Issu

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, Frid

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7th

May

201

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ROYAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Senior School Newsletter May has proved as hectic as any other month, notwithstanding the onset of exams. There’s been lots of sport, as ever: but creativity in evidence too. At the stunning Art Private View (more amazing, I think, than ever) I saw the products of successful Young Enterprise Company Litephox. Enterprise met engineering when Nissan, surprised that our team in the Engineering Education Scheme did not win a prize for their work on a specialised tool to tighten four wheel-nuts at once, created their own award for our budding Lower Sixth engineers, a huge honour.

Brilliant young writing talent (and ON) Leo Hunt spoke to Year 8 and gave them a preview of his second novel, out in July: oh, and there have been a whole host of music events over the past month from concerts to recitals and exams. Read on…

Young RGS Engineers impress Nissan bosses

Four talented engineers from RGS were recently invited to the Nissan training centre in Sunderland for a special prize giving after impressing Nissan bosses with their submission for the Engineering Education Scheme (EES). Sixth form students Simon Xu, Eve Oakley, Gregor Pearce and Matthew Bradbury joined forces to take part in the scheme which allows students and their teachers to work with local companies on real electronic and technological problems. The six month project culminated in a regional presentation day to award the Nissan Trophy to the winning team.

Simon, Eve, Gregor and Matthew designed a multi-stud insertion tool which could be used to secure car wheels on car manufacturer's production lines. The group had a number of visits to Nissan during the course of the project to see what was currently used and how these tools could be improved. The tool designed by the group was very similar to that which is currently used within the motor industry and almost identical to what professionals at Nissan themselves have designed to be used in the near future. Although the group narrowly missed out on the trophy, the bosses at Nissan were so impressed with their work they were invited back to Nissan to be presented with individual prizes and a gold accreditation. The group now go on to present their project at the Big Bang Fair North East held at Northumbria University from 27th-28th June.

Litephox Crowned Young Enterprise Champions

Sporting Success

TENNIS Well done to RGS boys under 12s and under 13s tennis teams for their recent participation in St

Peter's Tennis Tournament, The teams travelled to York where they competed with the likes of St Olave's, Terrington Hall and Bradford Grammar School. All pairs played well, with the under 12s tournament being won by RGS and the under 13s reaching the semi finals. Special mention William Walker and Matthew Nice from the U12s who only dropped one match all tournament! An ace performance from all involved!

RIDING The RGS riding team rode amazingly this month to score their highest ever placing in a team competition. Carolyn Dickson (year 10), Charlotte Currie (year 10), Libby Chrisp (year 7) and Emily Scott (year 8) competed at the Floors Castle International Horse Trials in the National Schools Equestrian Association (NSEA) competition. The girls were placed 5th overall, receiving ribbons for their achievement.

GYMNASTICS

Congratulations to a group of year 12 students who recently took part in the Young Enterprise Company Programme. The programme challenges students to create a business based around a product or service, then present their company report and trade information to a panel of judges. Litephox, made up of Elaine Swaddle, Tabitha Curnett, Michael Fu, Sukhdeep Srai, Ritvik Uppal, Luci Damjanovic and Jordan Lee designs and manufactures notebooks using environmentally-friendly materials. Competing against seven other teams from the area,

Litephox went on to win the award for Best Company Report as well as being crowned overall winners for the north area round of the North East Finals. Litephox now goes up against the other three winners from the area rounds when they come together for the North East finals in early June. If successful, Litephox will go on to compete in the National Finals of the Young Enterprise Company Programme held in London during July.

Our senior girls tennis team had a fantastic match at Ampleforth College, winning by just 2 points after a tiebreak win in the Championship match 11-9. Well done to all four girls and best of luck for the next match against Sedbergh School in a couple of weeks.

