Head's Newsletter 15 December 2017

Dear Parents, Welcome to the final newsletter of the term. Year 11 have returned from their mock exam period, and we hope it will have been a productive learning experience for them as they enter the final months before the summer exams. We thank Kingston MP Ed Davey for meeting and hosting our Politics students in Parliament last week, and it was also a pleasure to be able to welcome Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith to the School last Friday to speak to the boys and take their questions; we are grateful to both for giving up their time. Many visits have taken place over the last few weeks including day trips to Oxford, Fishbourne, and ‘Science Live’, as well as economics lectures at the Royal Institution. You can also read about the Rome Art trip. There have been a large number of house activities taking place. Well done in particular to those boys who reached the public speaking finals, or who were involved in the drama finals this week. A lot of work from boys and staff goes into these events, and the many boys who participated should be congratulated. Within this newsletter you can also read about the chess competition that Tiffin was involved in, the debating club, and some of the charity work. The sports have continued throughout this term without too much effect from bad weather, until last weekend. The Rugby

sides have had varied success depending on year group, but the particularly good performances from the U12s are certainly a good sign for the future. You can also read about the Cross Country successes, and their season. At this time of year the Choir is particularly busy. Not only will they be singing in our guest carol service next Tuesday evening, as well as the school carol service on Wednesday afternoon, but they are also performing at the Rose Theatre, and most impressively sang in the BT Christmas Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in what was undoubtedly a fantastic opportunity. It is always sad when we have to say goodbye to members of staff. Mr Russell has been a terrific member of the RE department since 2013, as well as committed to the cross country, but we congratulate him on securing a promotion in another school in January. In addition, we have said goodbye to Mrs Harrison from the finance office, and Mrs Welham who has managed the school shop for many years, leaves for pastures new. We thank them all for their commitment to Tiffin and wish them all the best. As we enter the last week of term there are a number of changes to the normal school days. I wish all boys and their parents and families a very happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. M D Gascoigne, Headteacher

IMPORTANT DATES

School finishes at 3.10 pm

18 and 19 December

School Carol Service, 2.15 pm, boys dismissed from church

Wednesday 20 December

End of Term; boys dismissed approx. 12.30 pm

Thursday 21 December

Start of term. Normal 8.30 am start

Monday 8 January

Y11 Parents’ Consultations; school finishes at 2.40 pm

Thursday 11 January

The Tiffin Boys Choir was superb at the Royal Albert Hall last night (Thursday), where they were singing in the BT Christmas Concert. The Concert was presented by Clare Balding and Chris Hollins, and involved a number of soloists including Laura Wright, as well as the London Concert Chorus and Orchestra, the London Community Gospel Choir and the Royal Marines Corps of Drums. It was clearly an amazing privilege and fantastic opportunity for the boys to sing at the Royal Albert Hall in front of a packed audience numbering 5272. It was particularly special for Daniel McCarthy, in Year 8, who performed an incredible solo for Once in Royal David's City . The boys were on stage for the whole concert. You can watch a clip of them singing Merry Christmas by John Williams, which was made famous in the film Home Alone . At the end of the clip when Chris Hollins comes back onto the stage, he remarks that the Tiffin Boys Choir are stealing the show!

The Royal Marines on stage

Backstage with Clare Balding, who was presenting alongside Chris Hollins

VISIT TO OXFORD On Friday 24 th November, as part of the A Level Philosophy and Theology curriculum, we took a number boys to visit Oxford University Colleges: Keble College, Blackfriars Hall and Harris Manchester College. We attended seminars, designed especially for the boys, on topics relating to the A Level specification.

THANK YOU TIFFIN BOYS Beryl Bailey, a Trustee of St. Yared’s Trust, wrote to tell us that she has just spent five inspirational and very busy days at the School of St. Yared in Ethiopia. This school is a haven for children who live in appalling conditions at home, but consider themselves hugely privileged because of the education they are receiving. She writes, “One of my tasks was to hand over 20 microscopes donated to the school by Tiffin Boys … the delight of both children and staff was a sight to behold. From all the children at St. Yared’s and from the trustees of St. Yared’s Trust (UK), thank you Tiffin School. Your donation is changing lives, giving our students the skills they need to work, and lift their families and their communities out of poverty.”

