as a part of Princess Diana’s legacy.

Druvi Edinisinghe 13H/SLJA

Christmas Fair Our Parents’ Association Christmas Fair took place on Saturday 28th November. Thanks to everyone who supported the event. A tremendous display of festive stalls attracted hundreds of visitors and the Fair was a huge success. Proceeds from the fair include income from sales and combined with raffle ticket sales, this year we raised an amazing £4,850. All proceeds go directly to support our pupils. Our thanks to everyone who supported us and we wish you all the very best for the festive season.

The PA Committee

www.wirralgrammarboys.com2


Headteacher’s WelcomeAs our Autumn Term draws to a close we look back on a wide range of achievements and activities. The school year began with news of excellent examination results and it was very pleasing to see over 85% of students gaining their first choice of University place. Within twenty four hours of the results being published in August all those students who sought a university place had secured one.

Charity work has again been an important feature of the term and in November we were delighted to hand over a cheque for £12,340 for last year’s charity appeal which was The Walton Neurological Centre. This year, our fundraising focus is towards the mental health charity, Wirral MIND and so far just over £2,000 has been raised.

Record numbers of Year 10 students successfully completed the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Practice expedition in October and for the first time this year we have established our own Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award group. At the start of the term we again took part in the Heswall Arts Festival with artistic, musical and poetry contributions. We have enjoyed two music concerts this term, the Chamber Concert and the Music Society Concert which was exceptionally well attended. Our term ended with the traditional blend of festive activities, Carol Services at St Andrew’s Church, our charity film screening and of course the Staff Karaoke – one of the highlights of our fundraising calendar.

At the close of term we said our farewells to two members of staff; Miss McClure who has been promoted to Head of Physics at Rainhill School from January, and Mr Rickards who has provided an excellent service of ‘one to one’ tutoring and support for individual students. We wish them both every success for the future.

Finally, I extend my very best wishes to everyone in our school community for a happy and successful 2016.

D R Hazeldine Headteacher

Examination Success 2015 Congratulations to all pupils who took examinations last summer on their excellent achievements. At GCSE, the overall average grade standard was an A.

Well over half (53%) of all results were at the top A*/A standard and nearly a quarter (22.4%) were A*. 80% of all grades were A*, A or B. Overall, well over a third (37%) of pupils gained 8 or more A*/A grades including English and Maths and 95% gained five or more GCSE at grades A* to C.

At A Level, our results were very impressive indeed with an overall subject pass rate of 97%. A third of all grades were A*/A and 60% were at the top grades of A*/A or B. The vast majority of students (84%) gained their first choice of both university and course and within just 24 hours, all students seeking university places had been confirmed. Further information about our examination results can be found on the school website. Official national data that includes comparative performances on all schools will be available on the Performance Tables on the Department for Education website from mid-January.

“Make It” At Manchester AirportIn September we entered a strong Year 11 team into the Regional Final of the Manufacturing Institute’s ‘Make It’ challenge.

The school had fought through to the final after a winning heat at Aintree Race Course. Altogether over 200 schools took part across the North West and the final involving 16 schools took place in the marvellous surroundings of the ‘Concorde Suite’ at Manchester Airport which houses one of the remaining Concorde aircraft. The team were well placed and to make a great day special had a guided tour of Concorde!

Mr P Ronayne, Community Partnership Manager

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House Matters Barber House

Rhys Shakeshaft - Barber House Captain

The first half-term of

this school year has seen astonishing competition from all four houses in a show of

unity for our cause. Although we’re not in the lead in terms of house points or charity totals, we’re right behind the leaders and with a little more hard work we can take the top spot. The participation and commitment shown by boys across all year groups have been amazing and we have some promising ideas for later in the school year to power ourselves to the top of the table.

We are looking forward to our joint Christmas Fair with Lever in December which will be our ultimate chance to show our festive and team spirit. All in all, my first months in this role have been extremely rewarding and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in the future.

Dodds House

Matthew Callanan - Dodds House Captain

My first half term as Dodds

House Captain has highlighted just how much team spirit Dodds has. Every form, and

every person in each form, has worked hard to keep up the strong reputation of the House. Consistently, Dodds has stayed top of the Charity leader board throughout the half term, raising a staggering £570.29 by October half term. This money was raised due to the hard work of each form, donating their time and money to create new innovative competitions and scrumptious cake sales. All forms also took part in the organisation of the Dodds and Hodgson Halloween Fair, with each form running one stall.

The fair was a complete success with £127.59 raised by Dodds and with many students across the whole school taking part in the pumpkin carving and Scratch competition. Dodds is also improving with respect to the commendation table and

have made it to third place on occasion. I hope that we can continue to rise like a phoenix from the ashes to boost our commendations total and enjoy the success of a mid-table position next term.

Hodgson House

Druvi Edirinsighe - Hodgson House Captain

Now, I shan’t sugar-coat

anything but the start of this year has not been ideal for Hodgson. However, our

achievements and events towards the end of the past half-term have shown the character of this house, especially the Halloween Fair for which we shared responsibility alongside Dodds.

I would like to extend my utmost gratitude to all those who helped out, chiefly the house council representatives of H/GE, H/HM, H/JM, H/MH and H/SLJA who all did an outstanding job with their stalls. On this subject, I would also like to give a special mention to Matthew Farrell of H/CD on his sponsored cycle during half term, which has raised thus far a remarkable £40- and counting!

We have also managed to remain competitive in terms of the House Commendations totals where we are in third place amongst a very tight-knit table. To paraphrase former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard; ‘We Go Again’- and hopefully with the amount of ideas and suggestions that have been put forward in recent House Council meetings, inch by inch, pound by pound, commendation by commendation we can increase our totals as a team.

Lever House

Sam Lock - Lever House Captain

Bum Phillips a famous American

football coach once said; ‘Winning is half of it. Having fun is the other half’. Luckily

for Lever we are doing both. As a result of an outstanding effort from everyone in Lever we currently stand at top of the commendation table with 4761 house points.

Furthermore, Lever continue to shine as we are currently 2nd in the House charity totals with £370 raised to date. Many forms within the house have undertaken different activities in order to raise this money and have shown great togetherness in doing so. L/SPA have baked and set up their own cake sale managing to raise £50 alone, whereas L/HS did their own rugby sweep stake along with many more activities.

The FIFA competition has already started and is in full swing with first round fixtures currently taking place. This year’s targets predict it to be one of the biggest yet with a total of 128 students taking part. Thank you to Jack Font, Daniel Bristow, William Hardy and Owen Brisley for helping to organise and supervise the event. This term we are looking forward to the Lever/Barber Christmas Fair on December 11th. Overall well done to staff and students who have all contributed so far this year in Lever. Both Head of House, Mr White, and myself are pleased with the success Lever have managed so far. We hope we can maintain this standard throughout next term and reclaim the Wilson Cup.

Enterprise: One Million Young Ideas

A group of year 10 student took part in a scheme called “iDEA”. iDEA is a new initiative for 14-25 year olds with a passion for all things digital.

