13 September 2019

particularly pleasing where we achieved some of our best results in recent years, with the highest number of A* grades ever and almost 85% A *-B grades overall. This success has allowed the majority of students to achieve their first choice of university course, including 22 students who achieved places at Oxford or Cambridge. It was great to be able to see the leaving Year 13 for the last time as a group at our Leavers Celebration last night, and join with them in marking their success. We wish all last year‘s leavers the very best for their futures. In addition our GCSE results were also excellent with over 75% of grades at A* or A. This included over 55% at grades 8 or 9, the equivalent of the old A*, and an even higher number of pupils than last year who achieved the amazing feat of 7 grade 9s or more. Many congratulations to all students who took their public exams this summer. Work has been progressing over the summer on the new extension to the Sports Centre providing a brand-new gym as well as new fitness rooms and changing areas. This marks another significant improvement to the facilities at Tiffin which all students enjoy. Building work will be going on most of this year. The total cost of the project is over £2 million and

Dear Parents Welcome to the first newsletter of the new academic year 2019-20. I would like to start by welcoming all the new students and their parents who started at Tiffin this September. The new Year 7 students seem to be settling in well following their July and September inductions. I would particularly like to welcome the new Year 12 students and their parents. This year marks a significant change and a very exciting new chapter in the development of Tiffin as the Sixth Form has become mixed. We always admit a large number of new students into Year 12 and I’m delighted that this September the new cohort includes over 70 girls who have joined the Sixth Form, as well as a good number of new boys. All the Sixth Formers seem to be settling in very well following their induction and we look forward to seeing their progress as the year goes on. We also welcome to the school a number of new staff. These include Mr Gibbs in Biology, Mr Hills in Maths, Miss McAlpine in Art, Miss Ramsbottom in History and Mr Latham in PE; we wish them every success. We were delighted that our summer exam results were once again excellent. The outstanding A Level results were

IMPORTANT DATES

Tuesday 17 September Wednesday 18 September Thursday 19 September Monday 23 September Tuesday 24 September Monday 30 September

Y8 Information Evening at 6.30 pm Y11 Information Evening at 6.30 pm Y10 Information Evening at 6.30 pm Y12 Information Evening at 6.30 pm Y7 Information Evening at 6.30 pm

Professional Development Day; no pupils in school

Tuesday 1 October Thursday 3 October Thursday 10 October

11+; no pupils in school, except prefects Y9 Information Evening at 6.30 pm

Sixth Form Open Afternoon & Evening; school closes 1 pm

although the majority of this is funded by a government grant we won, we are also seeking to raise at least £200,000, as we successfully did on the last building project, to fully furnish and fit out the new building. All parents will have received In the summer a letter about our fundraising campaign requesting donations, and I would urge everybody to give what they can. Please donate online via the donate button on the School’s website or via one of the methods suggested on the ‘Fundraising’ page of the School’s website. In this way, we are able to continue to invest in the school for the benefit of all students’ education. Many thanks to those parents who have already donated. Thanks as well to the four teachers led by Mr Brown, who did a sponsored cycle ride over the summer, raising about £2500 for the sports hall project.

our annual induction programme started on Tuesday 3 rd September with students quickly being introduced to Sixth Form life at Tiffin before a slightly more relaxed activities day at our Grist’s Sports Ground on Wednesday. A morning of team building activities saw new form groups get to know each other and in the beaming September sunshine it rapidly became apparent that we as Tiffin staff are in for a treat as all of the students took on the challenges with great enthusiasm and fantastic shared effort. Since then, as normal lessons have begun, our Year 12s have continued to impress as they embrace every aspect of Tiffin life from prefecting duties to having our first female rugby players. Staff too have come to me on repeated occasions remarking on how wonderfully intelligent and engaging their Year 12 classes have been, which is a joyous thing to hear as a Head of Year! I look forward to seeing our Year 12s grow into their A Level subjects and increased roles of responsibility across the school. I also look forward to welcoming our new Year 12 parents and guardians at our information evening on Monday 23 rd September at 6.30 pm.

I wish all students a very successful term. Yours, M D Gascoigne Headteacher

This September we welcomed over 100 new faces into the Tiffin fold, including for the first time, female students. With much excitement from staff and students alike,

LEAVERS’ CELEBRATION EVENING It was excellent to be able to see the A level students for the last time as a cohort at their Leavers’ Celebration last night. We were delighted to welcome old Tiffinian, Samir Desai CBE, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of the peer-to-peer enterprise Funding Circle as our special guest.

SUCCESS FOR JAMES DOWRICH James began his trampolining career 12 years ago and now jumps as a national trampolinist. He has represented Tiffin in the schools’ national events and through his club, and hopes to enter his first international competition next year. Last year he won his first national finals event on 11 th November at the EIS Arena in Sheffield. Since then had been working towards his latest competition, which was the National Development Pathway (NDP) finals on 14 th July and once again won his 17+ age group. He trains for around 10 hours a week to ensure that he can achieve his goals for the season and now he is preparing for this year’s league finals which will be held in Derby on the 10 th of November.

It was amazing to recall the successes of this year group, and we wish them all the very best as they move on to university or employment and hope they keep in touch through the Tiffinian Association, which unites the alumni of the School. The event also marked the inaugural outing of the new Tiffin Chamber Choir.

The Tiffin Boys' Choir annual International Tour took place in Portugal this July. The Choir stayed for three nights in the city Porto and performed at Igreja da Nossa Senhora da Lapa in Porto (a beautiful church with ornate and intricate paintings and statues), the Livraria Lello bookshop in Porto (one of the world’s oldest and most beautiful bookshops where J.K Rowling is thought to have been given inspiration for the Harry Potter books), Igreja de Santa Cruz in Coimbra and Lisbon Cathedral (Lisbon’s most important and iconic religious building).

popular tourist attraction in Lisbon that has stunning views over the Tejo Estuary and central Lisbon, and eating many Pastel de natas which is a custard tart that is part of Portuguese cuisine.