The trip was designed to provide the boys with a glimpse of student life at Oxford and extend their knowledge of difficult A Level topics. One of the seminars was on 20 th century philosophy and Wittgenstein with Dr Edward Harcourt, the current Chair of the Philosophy Faculty at Oxford. The other seminar was on Thomas Aquinas at Blackfriars Hall with Father Peter Hunter OP. Between the seminars the boys had a tour and lunch at Harris Manchester College. CHESS On Saturday 25th November 10 enthusiastic Tiffinians set off to represent the school in the SE England Boys’ Chess Championships. After nearly 6 hours of chess the team, ably captained by Emir Alhussni finished an impressive second, just behind St Paul’s. Special mention should go to Ben Hammond who won all his games on the day.

The Art department visited Rome on their annual trip abroad with the GCSE sets during the October half-term. The trip is aimed at generating gallery studies and first hand drawings and photography to use in their coursework folders. We stayed in a quaint Monastery, run by nuns, situated centrally, five minutes’ walk from the Colosseum and Roman Forum. As soon as we arrived in Rome, the sun was shining and the students instantly felt at home, enjoying the liveliness of Rome.

and went to the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon. The students were impressed with the Pantheon, which is the best preserved building from ancient Rome. The students experienced Giolliti, the most famous ice-cream parlour in Rome and were able to wander Rome’s fashionable shopping district.

The first day was spent walking around the city, orientating ourselves, spending the first evening in Piazza Navona for a group meal. The next day, we visited the Vatican City and Sistine Chapel to explore the multiple galleries of classical and Renaissance art masterpieces and frescoes painted by Michelangelo. We passed by St Peter’s Square with columns, fountains and Egyptian obelisk where the crowds gather for the Pope’s address. After a quick lunch we continued our walking tour of the city

Day 2 involved a bright and early start to the National Gallery, which was truly fantastic as we had the whole Museum to ourselves. The students were captivated; drawing from observation, researching the Italian old masters and twentieth century famous artists. The grand palatial building, with sun streaming through the windows, made it the perfect setting. In the afternoon, we walked past key government buildings on our way to Campo de Fiori, which has a famous food market. The Colosseum was our last stop for the day, in which many touristy photos were taken and by this time we were all ready for another truly Italian evening meal, with more pizza on the menu.

the Sunday Mass and the choir singing. The fine architecture, the daily photoshoots, ice-cream and sunshine ensured every student had the most wonderful time enriching their knowledge and love of Art! This trip being such a success, the Art Department are already planning the next trip for October half term 2018!

On the last day, we took advantage of our three day travel cards and experienced the metro, in order to arrive back at Vatican City and climb up St Peter’s Basilica, Italy’s largest and richest most spectacular basilica, in order to get stunning views of the city. We were lucky enough to witness

allowing a significant proportion of the Year 12 Economics cohort to attend this prestigious early evening talk at the Royal Institution on Wednesday 22 nd November. This year’s lecture was delivered by Stephen Machin, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, and addressed the question, “Why commit crime? The Economic Incentives of Criminal Behaviour”. In his lecture, Professor Machin elegantly showed how microeconomic theory, understandable by A Level students, could be applied to give insights into the motivation behind criminal behaviour, patterns of crime and the economics of policing. Particularly relevant this year was Professor Machin’s use of London wide data sets provided by the Metropolitan Police which he used to support or refute economic hypotheses.

We are very grateful to Zac Goldsmith for giving up his time and coming in to speak with sixth formers and other boys last Friday, 8 December. He was invited in by Nathan Langford, Head Boy (above left), and Adam Fereday, Deputy Head Boy (above right). Mr Goldsmith spoke for about 10 minutes and then took questions from the boys for the rest of the lunch break.