By getting involved, you have an opportunity to gain and develop digital enterprise and entrepreneurial skills. The aim was to create a business plan for review which if successful would then be put into action. Our team managed to make it into the second round and we were invited down to London to attend an event to discuss our idea further. Unfortunately we didn’t make it into the final round but hopefully we will do better next year!

Mr P Harrison, Deputy Headteacher



Carol Service Our Service of nine lessons and carols was held at St Andrew’s Parish Church on Wednesday 16th December. Services were held during the day, attended by all pupils, with a repeat service being held in the evening. The evening service was very well attended and our congratulations and thanks go to all the boys who took part.

Say Two Productions - The Slave TradeOn Wednesday 21st October, Say Two Productions came to school for an afternoon to illustrate, through Drama, ‘The Atlantic Slave Trade’.

The production demonstrated how Slaves were captured in Africa, transported across the Atlantic Ocean (The Middle Passage) to the Americas, sold in a ‘Slave Auction’ and made to work on Plantations for up to 18 hours a day. The performance also looked at rebellions and the underground network that worked to try and flee slaves as Abolition approached. After the performance, the actors allowed us to create some of our drama pieces including role play and freeze frames. They helped to guide us in our performances and encouraged us to use techniques such as levels and the tone and volume of our voices. Each teaching group was split up and had a section of Slavery to focus upon; for example my group looked at the ‘Work on Plantations’. We then returned to the hall and performed these pieces live on stage to the rest of Year 8.

Say Two Productions provided us with an insight into Slavery through both a performance and their own individual knowledge of the subject. It was a very enjoyable experience for all and on behalf of Year 8, I would like to thank the History Department and Mrs Jones especially, for organising and giving us this fantastic opportunity.

Cameron Lawrence-Small 8H/GWG

Music Department UpdateA big welcome to all new musicians in the School! There are 17 instrumental, vocal and ensemble teachers, together with 263 boys having lessons each week.

There are seventeen instrumental and vocal ensembles which are represented by a Music Forum. This years’ representatives are:

President Joe Kershaw Vice President Joe Houghton Secretary Sam FisherConcert Band John FieldhouseChoir Ben TurnerTreble Choir Douglas CrammondPop Choir Daniel CarterBig Band David NobleOrchestra Elliot FisherSenior Brass Group Philip PowellString Group Ben FramptonFiddle Group Jake Clement-JonesWoodwind Group William BradyKeyboard Group Daniel JonesSamba Band Dominic StorerGuitar Group Harry MackenzieJunior Brass Group Dominic Wearne

A true and accurate likeness of each of these important people is displayed in the Music Department as well as on the music notice board outside the Headmaster’s office for ease of identification. There is a Forum meeting once every half-term, and the minutes of these meetings are displayed on the Music Society notice board. Every boy who plays or sings in an ensemble is automatically a member of the Music Society, so if you have any questions regarding your ensemble, speak to your Forum representative!

The school is continuing its close association with the Heswall Arts Festival, and a number of boys were involved with various displays and performances over a 2 week period in October. The Samba Band joined forces with Wirral Girls’ equivalent to perform outside in Heswall, whilst a number of instrumentalists provided music both in and outside various café’s along Telegraph Road. Many thanks to all those involved in the preparation and performances on the day.

In fact it has been a busy term for the Samba Band. As well as performing at Birkenhead Grange Shopping Centre on the last day of term on an outdoor stage in aid of Claire House, the joint Samba Band performed at Tranmere Rovers Football Ground (Prenton Park) as part of the entertainment for the fireworks display at Halloween. Performing to over 1000 people, the 25-strong group made such an impression that I received an email from the CEO of Tranmere Rovers, asking us to perform at a match sometime this season. Watch this space for further developments…….

The first few concerts of the new school year have now taken place, including the Chamber Concert on Wednesday 21 October involving 25 boys, 10 of whom had not performed a solo in school before, including 4 who are in the new year 7 (Daniel Clark on cornet, Hamza Allen on saxophone, Anshul Ramavath on guitar and Oliver Weber on piano). The internationally acclaimed London

National Poetry DayThis year, our annual celebration of this important event had pupils being treated to lunchtime poetry recitals in The LRC by more than 25 staff, in total. Pupils in Years Seven and Eight competed to win the WGSB poetry cup; winners to be announced shortly.

Mrs K Campbell, English Department

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Klezmer Quartet visited school on Monday 5 October, first to give a free masterclass on Jewish folk music to selected students, and then to give an evening performance to a paying audience. This was a fantastic opportunity to hear a style of music that is rarely heard in schools. Finally the Carol Service on Wednesday 18 December with the traditional nine lessons and carols provided an opportunity for the Choir with accompanying brass group to provide a fitting musical setting for this joyous time of year. As usual, this was performed twice in the day to the whole school, and again in the evening for parents.

The Autumn concert involved seventeen different ensembles which rehearse each week, and although the highlights for some may have included an excellent first performance in the second half from the Year 7 choir, it is fair to say that every performance was polished and well-rehearsed. The programme ranged from traditional folk tunes and spirituals, through to instrumental renditions of film music from West Side Story and Edward Scissorhands as well as versions of pop ballads made famous by artists such as Billy Joel, the Blues Brothers, Cream, Muse and Bruno Mars. There really was something for everyone - many thanks to all 150 boys and 16 teachers who were involved, as well as to Joe Kershaw and Ben Albuquerque for rehearsing and directing the school Rock Band since September. A particular mention should go to Ben Turner, who successfully broke his own record by playing 3 different instruments with 8 different ensembles and actually directing 3 of them. In particular, the performance of the Choir’s rendition of Adiemus by Karl Jenkins, which Ben had suggested, sourced and ordered himself before rehearsing the 50+ strong choir, will be remembered for a while.

The School Brass Quintet involving Philip Powell, Aled Davies, Dominic Storer, Ben Noble and Jonathan Heale were invited back to take part in the Remembrance Day Service in St Andrew’s Church in Bebington. After last year’s inaugural performance, the group played hymns at the Cenotaph as well as music during the service itself, including a very moving rendition of the Supreme Sacrifice, which once again left a number of the congregation in tears. This was after playing in the school’s Remembrance service on the Friday beforehand. All performers need to be commended for keeping their concentration in what can be very emotional circumstances, and particular congratulations to Philp Powell who once again played the Last Post – never an easy thing to do.

The music A level group have had 2 trips this term, once to visit Chetham’s School of Music on Thursday 15 October, where one of the A level set works (Haydn symphony 104) was discussed in

detail before being played by the school’s orchestra and then again on Wednesday 25 November to a Music Subject Conference at Liverpool Hope University. Both trips proved a useful insight, not only into life studying music at University, but also to what standards our students should be aspiring to.

