DGR/sw

30 June 2017

Dear Parents/Carers

China Trip

Those who follow our Twitter feed @BVGS1527 will know that this week many photos have been posted from the first stage of our two week visit to Zhanjiang. Highlights so far have included a welcome concert at No.4 Middle School, art and music workshops. For me the best photos of the week are of our students working with local primary children in a calligraphy lesson.

Royal Society of Biology Olympiad

On Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 June, 66 year 12 students took part in the Royal Society of Biology’s ‘Biology Olympiad’. Congratulations go to Marcin Kowalczyk, Philip Reader, Tanya Takavarasha, Praise Ndiular, David Green, Hammad Khan, Oluleke Oluyomi, Jacob Poxon, Lily Bull and Usama Mohammed for achieving a Bronze award. William Hennessy, Sophie Lloyd, Jerin Johnson, Mohammed Rohil and Imaad Ud-Deen for achieving Silver awards and Jessica Shingler and Ben Clay for achieving Gold awards in the competition. All students who have taken part in this year’s competition are now eligible to a free year of BioNet membership, which provides them with electronic subscription to The Biologist magazine and e-newsletters featuring bioscience-related news and events.

Safeguarding Reminder

For safeguarding reasons, we ask all parents and visitors to the school to sign in at Main School Office by going up the steps outside Big School.

Kurly McGeachie visit

Twenty six students representing all year groups worked alongside local poet Kurly McGeachie on Tuesday 27 June producing poems based on the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child. Some superb poems were produced including those by Finn Ward in Year 7, Cole Hancox in Year 8, Callum Foster and Matthew McLaughlan in Year 9 and Harry James in Year 10. Well done to all involved. All of the poems will be typed up and displayed for the next academic year to promote the rights of all children. Some students will be able to perform their poem at the Rep theatre in Birmingham on the

morning of 13 July alongside Kurly and other schools from across the city. Letters to those who have expressed an interest in this will follow next week.

OV Sports Day

Our annual Old Veseyan get-together with plenty of rowing, hockey, cricket, tennis and netball happened last Sunday. Thank you to all Old Veseyans who attended as well as the Chair of the Old Veseyan Association, Paul Wallis, who did so much to make the day happen. A big thank you also to our school catering team for their support.

National BMX Championships

Congratulations to Daniel Tatton (8G) who has qualified for rounds 9 and 10 of the National BMX Championships in Essex this weekend.

Trampolining

Congratulations to Luke Butcher for winning a place in the National Trampolining Finals.

Junior Maths Kangaroo and Junior Maths Olympiad

Well done to all the boys below:

Junior Maths Kangaroo results: Ruben Vorster, Merit, Jayen Rughani, Qualification, Daniel Fisher, Merit, Ben Cheema, Merit, Dominic Van Loan, Merit, Ross Dryhurst, Qualification, Barney Doel, Qualification, Zain Khan, Qualification, Ben Dodwell, Merit, Jesse Satchwell, Merit, Morton Grimes, Qualification, Chirag Guha, Qualification, Joseph McClafferty, Qualification, Owen Boxall, Qualification, Heito Ho, Qualification

Junior Maths Olympiad results: Moonis Haider, Distinction, Alistair Kitchin, Merit, Matthew Roberts, Distinction, Duncan Schaafsma, Merit, Nader Takruri, Merit.

Please note that of the 200,000 plus students nationally undertaking the Maths Challenge in this age group, only 1,200 qualify for the Olympiad. In the Olympiad the top 25% earned a distinction, so Moonis Haider and Matthew Roberts are in the top 300 mathematicians in the whole country for their age group. Well done boys.

Open Evening

Thank you so much to all students and staff who made Tuesday's Open Evening a resounding success. It was good to see a big increase in the number of visitors this year. We have received lots of comments about our excellent guides and helpers. This is just one lovely example:

We attended the open evening yesterday and were very impressed. We were shown around the school by boys who made our tour very enjoyable indeed. They were extremely knowledgeable, fun and an absolute credit to the school. My son really enjoyed interacting with the pupils from the school, and this has made him want to work harder so hopefully he may be offered a place at your wonderful school.

Well done also to our superb musicians performing in Big School: Alex Dixon, James Foxall, Hitesh Jhall, Leon Yamin-Ali and Thomas Yoong. Thank you also to our excellent student speakers who showed such

Well done to Steven Mapp OV2014 (right) who pipped Tom Jackson OV2011 (left) to the Division 2 title

The Old Boys v The School cricket game was very closely fought. Old Boys 259 for 5 off 40 overs. School 260 for 3 off 35 overs with good innings from Rob Hollinghurst, 88, and Mithun Padmanabhan, 47.

confidence and skill: James Padley (7P), Ethan Patel (7P), Aban Hashmi (7B) and Theo Kearns (7R). as well as our School Captains for 2017/18 Sophie Lloyd and William Hennessy.