On Friday 1 st December, 30 Year 10 students went on a brilliant trip to the Apollo theatre in Victoria to see GCSE Science! Live. It was a day of interesting and highly engaging lectures from prominent scientists in their field. Lectures were delivered from the likes of Lord Professor Robert Winston, who gave a talk on genetics, embryology and in-vitro fertilization. Professor Jim Al-Khalili discussed the possibility of time travel and wormholes and Professor Helen Czerski talked about the application of physics in

Tiffin exploited an early first mover advantage in July and was duly given a full school allocation of tickets for the 2017 Royal Economic Society Public Lecture. These fifteen tickets were snapped up by Year 12 Economists and we were fortunate to be allocated a further ten tickets so

daily life. Professor Andrea Sella even managed to link exploding dry ice in a bottle and the reduction in global warming! Students were also privy to useful information about the GCSE exams from the Chief Examiner, who suggested some tips for revision and general exam technique. We all had a great day and gained some valuable scientific knowledge in the process. Fin Isaacs 10RCG

visiting Spanish Prime Minister, as he emerged from Number 10 after Brexit talks with Theresa May. Finally we returned to Parliament Square for a tour of the UK Supreme Court, made famous by its decision in January to give Parliament a vote on triggering Article 50. Yes, that Brexit issue once again. It seems our departure from the EU will be keeping Parliament, the Government and the Judiciary busy for many months to come.

Last Tuesday 5 th December, twenty A-Level Politics students took their annual trip to Westminster. We started by taking a tour of Parliament before quizzing local MP Ed Davey on the latest developments in the Brexit negotiations.

HOUSE DRAMA In the House Drama competition, Darwin Wilberforce won with their performance of Double-O Vegan.

Next, we walked up and down Whitehall, spotting the different government departments as we went. At Downing Street we stopped awhile and craned our necks to glimpse Mariano Rajoy, the

TABLE TENNIS

Fishbourne Palace is one of the UK’s best-kept Roman villas. Our intrepid group of 180 year 8s spent an informative and enjoyable day learning about how King Cogidubnus, the British client-king lived in his luxurious palace. The boys spent a day discovering the technology used to create the villa itself, learnt about the impressive gardens and history of the palace while taking in the beautiful mosaics – some of which are among the most well-preserved in the country. An exciting and enjoyable time was had by all and the staff and parents all praised the enthusiasm of the boys.

Further success for the U13 Tiffin Table Tennis team who, on the back of their first tournament win at Coombe Boys’ School, headed to Wilson’s school for the South London Table Tennis Team Championship. The team, consisting of Ashrith Behara, Harshil Shah, Oliver Cheung and Aarya Karthik, faced tough opposition in the first round against Hampton School. In his debut match for the team Aarya was outstanding, not dropping a single game against his opponents. Impressive victories from all players resulted in a 6-2 win for Tiffin. Tiffin were superb in their semi-final against St Olave’s, dropping just one game enroute to a commanding 8-0 win. The team faced their toughest challenge yet in the final against an experienced Wallington side. Brilliant wins from Ashrith and Harshil got Tiffin off to a flying start and after 5 sets, Tiffin were leading 4-1. Wallington dug deep and fought back to win the next 2 sets, leaving the match at 4- 3. The final set between Harshil and Jacob proved to be the most tense of the competition and went right to the wire, with Jacob clinching it in the 5th game and tying the match at 4-4. Tiffin were victorious on games, winning 16-15, proving just how vital was each individual contribution.

DANCE On Monday 11 th December we hosted the London Youth Games competition. The participating schools were: Coombe Girls, Hollyfield, Tiffin Girls and Tiffin School. Our Year 9 boys performed superbly and received great feedback from all participating schools. They will perform their new piece in January at the Richmond College Theatre.

advice on their performances. The winners were as follows: Junior Prose and Verse Reading: Sanmay Parkhi Junior Public Speaking: Arth Kochlar Intermediate Prose and Verse Reading: Aditya Deshmukle Intermediate Public Speaking: Joshua Cruice Senior Prose and Verse Reading: Sebastian Tyrrall Senior Public Speaking: Aditya Deshpande & Kieran Desmond PARENTING COURSES Do you have a child approaching teens or aged between 13 and 19 years? Listed below are FREE parenting programmes for parents which will help you set rules for children to follow, help you to take care of yourself as a parent, have some fun and meet other parents and carers. Starting Tuesday 9 th January 2018 (6 weekly sessions in total and 1 telephone or 1-1 consultation) At Kingston Town Children’s Centre, 40 Villiers Road (next to King Athelstan Primary School), Kingston, KT1 3AR From 10.30am - 12.30pm Starting Saturday 17 th February 2018 (3 weekly sessions in total and 1 telephone or 1-1 consultation) At The Star Centre, 50 King Charles Crescent, Surbiton, KT5 8SX From 10.00am - 2.00pm If you want to know more, or make a provisional booking, please contact Karen Williams, Parenting Officer on 020 8547 6965 or 07771 974388 or email karen.williams@achievingforchildren.org.uk