Some examination results from the Associated Board were not with us in time for the last summer edition of Nuntius. Congratulations and recognition should therefore go to the following successful candidates:

Name Form Instrument Grade Result

Jago Gustafsson-Green 8 Bassoon 1 Pass

Naseem Veevers 8 Guitar 2 Distinction

Louis Baylis 8 Trumpet 3 Pass

Douglas Crammond 8 Trumpet 4 Merit

Naseem Veevers 8 Piano 5 Merit

Ben Frampton 9 Double Bass 1 Distinction

Ruben Holt 9 Keyboard 1 Pass

Nathan Green 9 Bass Guitar 1 Merit

Daniel Griffiths 9 Bass Guitar 2 Distinction

Alexander Gurr 9 Clarinet 3 Pass

Ross Kaszuba 9 Saxophone 3 Pass

Seth Collinson 9 Violin 4 Pass

Ben Frampton 9 Clarinet 5 Pass

Jack Nettleton 9 Piano 5 Pass

Jack Nettleton 9 Theory 5 Merit

Alex Hodkinson 10 Piano 1 Merit

William Everard 10 Guitar 1 Distinction

Richard Oscroft-Wainwright 10 Violin 4 Pass

Tom Rogers 10 Piano 6 Distinction

Henry Anderson 11 Violin 4 Pass

William Brady 11 Jazz Flute 4 Merit

Connor Johnston 11 Saxophone 5 Merit

Andrew O’Hagan 11 Trombone 5 Pass

David Noble 11 Clarinet 7 Merit

James Tarver 11 Violin 8 Merit

Alex Lindon L6 Guitar 2 Pass

Joe Houghton L6 Jazz Saxophone 4 Merit

Freddie Tedstone L6 Piano 5 Merit

Ben Albuquerque U6 Drums 8 Distinction

George Watson U6 Keyboard 1 Distinction

The Music Department’s summer tour to Budapest seems a long time ago now, but it was a spectacular success, with the Choir performing in the main Sunday morning Mass at the Basillica in front of over 400 people and the Concert Band playing at some memorable venues, including at Buda Castle and at one of the city’s top concert halls. The Pop choir also sang at Budapest’s Jazz Club – surely the city’s answer to London’s Ronnie Scotts! The excursions were also very varied, including a medieval jousting tournament, a WWII Hospital, a summer toboggan ride, a river cruise as well as the essential waterpark and city sightseeing. Foreign tours are an established part of Music Department life, with Budapest being our tenth biennial trip. I have already been asked more than once where we will be going in 2017.

But for now, bring on 2016 - if you want to get the most out of music at Wirral Grammar School, get involved and get practising!

Mr P Thomas, Music Department



Forward Planning On Friday 25th September, Mr Hughes’ Year 11 French class had the opportunity to travel 20 years in the future, to a school reunion in 2035, except we were to talk about what our lives had been like but in French.

We were given a week to prepare for this task by Mr Hughes, who looked like he hadn’t aged at all in 20 years, and it took a lot of us a while to work out what we would be doing in 20 years’ time, as we had never really considered our future selves. As we all experienced the event, it emerged that we had all taken very different paths in life and in our careers. There were all kinds of different people there- an astronaut, doctor, fighter pilot, secret agent and even a fireman. If we all turn out to be as successful as we think we are going to be, then we have a very positive future indeed. I would like to thank Mr Hughes for providing the refreshments and also making the whole event possible.

Certificate Evening Our annual Certificate Evening was held on Monday, 14th December at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight. This event is for students who have left our Year 13 last summer to go on to University and industry, as well as for students who left in Year 11, many of whom have since joined our Sixth Form. Our guest speaker gave a short and inspiring address prior to presenting the certificates and associated awards on behalf of the school

Brassed Off!In November, I took part in a local theatre production called ’Brassed Off’ with my band, the Port Sunlight Lyceum Brass Band (which is a local band).

I play third cornet. The production was held at the Gladstone Theatre and was very successful. The play is about a colliery band that was made up of miners that worked in a Yorkshire coal mine. Due to Political and Economic reasons, the mine closes and makes life for the local village and the band very difficult. The band goes on to become National Champions. We worked closely with The Bebington Dramatic Society to produce the show. Over the past two weeks, my band and I worked extremely hard organising the production and learning our parts for the play. I was delighted to be part of the performance and really enjoyed myself. I will definitely look forward to any future productions!

Sam McEvoy 9D/CH

Our House This year’s joint production with Wirral Girls’ will be ‘Our House’- 15-19 March 2016. Following some stunning productions, not least last year’s ‘Evita’, ‘Our House’ is a high energy, ‘feel-good’ stark morality tale.The hero is a sixteen year old boy who has to make a moral choice.

The double narrative follows what would have happened if he had taken the good or bad choice. The two stories run in parallel in a plot which is totally absorbing. As if that was not enough the show is packed with the music of Madness. All their great songs are there, woven into the story....Our House, It Must Be Love, My Girl, Baggy Trousers, The Sun and the Rain, Just Another Day, Wings of a Dove and many more.This promises to be the event of next year. We have a very talented cast and it is destined to be the professional production for which the school is renowned! Tickets will be available to purchase from the School Office mid-February.

Cast List: 15-19th March 2016Creative Directed By: Geoff Hinde MBEMusical Director: Ben Mark TurnerChoreographed By: Claire Cooper-Shone

JOE CASEY Daniel CarterSARAH Felicity ParryJOE’S DAD Sam FisherKATH CASEY Julia IggoEMMO David NobleLEWIS Joshua BealeBILLIE Amber McLeodANGIE Kyla ThomasREECEY Cameron WeddMR PRESSMAN Nick Morris

COMPANY:Abbie Wright Alex WallisBen Frampton Casey Cunningham, Chris Power, Connor JohnstonDanielle Norman, Dominic StorerEmily Bates Faye LartyHarry Pickard Jake Clement-Jones, James Pennell, Jamie Taylor, Joe Wilkes Lauren Jones, Libby Crombie Matthew Bowen Oliver Ritchie Sam SpencerStephanie Newton

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Geography Quality Mark: Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Geography Congratulations to the Geography Department for gaining the Geographical Association Secondary Geography Quality Mark; one of 46 schools across the country.

The Award is in recognition of both quality and breadth of experiences alongside high standards of teaching. All the award winners undergo a rigorous moderation process, and the team of assessors were hugely impressed by the manner in which the staff at Wirral Boys all are continuing to embrace new and innovative approaches to teaching geography. The Geographical Association Award, now into its 9th year, recognises student attainment, progress and achievement in areas such as geographical knowledge, understanding, values, skills and concepts, and sets expectations about the quality of teaching in geography. It aims to promote effective subject leadership and management, helping subject leaders raise the standards of geography in their schools.

David Hazeldine, Headteacher and a Geographer himself said, “This is a great achievement and I am delighted for Miss Strand and her team. It reflects very well indeed on the wide-ranging experiences that our students receive. Geography is a subject that connects students to their environment whether locally, nationally or internationally. As a discipline it provides students with wide ranging skills that are highly relevant for future employment.”

Geography Department Year 9 Trip to LiverpoolThe day started at 8.15am, setting off from school to Bebington train station, for Liverpool.Our first stop was the Beatles Story where our tour guide Paul explained to us the significance of The Beatles now and back in the 70’s, and how much of a tourist attraction they were and the Cavern Club. We then headed towards the Albert Docks. Here, at both the entrance and the exit, our guide explained what used to happen at the docks, and its main purpose now.