Congratulations to the RGS boys gymnastics team for their performance at the British Schools Gymnastics Finals earlier this month. Freddy Nelson , Ariz Zaman (year 7), Chris Beale, Harry Jopling (year 8) and Finn Gavin (year 9) joined forces to compete in the under 14s category . An outstanding performance from all saw them bringing home the title. Commendation also goes to Ollie Herring, Lewis Champion (upper sixth) and Tom Huntley (year 10) who took bronze in the under 19s category.

Author Leo Hunt Returns To His School Roots

Notice to Students Valuables in School

Following a number of expensive items either being broken or going missing, we would like to stress that students must not leave valuable items unattended, particularly in any of the changing rooms during PE, Swimming or Games. If students insist upon bringing expensive items into school then they have two options: firstly, they can lock their items securely in their locker or secondly hand them to the member of staff in charge. we realise that it is a shame to have to reiterate this point but sadly unattended valuables are an easy target. If students do decide to bring valuables to school and fail to secure them then they are solely responsible for their potential loss.

Old Novocastrian and author Leo Hunt (2002 – 2007) revisited RGS to give a talk to Year 8 students on the subject matter of his Waterstone's Children's Book Prize shortlisted novel, '13 Days of Midnight'. The talk included extracts from the novel, enthralling the students with young fan, David Friswell introducing Leo to his peers. The students had plenty of questions to ask Leo, mainly about the plot of his novel, but there were some interesting thoughts on how Leo came to write some of the characters. Leo, who now lives in London, was delighted with the responses from year 8. The students were also treated to a snippet of the sequel to 13 Days, 'Eight Rivers of Shadow', which is due out in July.

Duke of Edinburgh Diamond Anniversary

Headmaster Bernard Trafford and outdoor pursuits instructor Rob O’Hagan were invited to Buckingham Palace recently to attend the Duke of Edinburgh 60th anniversary celebrations where they were presented with their Duke of Edinburgh licensed plaque by Strictly Come Dancing star, Anton Du Beke.

Art Private View 2016 May saw the return of the annual RGS Art

Private View – an opportunity for GCSE and A Level fine art students to display

their best work and explain their ideas to friends and family. The showcase also featured some exceptional pieces by

talented artists from other year groups.

Here are a few highlights from the event…

Individual Music / LAMDA Lessons

Opportunities are still available for anyone wishing to take up instrumental/LAMDA lessons from out excellent team of individual teachers. Please contact Jill Graham for more information.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

For more information on anything contained within this newsletter, or to provide us with any news updates, please email:

communications@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk You can keep up-to-date with all the latest from RGS by following us on Twitter: @rgsnewcastle and liking us on

Facebook: //newcastleroyalgrammarschool

Music

A fine evening of music was had recently as some of our talented vocalists performed in front of a busy Recital Room. Songs ranged from Adele to Handel and all the students were supported by their teachers, Mrs Sally Burchell and Mr James Morgan.

Monday 6th JuneStaff Training Day: School closed except for public exams

Saturday 11th June Friends of RGS Summer Walk

Tuesday 14th June Year 7 Induction Day

Thursday 16th JuneNew Year 7 Parents' Evening Miller Theatre: 17:15

Monday 20th - Wednesday 22nd June Lower Sixth Internal ExamsFenwick & Lilburne

Thursday 23rd JuneYear 7 Parents' Conference Dining Hall: 16:00

Tuesday 28th JuneYear 10 Parents' Conference Dining Hall: 16:00

Open Instrumental Evening PAC: 18:30

Wednesday 29th June Senior School Sports Day Gateshead International Stadium: 9:30Battle of the Bands Miller Theatre: 19:00

Thursday 30th June Year 11 Return to School Day: 8:45 - 11:30

Saturday 2nd July RGS DayVarious Locations: 9:00Roald Dahl's The Witches Studio Theatre: 1:15

Monday 4th JulyLower Sixth Parents' Conference Dining Hall: 16:00

Tuesday 5th July Roald Dahl's The Witches Studio Theatre: 19:00

Thursday 7th July Senior School Term Ends