Some of the music we performed were Howells' Te Deum Collegium Regale, Parsons' Ave Maria and Britten’s Flower songs (five entertaining songs that all have some relation to plants and are based on poems). The trip was a huge success for the performers and the audiences.

The tour also included a scenic boat trip along the river Douro in Porto passing through some remnants of Portugal’s historic past, sightseeing in Porto, exploring around the Castelo de S. Jorge, a

Do see the recently published ‘Baton’ , Tiffin’s Music Newsletter which has a huge amount of information about musical life here at Tiffin.

HOUSE CHAMPIONSHIP Churchill-Gordon celebrated winning the House Championship for the first time since 1994! Proud House Captain, Abiram Uthayakumar, holds the C F Lyon Cup for the Cham- pion House. He is flanked by vice captains Jamie Krammer, David Mason and Hemanth Veluru.

FUNDRAISING On Sunday 4 August 2019, four members of Tiffin's teaching staff cycled from the Olympic Park to the Surrey Hills and back, with the ambition of completing the 100 mile Prudential RideLondon route to raise funds for the new Tiffin School Gym and Sports Centre extension.

you would like to contribute, even at this late stage, please visit the team’s fundraising page (Tiffin School Prudential Ride 100 Team) using this link .

The team comprising Mr Brown, Miss O’Connell, Miss White and Mr Atkinson have raised a total so far of £2,466.25. If

RUGBY With the temperature dropping and grass being left a little longer, it is no secret what season it is. The Rugby season got off to a great start with the biennial Brighton tour running just before the start of school. The senior squad made the most of the Brighton university facilities and the squad was visibly gelling as a unit. Summer skills sessions and efforts to attend gym-training session have shown that this group of boys are committed to improving and playing a good standard of Rugby. With the start of the season only allowing two days for the rest of the school to get squads together and pick teams the first weekend’s fixture is always an exercise in organisation. Reigate Grammar School were first up and proved a good challenge across all age groups. Only two wins were recorded, one by the invincible U14A team, who have not been beaten in 18 months now and the 2nd XV who played brilliant rugby with a healthy squad to squeeze out a 27-20 win. Now with a week of full training sessions and all squads looking healthier, we target our next opponents, Wallington, to get back on track and record a few more wins to go along with an exciting and enjoyable brand of rugby. The U15s start us off and then the U12s play what will be for most of them, their first ever game of rugby! We are thoroughly looking forward to two brilliant terms of rugby, during which the small matter of a world cup will be taking place, come on England! #Sendusvictorious

Tiffin is currently fielding an incredible 20 teams across all years – but with that, comes extra demand on resources, kit, transport, first aid, Refs…which is why we’re reaching out to you to become part of #TeamTIPRA (Tiffin Parent Rugby Association). If you are able to … a one-off, annual payment of £40 or a monthly standing order of £4 can make a HUGE difference to the amount of additional support we can provide for our boys. So, why not sign up this term (referencing your son’s name and year group)? Thank you!! MUFTI DAY Money raised during the last MUFTI day will be used to support the wonderful charitable initiative that Karen Lock, who works in our canteen, has quietly championed over many years. Her thoughtful and imaginative craft sales allow her to buy gifts and toiletries for children who are in need throughout the year and especially during the festive season. These gifts are then distributed via the Salvation Army’s Christmas Appeal often in neighbourhoods very local to Tiffin. The £1040.83 raised will help Karen buy presents for even more children this coming Christmas. Account Name –TIPRA Account No – 43474585 Sort Code – 20-46-76

was utilised to exude power and favour. But the real treat were the talks given by the fantastic experts laid on by the Palace on topics including the Henrician Reformation and Inglorious Revolution, both topics that will be covered in the coming year of study and which brought these complex topics to life for students. The trip was not all work and no play, as no trip to Hampton Court would be complete without an attempt at traversing the world famous hedge maze.

STOP THE CLOCK DAY Another sunny Stop The Clock Day was spent with Year 8 at RHS Wisley Gardens . Students were in the midst of their Ecology topic, and revelled in the opportunity to practise some of their flora sampling techniques, as well as classification methods learnt previously in the year. As always, our students were impeccably behaved, most notably when they spent 20 minutes in silence watching bees pollinate flowers. Lunch was spent with special guest visitors in the form of a family of ducks who were very persistent in trying to steal our food. Overall, the students had a productive day, as well as being able to enjoy some nature and top up on their Vitamin D. We are already looking forward to next years visit.

LONDON CITYWIDE SUICIDE PREVENTION INITIATIVE World Suicide Prevention Day took place on 10 September where a citywide suicide prevention initiative was launched. The Zero Suicide Alliance has created a free, online training program that supports people to identify warning signs and to feel comfortable having conversations about suicide. The training only takes 20 minutes to complete. It follows research and evidence among people who have considered suicide, that talking honestly and openly about suicide helped to save their lives. https://www.zerosuicidealliance.com/

On a sunny day in July, the Year 7 ‘Stop the Clock’ excursion saw our budding historians visit the local historical gem that is Hampton Court Palace . The day saw the Year 7s explore the original Tudor royal palace, of which this is the only surviving example, including the cavernous kitchens where many got to try their hands at cooking a Tudor meal. The students visited the more modern Baroque extension to the Palace to explore life at court under William III, examining how room design

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