As we walked past the Royal Liver Building and towards the waterfront, our guide explained the history of the docks that used to be lined along the waterfront and mentioned why Liverpool was so popular in the 1700’s (which was mainly because of the Slave Trade) and why its docks were so useful. Now Liverpool has regenerated, they no longer exist. We walked through the first streets of the old small town of Liverpool towards a place called Exchange Flags which we were told was used for trading cotton between American and Liverpool and was then used again in the Slave Trade. Trading was going to be located to a building but the businessmen preferred trading in the open air, so they fought back and stayed there until the whole Slave Trade fell apart.

We then walked to Liverpool Town Hall. Our guide explained the uses of the town hall today and what it was like in the earlier centuries. Our last stop was the top level of Liverpool 1 which provided us with a view of all the regeneration including shops, restaurants and a park (which currently has an ice rink in it). We then headed back to the train station and returned to school just before lunch, ready for the rest of the day.

Dylan McGowan B/JH & Nathan Green D/KMW

Well done to our Year 7 Geographers This week the Geography Department have celebrated the excellent achievement of Year 8 boys who all gained the Entry Level Certificate (ELC) in Geography while in Year 7.

This is an AQA exam board qualification that builds foundations for studying GCSE level in Geography. Throughout Year 7 boys explored the geographical processes, which shape our world, through the topics of coasts, tourism, rainforests, rivers and flooding. They also explored contemporary issues relating to these themes and discussed real sustainable solutions to global issues. There were a range of external and teacher set assessments that regularly assessed progress and enabled short term targets for progress and development to be set before the next assessment. The ELC is graded from 3 to 1 and we are extremely proud that 84% of the boys achieved the top Level 3 and 16% of the boys narrowly missed this, yet achieved the middle Level 2. Well done to all Year 8 boys for this fantastic achievement thanks to their dedication and enthusiasm in Year 7.

Mrs Aldana, Geography Department

GCSE Geologists in North Wales GCSE Geology students took part in a Geology visit to North Wales in October.

Our first location was Porth Dafarch on Anglesey where a study of rock formation and dyke structures took place. Students examined the stratigraphy of sedimentary rock layers to establish the geological sequence and they examined a cross section through a dyke to study the crystallised structure. On the return journey the group stopped at two locations in the Pentre Halkyn area to observe two forms of quarrying: the extraction of fluvio-glacial sands and gravels and limestone open cast mining. The final location was an old quarry to student the crisidial limestone and undertake field sketches.



An obvious aim of the camp was to give us a fantastic insight into the array of courses only otherwise available to the undergraduates studying Chemistry at a higher education (university) level. Moreover, the fundamental aim of the camp was to acquaint myself and the other students with university life at Cambridge. Our first experience was at the beginning of the academic year, when Calum and I had to apply to the Salter’s Institute – stating what we were presently studying, what we intend to gain from the camp, what we intend to study in the future and why the Salter’s Institute should accept our applications. In addition, we had to state our order of university preference (as we would when applying to a university on a UCAS form). As you would expect, Cambridge was over-subscribed nationally, but fortunately, Calum and I were accepted to the camp along with 57 other competent chemists from every corner of the UK. Another aspect of university life that we encountered was living on the campus. We stayed in Churchill College and ate in the halls of residence.

We arrived at the Scott Polar Research Institute at mid-day. After lunch, we studied and made our own Landolt clock reactions (where certain colourless reactants turned blue-black after a certain amount of time). We also did oscillating reactions where the reaction changed colours in a cyclic manner. There was then a challenge across the groups to dilute the reactants enough in the Landolt reaction to enable the solution to change colour after a particular time - to cut a long story short – my group won! These experiments were tremendously fascinating and fun, bearing in mind we were working in the truly prodigious university labs. Before our free time in the evening, we had a surprisingly enjoyable and provocative lecture on the properties of water and its vital roles in the natural and human worlds.

On the Thursday, we embarked on a pharmaceutical mission to find the percentage yield and impurities in a sample of “cheaper” Benzocaine; my percentage yield was 70.9% and the cheaper Benzocaine contained Salicylic Acid

(if anyone is desperate to know). In the afternoon, we did “the Chemistry of Art”, where we had to make different coloured pigments of paint and bind them with a base to make a successful paint. Here, we were able to use Buchner Funnels, hot plates and an Infrared scanner for the first time. After our free time that evening, we got a tour of the university from post graduate, PhD students. During this tour, we were lucky enough to be granted entry free-of-charge into the courtyards of St John’s College where we walked across the Bridge of Sighs, which was established by Henry VII’s mother. Our tour then took us to Trinity College where we admired the courtyard, fountain and famous clock - (established by Henry VIII). Furthermore, the porter at Gonville and Caius College offered to give us a tour through the Fellow’s corridor to the medieval Hall and to see Steven Hawking’s office.

On our final day we conducted a chemiluminescence (glow in the dark) reaction. In these fascinating reactions, energy is given out in the form of light rather than heat. Chemiluminescent compounds can be used to detect very tiny amounts of chemicals. For example, in forensic investigations, a chemiluminescent spray may be used and these compounds can be used to detect impurities in pharmaceutical compounds. It was interesting to discover that the reaction glowed in the dark due to the energy not being released as heat but in the form of electromagnetic waves that correspond to the visible part of the spectrum. This was definitely the best practical that we did! Unfortunately, the camp came to an end and we had to say good bye to the labs and the friends we made and begin our journey home!

This trip was an outstanding revelation for Calum and I of university life and also of career paths associated with chemistry – which is extremely useful to bear in mind as we consider our A-level options. I would urge younger years to stay aware of any social and academic opportunities and to put themselves forward as soon as possible.

TOM ROGERS 11 H/GA

Chemical Engineering talk to Lower Sixth Chemists Last July, Ron Hilditch gave us an insight on chemical engineering, showing us how it can be applied to industrial situations. He explained in detail some of the real world problems chemical engineers face and the methods they use to solve each individual problem. Using mathematical and chemical knowledge, every solution was specifically designed to maximise safety, cost and production rate of the industrial process. Before the talk, we didn’t have much of an idea of what exactly chemical engineers did, but the lecture gave us a good understanding of what this career entails, made some of us consider it as a career and showed students already aspiring to do chemical engineering some of the work they will be doing.

Elliot Fisher 13L/SPA

The Cambridge Chemistry Challenge If you’re interested in chemistry, enjoy reading around the subject or would like an achievement for your Personal Statement for applying to university, it’s well worth a go at the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge if you’re in the Lower Sixth.

It is designed to go beyond what you’ll be taught in your chemistry lessons, but by using your prior knowledge in unfamiliar contexts you can certainly tackle most of the questions. We encountered topics ranging from the supposed presence of tetraoxygen in American sports drinks to the steps in synthesising the hormone progesterone. Nineteen of us entered the competition last June, with almost half of us receiving an award certificate of either Copper, Silver or Gold. The grand prize is awarded to those who get top marks, called the Roentgenium award, and includes an invitation to a Cambridge residential trip – an excellent talking point in any university interview no doubt! So, give it a go, it doesn’t take up much time and regardless of ability or intended university course, the attempt in itself is an impressive feat.

Jon Ford 13 L/DW

Gaining experience at UnileverAt the end of last term, I, along with a few other students, took part in a week-long work experience placement at Unilever.