Hamish Carter celebrating World Handstand Day

Cricketing success

It has been an excellent week of cricket. The U14s narrowly lost to a strong Solihull. However, we triumphed at 'A' and 'B' level over KES. U14s also performed well against a very tough Indian touring side with one win and a loss. Meanwhile, our U15s had a very convincing win over Queen Mary's Walsall.

Year 10 Stop and Search Workshop

In Year 10 Citizenship we had an excellent talk organised through the office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.

Offer from Clive Mark

Spend over £30 and receive £5 off on non-badge items (trousers, shirts, skirts, blouses etc). This is an excellent offer for parents and our community.

Outreach

This was our second Outreach session this week. Thank you to all our student helpers and Mr Goodwin, Assistant Headteacher.

Careers

Follow @BVGScareers on Twitter for information and advice on career choices and the very latest opportunities.

PAC Race Night Cancelled

It is with regret, due to poor ticket sales, that we have had to postpone the PAC Race Night on 30 June. We will rearrange a new date in the Autumn term.

Your Pavilion needs you!

Thank you to generous parents who worked on our Pavilion. Please contact maxinehanley@icloud.com if you wish to join the team.

University Fair Monday 3 July

Next Monday BVGS will be hosting our first ever university fair culminating in an Oxbridge conference in the evening. This is a very prestigious event for the school. Thank you so much to Mr Goodwin, Assistant Headteacher, Dr Reilly, Assistant Head of Sixth Form and Acting Head of Economics and Mrs Evetts, Sixth Form Admin. Please see the attached flyer.

Tickets for Toad - 6 and 7 July

Centrestage are proud to present a performance by Year 7, 8 and 9 boys of 'Toad' on Thursday 6 and Friday 7 July. Please buy your tickets asap to avoid disappointment. Tickets for adults cost £9 and

Upper Sixth gymnast, Hamish Carter, celebrates World Handstand Day this week with an impressive use of the school resources. Please note this is not to be replicated by other students!!

mailto:maxinehanley@icloud.com

students/concessions £5. If you have not seen a Centrestage production here at school over the last two years, then you have been missing out. The quality of acting and production is absolutely outstanding. Tickets are on sale from Mrs Foster in the School Club Office. Please note that there are Sunday rehearsals on 2 July from 10:00 until 16:00 in Big School. Please bring sandwiches and a drink.

Art and D&T Exhibition - Wednesday 5 July 17:00 - 19:00

Year 7 Performance Evening - Tuesday 11 July

All Year 7 parents are welcome to attend this celebration of Year 7 creativity on Tuesday 11 July 19:00 - 20:00. This is a free event.

Yours sincerely

Dominic Robson John Craggs DL BSc PhD HonDUniv FCMA Headteacher Chairman of Governors

This year's Art and D&T Exhibition promises to be stunning. Displaying work from every key stage, please come along with your family and be inspired by the wonderful work of the students. Thank you to Mrs Heer, Mrs Gregory, Miss Stevens and Mr Belcher in particular for organising this event. This is a free event

Book of the Week

Art Star of the Week

Max Geldard 10B. Max has really taken ownership, of his project in year 10. He has been open to new ideas, experimented with lots of materials. Max has found Natural Forms the most interesting, this piece focuses on the colours and textures of Pistachio Nuts. Max has used oil pastels extremely well, really well done.

Quote of the Week: Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later Og Mandino

Dates for your Diary

Summer Term 2017

Saturday 24 June - 8 July China Trip

Friday 30 June Sixth Form Leavers' Ball

Monday 3 July University Fair

Wednesday 5 July New Year 7 Transition Day

Wednesday 5 July DT/Art Exhibition 17:00 - 19:00 Old Big School

Thursday 6 July House Music Festival

Thursday 6 July Toad - Big School 19:00 - 21:00

Friday 7 July L6 Induction Day

Friday 7 July Toad - Big School 19:00 - 21:00

Tuesday 11 July Performance Evening 19:00 - 20:00

Wednesday 12 July Shaggy Dogs Tea Party

Wednesday 12 - Friday 14 July

Y7 Residential to Whitemoor Lakes

Thursday 13 July - Monday 17 July

Rhineland trip

Monday 17 July Main School Presentation Evening 19:00 - 21:00

Wednesday 19 July Kenilworth Castle

Thursday 20 July - Thursday 27

World Challenge Croatia (1)

Friday 21 July School breaks up at 12:15

Saturday 22 July - Saturday 29 July

World Challenge Croatia (2)

Monday 24 July - Friday 11 August

Rugby Tour

Thursday 17 August A Level Results Day

Thursday 24 August GCSE Results Day