Throughout our time there, we listened to a variety of employees, were shown the basics of the company’s inner workings, and got to try our hand at a few specialist jobs - including using Unilever’s hi-tech microscopes and making our very own fabric conditioners. We got a taste of all the different departments, spending time in packaging, advertising, manufacture, and even receiving a talk from their in-house lawyer. Overall, it was an enriching week and gave us all a valuable insight into the world of work, specifically at a hugely successful company such as Unilever.

James Taylor 13 L/LAB

Salters’ Chemistry Camp 2015 Calum Heslop and I had the privilege to attend The Salter’s Chemistry Camp at The University of Cambridge between the 8th and the 10th July 2015.

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The Busy Life of a Concert PianistThis term has been very busy for me as a pianist, with lots of exciting concert engagements.

I have given numerous concerts across the country in Leeds, Newcastle, Durham, Manchester, Nottingham, London, Bath and Bolton, not to mention attending the terrific school music tour to Budapest. Most of these valuable performance experiences have come about through the Junior Royal Northern College of Music which I attend weekly on a Saturday and through the invaluable all expenses paid Pianoman Scholarship Scheme which involves regular piano lessons in London with concert pianist Richard Meyrick and residential courses across the country, which was introduced to me by WGSB. Most recently I gave a private concert at the UBS bank in the city of London in which I performed Prokofiev’s 1st piano concerto with the Arch Sinfonia Orchestra (see photo), which was a very successful event.

I have two more performances of this concerto to look forward to before Christmas, one in Wrexham and one in Manchester. I was also very pleasantly surprised to have successfully progressed through to the second round of the BBC Young Musician Competition, and am soon to compete in the Chester Young Musician Competition and send in my application video for the BBC Young Musician Jazz Award. Future plans for me starting early next year include more concerto performances and recitals including my debut performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1st piano concerto.

William Bracken L6D/NM

Inter House Quiz CompetitionOn November 20th the House Captains hosted our first inter-house quiz competition. Well-done to our new brainboxes, Dodds House

Mrs H Davies, House Co-Ordinator

School RevisitedA recent visitor to the school was Mr Roy Griffiths, a pupil from 1943 to 1948.

Roy told us that upon arrival at Wirral Grammar during World War II the hall and some of the front of the school was badly damaged and boarded up following Luftwaffe air raids in 1941. Assemblies were held outdoors in the quad (weather depending) and American soldiers were camped in the woods next to the playing fields. Despite these setbacks school life went on as normal. Roy is pictured with current Head Boy, Ben Mark Turner.

Friend’s Prize Draw The winner of this year’s ‘Friends’ prize draw are the parents of Matthew Turner (Year 10). They will receive an Amazon Kindle HD6 8gb. Congratulations!

Mr P Ronayne, Community Partnership Manager



WGSB Book AwardAs this year’s Book Award scheme builds to its climax, with voting taking place over the next couple of weeks, followed by the Award Ceremony in December, we were delighted to be chosen as a best practice school by BookTrust, the UKs biggest reading charity.

The full published report can be read at http://www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/how-booktrust-makes-a-difference/research-reports/secondary/school-library-pack with the Wirral Boys’ case study being at pp 42-44. A full list of this year’s shortlisted books in the 9 categories can be found on the LRC pages on Moodle

D of E Bronze Practice Expedition

In October, 130 Year 10 boys travelled to the Llyn Brenig Visitors Centre where we started our D of E practice expedition.

It was a warm but misty Wednesday morning when we set off on our journey. Our aim was to walk to the campsite at Saron before it got dark. Our group had Miss Strand on the first leg of the journey as our leader/guide. However, on the next day we would be left to our own devices. On the way we learnt how to compass read and map read which would come in useful the following day. Once we arrived at the campsite we pitched our tents, which sounds easier than is actually was. When we finally got round to cooking our meals, which went down with mixed success, we were all shattered and went to bed. We awoke with limited time to pack our tents away and get ready to go. So we quickly ate breakfast and left. The walk on the second day felt very long as we were all really tired. However, when we saw the Visitors Centre for the first time the whole group’s spirits lifted. Eventually when we got to the Centre we sat down and took our heavy bags off our backs and enjoyed a well-earned rest. On behalf of all the boys that took part we would like to thank all the teachers and sixth formers that helped out and hope the real expedition will be as great as the practice.

Tom Palin, Sam Croll, Callum France, Jamie Finn, Oliver Roberts and Lewis McKeown.

Chess Club Every Thursday, lunchtime Chess Club is on at 12:40pm in MA6; bring a pack lunch so you can play for an hour. Around 20 boys attend every week and it’s a great way to interact with different people of all chess abilities. Some players play in top divisions in regional chess leagues, while others are playing for the first time. New members are welcome and you don’t need to sign up before hand, just arrive on the day. Most boys play on the chess ladder but friendly games are also played for those who don’t want to play as seriously. After Christmas, you can take part in the annual chess tournament lasting 7 weeks which allows you to qualify for the next round in a national schools chess tournament. This is an exciting opportunity to raise your game and earn the right to play for the county. Cash prizes are on offer to those that win the national tournament and a trophy is presented to the winner of the school qualifiers.

James Lee 10 D/KMW

Anti-Bulling Week Throughout the week, we held Anti-Bullying Assemblies to each of the houses. The idea was to promote the National Anti-Bullying theme which was “Make A Noise About Bullying”. In addition, we also talked about our new Anti-Bullying approach to bullying which is TELL – Talk, Express, Listen, Learn. At break times, we held cake sales in the Atrium where we also sold lots of raffle tickets. The two prizes were a pair of Joe Hart signed gloves, won by Will Brady D/AJ and a fancy meal out for two, won by Harry Moore D/NM. On the Thursday there was a big Anti-Bullying Fair containing lots of stall and games to help raise money.

Through the week of fundraising, the committee has managed to raise over £800. It will be used to spread more awareness of bullying and host bigger Anti-Bullying events in the future. Many thanks to everyone who has supported the events so far the year.

Kieran Shingler 10B/KJS

Anti-Bullying ConferenceOn Wednesday 18th November, the Wirral Schools’ Anti Bullying Conference was held in our school hall. This was run by the manager of the company “My Esteem” Kayte Walsh. Ten secondary schools attended the event, all bringing ideas forward to improve our committees in school. Many activities took place during the day including, a drama workshop called “Bully or Banter”. In the interactive game show, we had to answer questions we should all know about anti-bullying. We then made a ‘pledge tag’ and had to write ideas down on how to improve our anti-bullying committees. During the afternoon we had an anti-bullying debate which involved discussing what emotions the bully and victim would feel and why. This went really well and reflected the anti-bullying policies for our schools, examine them and to make sure we understood them. Our mission was to make a child friendly policy, a teacher friendly policy and also a parent friendly policy. I would just like to say thank you to Kayte for letting us take part as we all learnt lots of new things.

Matthew Farrell 8 H/C

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Cancer Research UK visit to Inition, London

As part of a research project between Psychologists from Universities sourced from all over England looking into the effects of exercise on chances of gaining bowel cancer (One

being our very own Mr Webb’s brother), a group of 5 students consisting of Balaram Sridhar, Luke Taylor, Frank Larty, Fraser Benjamin and I were offered an opportunity to travel to Inition, a virtual reality company based in London. The goal was to see if virtual reality could benefit people’s perception and awareness of bowel cancer, moreover to see how just small amounts of exercise could make a large difference. We were initially visited by Dr Webb in late May last term; he interviewed us on our pre disposed knowledge of the subject of bowel cancer and after this briefed us about the details of the proposed visit.

Therefore after leaving at 7:45 and catching four trains through Liverpool and London we arrived at Inition for 11:45 where we were met by a member of staff at the door. He then introduced us to the bottom floor along with 2 other school groups where we would then be allowed to roam free, testing out all of the various equipment on offer for an hour. The particular highlights for me included the virtual reality sky dive (which was startlingly convincing), the ‘Virtual room’ which after wearing strange looking goggles projected us into a room of our choice where with simple hand movements we could interact with various

objects and finally the 42 inch touch screen computer which offered the same features to a the latest iPad, but was 8 times bigger. We also were allowed to question the company’s members on their jobs and how they came to be where they are now.

After roughly an hour we were called together for a meeting where Inition’s creativity expert pitched the company’s ideas with the aim that one in particular could then be funded by Cancer Research UK to develop. After each idea we, as a focus group would feedback the positives, the negatives and whether the proposed idea seemed plausible back to him or even how it could be improved. The ideas ranged from apps comparing your weekly exercise total to your peers’ to touring virtual reality machines like the sky dive machine. After this meeting we then were surprised by Inition with our own free ‘DIY virtual reality goggles’ as a thank you for coming. Finally we departed at roughly 15:00 in order to catch the train and after 4 train journeys taking nearly 4 hours, we arrived back in school at roughly 19:00.

From this visit we have learnt about the rapidly growing technology of virtual reality, the large variety of different roles within a company such as Inition and finally, the ways in which virtual reality works and its uses to projects such as this. On behalf of myself, Luke, Fraser, Frank and Balaram we would like to say thank you to Dr Webb and Inition for the opportunity!

David Noble 11D/KMW

Read All About It !The school newspaper, ‘The Student’, is run by Sixth Form students, with the help of Head of English, Mrs Davies; there are currently 28 members from six different year groups.

The Structure : There are seven 6th form editors each of whom are responsible for 2/3 writers who write across a range of issues from school and home affairs, puzzles and entertainment news, science and society. The choice of topics is endless and depends on the interests of our team of enthusiastic writers. Each term we publish at least one newspaper and actively seek new members to help with our marketing and publicity team and art and design team. Meetings are held weekly on Monday lunchtimes in EN4.

Jacob Bradshaw & Adam Houston (Chief Editors)

Tae Kwon Do Champion Tom Hall is making a name for himself in the world of Tae Kwon Do. Already the British Champion, he has his sights set on becoming World Champion at the July 2016 Championships. This is his account:

“My sporting interest is Tae Kwon Do, which I took up 3 years ago and am currently a Black Stripe belt. I train around 3-4 times a week at my club and really enjoy the various aspects of the sport. My particular interest lies with sparring and so, last year I decided to compete in various competitions which are held all across the UK. During 2014 I competed at 4 events and gained Silver & Bronze trophies/medals in each one. I also received recognition from my club by being awarded the Best New Competitor for 2014, at the end of year awards ceremony for Wirral & Chester Tae Kwon Do Academy. This year, has been even better for me, competing in 6 events so far, winning 3 Golds and a Bronze, I am proud to be Wirral & North Wales, South Midlands and North Midlands Sparring title holder. I am looking forward to my final competition of the year on 29th November, which is the British Championships, where I hope to pick up further titles for myself and the club. I have loved every minute of my journey so far and will be focussing on competing in the World Championships in Birmingham in 2016.”

Tom Hall 10L/DW



Diana Award Training Day On the 29th September 2015, Anti-Bullying Training Coordinator, Paul Hanmore, visited our school to train the ABC (Anti-Bullying Committee) on how to deal with situations of bullying. We did teamwork activities such as situations where we worked together to solve circumstances which an Anti-Bullying Ambassador might encounter. We also learnt possible signs a victim of bullying might show e.g. evasion of questions, being alone and insular. Paul did a lot of great activities and even got the teachers involved! We learnt a lot about other members of the ABC and became much closer as a committee. This year, we will continue to work hard and hope to reduce bullying in our school as it can affect people’s lives dramatically and their future. We will be doing an event every month to keep the Anti-Bullying vibe alive!

Bobby Evans 11B/JHH and Kieran Shingler 10B/KJS

Annual Remembrance ServiceOur School Remembrance Service took place on Friday 6th November and was attended by all Year 7 and Year 8 pupils together with 12 guests who included Mrs Sheila Clarke MBE (Chair of Governors), Rev Mike Loach (Vicar of Christ Church) and former pupils of the school.

Readings were given by Mr Hazeldine and Ben Mark Turner (Head Boy). Prayers were offered by Rev Mike Loach and Jamie Norris (Deputy Head Boy). The Roll of Honour was read out by George Watson (Deputy Head Boy). Philip Powell played ‘The Last Post’ after the singing of the National Anthem. Two wreaths were laid before the plaque in the entrance foyer, one on behalf of the ‘old boys’ of the school and the other on behalf of staff and pupils. 46 boys from Wirral Grammar School were lost in conflict between 1939 and 1945. “At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.”

Linguistics Society The WGSB Linguistics Society (aka The Language Detectives) meets in En5 every Tuesday / Friday lunchtime to consider this sort of puzzle and to hone their skills for the forthcoming UK Linguistics Olympiad in 2016. All year groups and abilities are welcome to come along to EN5 and have fun with a whole range of puzzles and code-breaking problems. If you want to find out more (or just find out the answer to the puzzle below), come along and have a go.

Vowelless Language “There are languages which don’t use vowels, such as Arabic”, Peter remarked. “What would happen if we omitted to write all the vowels?“ “I don’t think that would be a good idea”, David said. “Just think of all the CNFSN it would cause, not being able to tell the difference between Bread and Beard. And although TWLV would be unambiguously TWELVE and TWNT would be TWENTY, there are NMBRS that would be CNFSBL.” What is the smallest whole number that could be mistaken for another whole number?

Poppies For The CommunityAs part of our November memorials to the fallen the school delivers poppy wreaths to the local communities of Bebington and Port Sunlight.

Pictured are Head Boy, Ben Mark Turner and Deputy Head Boy, George Watson at the war memorial in Port Sunlight.

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Spooktastic fun for Halloween On the final day before half term Dodds and Hodgson House Groups transformed the main hall into a den of sweets and treats to celebrate Halloween and raise money for our new school charity Wirral Mind. From cake sales to ghost shy, pin the teeth on the vampire to slime tombola,

the Halloween fair was enjoyed by pupils across the whole school.

A special mention to the pupils who entered our annual pumpkin competition which is voted for by the pupils. This year the competition was won by a collective form effort from D/KC, although the effort of all pupils was outstanding and created a haunting scene on the front stage. Thank you very much to staff, pupils, and parents for helping to make this event so enjoyable.

Mrs H Davies, House Co-Ordinator

F1 Challenge The F1 challenge was designed to give students a taste of what “work” is like by helping them to create and present a Formula 1 car. Another objective was to cover the STEM subjects. The things that we covered were how to use Autodesk Inventor pro which is what we used throughout the whole week to create our cars and the techniques behind it. We learned about creating a presentation and a portfolio for our team and how our car should be presented to the audience. In the middle of the week we were told about what the real F1 challenge was like and how you have to have real sponsors and you get to travel the world along with seeing incredibly famous people and places like Saudi Arabia and Niki Lauda.

On the first day nobody was sure what we were going to actually do as this was the first time for WGSB. The first day was learning how to use auto desk and being introduced to what the F1 challenge is and this drew on to the second day. On the third day we started to design our own cars and presentation after roles had been given out within our team, James Peng was manufacturer, Ethan Cheung was Team Leader, I was head of marketing and sponsorships and Edwin Price was the Designer. We each took full responsibility for our roles and we all got our heads down and did what we were supposed to. This included things like: creating a

social media page, creating a website, testing our car in wind tunnel simulators and testing out different designs. When the time came we had our cars 3D printed, presentations and our race day ready, our team Bullet Racing won every race but we lost 10 points for not having a separate back wing and we may have lost points after competitors speculated that the gas chamber was too low (the cars were propelled by CO2). After the races we went into a new room where we presented our presentations and the winners were called out. Then without question, students were called up were awarded the F1 challenge silver award and we were given a shirt and badge along with a contact card.

Dylan McGowan Y9B/JH



Junior BantamsA team Played 11 W 7 L 4

B team Played 7 W 7 L 0

Both the Junior Bantams teams have had an excellent season so far and have been involved in some exciting rugby matches. The statistics show the quality in depth of this squad and there are not many teams that can compete against us. The defeats have come against top schools such as Kirkham, Stockport and St Ambrose. Stockport are an excellent side and showed where we have to be to compete with the best. Unfortunately the St Ambrose game was also the Cheshire Cup quarter final. It was a fantastic game and could have gone either way. In a tough encounter Wirral fought to the very end, but just came up short. However we have a tremendous season to look forward to and there will be a tour to Cowbridge, South Wales, an annual trip that is a great experience for the players involved.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the season has been the performances in the Under 13 National Cup competition. We have achieved a last 16 spot nationally and are looking forward to a trip up North to play Woodhouse Grove School in the Northern section semi-final. We have booked our place in the semi with superb performances against three excellent schools:

Round 1 Liverpool College 28-27 (a kick by Sam Donnally in the last play of the game took the honours).

Round 2 Calday GS 29-19 (4 tries by Lucas Jackson in an away win to savour).

Round 3 Fallibroome HS 24-12 (Lots of bottle in terrible conditions, a great team performance).

I would like to mention the excellent record of the B team, who are unbeaten and having a tremendous season. All the players train and are pushing the A team boys very hard to gain places. Keep up the good work. I have 49 boys in the squad and it is difficult to get everybody regular games. Apologies to those who have not always been selected, but keep working hard. It is your commitment that helps the teams to be successful.

The teamwork and effort of both teams has been superb, the forwards dominating and the backs, with pace and vision, finishing the moves off. I would like to make a special mention of Lucas Jackson, who has scored an incredible 17 tries this season, including 4 against Calday in the National Cup. Also Will Robinson and jack Derbyshire who have both captained their teams well. I would like to thank all the players for their efforts thus far. Please continue to train, as we still have a long season ahead. I would also like to thank the parents for their magnificent support both home and away and to those parents who help with refreshments on Saturday mornings.

Junior Bantams Coach, Andy McKinney

U15 Rugby The U15’s have started this season with mixed results, largely due to an unfortunate amount of injuries to key players. Despite convincing victories against Merchant Taylors (56-0), Stockport (78-0) and Hutton (0-60), the team have slipped to losses against Kirkham GS, Wilmslow and St. Ambrose. As ever, the NatWest Cup and the opportunity of reaching a final at Twickenham has provided motivation amongst the squad. After recording wins against St. Anselms (41-0) and Calday Grange Grammar School (7-0), there is a real opportunity to have another cup run. A tough away fixture against Lymm High School awaits in the fifth round, but it is the teams’ level of performance which now needs to be maintained for the rest of the season, that will ultimately decide their success in 2015/16.

Mr F Griffies, Year 10 Rugby Coach

2XV Report 2015 The first game of the season was against Merchants; always a close fixture. This proved to be the case as we suffered a narrow loss 24-27. This game was always going to be a little scrappy due to the fact it was our first game playing together! Next we faced a strong, well-organised Kirkham side for which we had no answers for at this stage – another loss!

However, we were showing improvements in our performances, which became apparent in our next game against Stockport. Overall, we looked more organised as a team both offensively and defensively. Great performances from Brophy & Baird helped us to secure our first win of the season, 40-7. This win gave us confidence which spilled over to next week as we also managed victory, all be it against a fairly week Hutton side. We won 67-3, scoring 11 tries all together, a nice win, but we knew we would be facing tougher opponents in the future.

We were now at 2 wins and 2 losses in the season and were eager to improve this statistic. Our next opponents were St Anselm’s, this game never really tested our ability as Anselm’s put out a rather young and disorganised side from the start. Hat tricks from both Mike Goulding and Ben Reilly fastened the win to take us to 3 wins in a row! After half-term we played St Ambrose, after last year’s narrow loss we wanted to learn from it and try and get the win to take us to 4 in a row! The game was played on an appalling, waterlogged pitch and so the quality of rugby suffered slightly. Nevertheless, we managed yet another win to take us to 4 on the bounce, the first time the 2nd XV have managed this accolade since 08-09! We then faced Manchester Grammar School on a cold, wet morning. We started positively and scored 3 tries after just 12 minutes and went into half time with a 27-0 advantage. A closer second half meant the score ended at 42-14 a very solid performance from the team and one we would hope to retain and improve upon to continue our impressive winning streak.

Overall, having 5 wins to 2 losses is a ratio to be proud of, and it could’ve been ever better if we had just nicked a score against Merchants in the first game of the season. Winning our last 5 games gives us confidence to continue this winning theme throughout the season and all the way up until Australia!

Top Try Scorers: Mike Golding 7, Ben Reilly 5, Lewis Mason 3, Ben Thomas 3

James Parnell 2nd XV Captain (B/ASD)

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At the time of writing (late November), the Bantams have enjoyed a good season so far. The A team has played 10 matches and won 9. The B team has played 4 and won 3. I will give a full end of season report in the next edition when I hope to comment on further success for the squad. So far, the squad has trained well and played with great commitment in the matches played. One of the high spots came against Stockport GS when the boys played to a high level of both skill and effort. They won an incredible game 52-19! We hosted Abingdon School who were on a tour of the region, and won that game 7-5 in a closely fought game. In the Cheshire Cup, we progressed to the semi finals after another tough game against Bishop Heber, winning 34-29. The only defeat so far has been against St Ambrose who played well on the day and deserved to win. However, Wirral had their chances in this game and have hopefully learnt from it. The B team have had some games cancelled due to the inability of other schools to put out a B team, which has been frustrating for the players and Mr Walker! Wins over Merchants, Stockport and Wilmslow were impressive, but the bigger and stronger Abingdon School proved too much on the day.

I want to thank the players for their attitude and effort so far and for turning up to training and to matches with a positive approach. I also want to thank Mr Walker for his help and to Mr McKinney who has done his bit in lessons due to timetabling issues. Finally a thanks to all parents who have turned up to watch the games both home and away. Have a nice break and enjoy the holiday!

Those who have represented the school this term are:

Cameron Mercer (Captain), Ross Ward (Vice-Captain), Will Morris, Ben Loughlin, Robert Marsden, Daniel Taylor, Oliver Dutton, Joshua McKinney, Sebastian Trowler, Ted Banford, Matthew Bracken, Max Smith, Shay Ashton, Che Hannigan, Ben Brady-Jones , Jack Devoy, James Hough, Daniel Wynne, Adam Evans, Matthew Burton, Alex Jones, James Wake , Thomas Carroll, Harry Battersby, Joe Stickley, Alex Jump, Reiss Kerr, Martin Porter-Smith, Harvey Lipton, Charlie McNamee, Thomas Barden , Alfie Kimpton, Ben Bowers, Adam Helsby, Nathan Bradshaw, Owen Brisley, Callum Griffiths, Ryan Doherty, Harry Darlington, Sean Collins and Tom Wainwright.

Mr McKibbin

Under 16 rugby The year 11 team have made a very good start to the year and even more so under Difficult circumstances. With this being an important year academically the Under 16’s don’t have as many fixtures as younger age groups which can make it difficult to maintain momentum and moral. However the current squad have work tirelessly this year for the under 16 cause and in addition to be involved in 1st xv and 2nd Xv rugby, which on the whole has meant they have been a pleasure to coach. Congratulations must go to Ben Thomas who has been made captain for the under 16’s and George Manger and Sean Hayes who have been appointed vice captains.

I must also mention that Lucas Titherington, Will Tyrer, Sam Gregory, Jack nelson, George Manger and Josh Kenyon have represented the school 1st Xv whilst Ben Thomas, Matt Austin, Dan Holliman, Andy McAsey, Cameron Peberdy have represented the 2nd on occasion. There are a number of other boys that are well capable but due to U16 rugby taking priority haven’t had the opportunity. I would like to stress that the season so far has been a real squad effort with every player ‘stepping up’ and doing their bit for the team and squad.

The team opened the season with a crushing victory over Merchant Taylors school. Where they ran out 63- 0 winners. An emphatic way to get the ball rolling. This was followed by a comfortable 36- 7 victory over Kirkham Grammar School in what was a competitive contest. Following that the U16’s had a trial match against the 2nd XV. In what was a very tricky fixture the Under 16’s ran out 32- 27 winners in what was a very valuable experience. In the last of the block fixtures so far the Under 16’s unfortunately lost their 100% record this season when they were beaten 29- 17 in difficult circumstances.

Cup Competitions

The U16’s are entered into the Cheshire cup and the floodlit cup. A promising start in the Cheshire Cup saw the team dispose of a stubborn Calday side 26-5 in the rain and wind of Wirral Rugby club. The semi- final will be against Stockport in the near future. In the floodlit cup the under 16’s travel to Preston to play Lancaster GS with a strong team and an enthusiastic attitude. We hope to continue with positivity into the second half of the season and the 7’s season ahead.

Mr Atkinson PE Department

First XV Report It has been a mixed start to the season for the First XV. We began the season with a ‘bang’, defeating the Past Captains XV 26 – 7, and other victories have included a 50 – 0 demolition of Hutton Grammar School, an excellent 34 – 15 win against local rivals, St Anselms College and a nail biting 28 – 27 win against Merchant Taylors School. However, our best result to date came at Wilmslow High School, where after trailing 26 – 0 after 15 minutes, we came back to win 41 – 36 in the most amazing of comebacks! Like all Wirral Grammar School teams, we showed great resilience and a ‘never say die’ attitude to record a remarkable victory.

Unfortunately, consistency is something we have lacked, and has resulted in us exiting the Cheshire Cup at Stockport Grammar School (25 – 34), and also the NatWest Cup at Calday, where despite being the better team, we went down 10 – 18.

At this level, games are often won and lost on the bounce of a ball or one mistake. Generally speaking, we have not been accurate enough in our skills and decision making and lacked the clinical finishing required to take advantage of the opportunities we have created. If we continue to work hard in training, the consistency – and the results, will surely come!

This year’s First XV Captain is Will Hardy, and his Vice Captain is Jamie Norris. I am sure the Senior Squad will give them their full support in pursuit of another successful season.

Mr P Crowley, Master i/c Rugby

Year 9 Rugby - Bantams Report



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Parent Mail: Is your email address up to date?The majority of parents with computer access have registered an e-mail address with us and ‘Parent Mail’ is proving to be a fast and effective means of getting letters and messages to parents. To remain effective, parents need to keep their e-mail address information up-to-date. If you have not registered, or if your e-mail address has changed, this can be amended by logging into the Parent Mail website: www.parentmail2.co.uk and following the ‘parent login’ link or by contacting the school Finance Office.

www.wirralgrammarboys.com• news • achievements • events • admissions

Lost Property Service Parents are reminded that the school operates a Lost Property Service, the co-ordinator for which, is Mr McKinney. Unclaimed lost property has been a growing concern to us and amounts to considerable replacement expenses for parents. The Lost Property Room is located near the gym, next to the playground entrance and is open on three days each week: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 8.45am to 9.00am.

MOST of the lost property is unnamed which means that we cannot return the lost items to their owners. If your son has lost an item, please remind him to go to the Lost Property Room at the stated time. At the end of each term, unclaimed lost property will be given to local charities. Please ensure that all items of personal property (clothing, bags, shoes, equipment etc) have your son’s name on them. Where names are included, we are able to return items to their owners. Any queries relating to items of lost property should be directed to Mr McKinney.

Visited our website recently?Over the last two terms, our website has grown into a very important source of information about the school: news, forthcoming events, guidance materials, sporting achievements etc are all to be found on the website www.wirralgrammarboys.com

Mobile Phone Policy - ReminderOur policy on mobile phones is very clear. Pupils are permitted to have phones available for use before and after school but during the school day they must be switched off and out of sight. Staff will confiscate mobile phones that are on view/in use during the day and they will not be available for collection until the end of the next school day.

Cashless PurchasingAccounts are available for ‘top up’ at the relevant paying stations but parents are also able to ‘top up’ their son’s canteen allowance through our on-line service via ‘Parentmail2’. Using our on-line facility means that boys do not need to queue up at the payment point in school.

Admission EnquiriesEnquiries relating to admissions should be directed to our Admissions Manager, Mrs Tanya Fry on 0151 644 0908 or by visiting the school website: www.wirralgrammarboys.com

Parents’ Surveys - The 2014/2015 AnalysesMany thanks to all parents who have reported through our Parents’ Evening surveys which are always available at our Parents’ Evenings. The full analyses for all year groups will be available very shortly. Please follow the link from our website home page.

nuntius - wirral grammar school for boys · 2015-12-17 · nuntius autumn 2015 cross lane,...

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