The debating club continues to thrive - debating motions every Monday lunchtime in the JLT. They have also tasted success in competition, getting through the first round of the ESU schools’ mace competition on Monday 20 th November at Surbiton High. Tiffin’s pair of Keir Hackman and Aditya Despande will now visit Hampton School in the New Year to oppose the motion “This House would prohibit the media from using software to cosmetically improve an individual's appearance.” Tiffin also hosted a team of debaters from Marymount International School on Tuesday 27 th November. In the friendly fixture eight boys ranging from Years 8 to 13 debated the motion “This house believes that calling terrorists evil is both immoral and counter-productive”.

HOUSE PUBLIC SPEAKING After a wonderful evening of public speaking, first place in the House competition was shared between Scott and Raleigh. In the heats Mr McCann listened to nearly 90 boys deliver speeches for their houses before choosing 12 to go through to the finals. Judith Conyers judged the finals giving the boys succinct and precious

The 1st XV have struggled with injuries since their run of three victories in a row, following it up with three losses in a row in which were ultimately winnable games against Caterham, Reading Blue Coat and St Benedict’s. Other teams have seen more success however, with the U12A team proving a force to be reckoned with across the fixture list and, most notably, the U13B team under the tuition of Mr Brown have proven the success story of the season so far with nine victories, two draws and a solitary loss. Very impressive indeed! Whilst results have not gone our way recently (Tiffin Boys do not operate well in the cold!), participation is increasing rapidly. 344 boys have played a competitive game of rugby for Tiffin this season, which is to be commended,

including half the boys in year 7. I hope that these levels of participation can be maintained, as it will only lead to future success. Tiffin v Reading Blue Coat 1 st XV L 2 nd XV W U16 L U15A D U15B L U14A L U14B L U13A L U13B W U12A W U12B L U12C L U12D L Are you a TIPRA supporter yet: Tiffin parents supporting Tiffin school rugby? To find out who your TIPRA parent representative is please email ablackburn@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk. Follow us on Twitter @tiffinrugby for updates on school rugby!

Lucas Strange on another rampaging run

CROSS COUNTRY NEWS

The final fixture of the season was at Hampton. The Seniors had two teams. The A team drafted in Eyoel Abebaw-Mesfin from Year 10 at the last minute and he frightened the life out of the national sixth form record-breaking champion on the first leg. Jamie Krammer and Kai Pischke, both new to the sixth form, competed too and we came 3 rd against national standard competition, a marvellous result. The B team finished 4 th , with great style shown by the majestic Mo Dembele and George Birch. The Junior B team were bolstered by the surprise appearance of Luis Bullinger from Year 9 and by key performances from Jonny Schafer Year 8 and Ogi Zelenovic Year 7. Coming 4 th in the whole junior event was a great performance. The Junior A team had a morale boosting opening blitz by Tom Armstrong followed by Year 7s’ Oscar Luck and Connor Foley. The last two were unfazed by opposition two years their senior and maintained the 10-20 metre lead that Tom had opened up. The format involved repeated legs and it fell to Tom to carry the baton last on his 6 th carry of the day. The opposition slowly brought down the gap to 15 then 10 metres and with 1 minute to go it was down to 5 metres, but Tom, as ever, maintained the lead until the hooter stopped the event with the gap at 4 metres. A stunning victory for the team and a fitting end to a very successful first term. So far the seniors have been first in every

league match bar our own where we came second. The Inters, though, managed a famous victory in their category in this match. The seniors also won a great bronze in the Charterhouse mob match and top six performances in all other Wednesday cup matches. The juniors have done well in the league, closing out handy teams in every fixture. Our own Judge Cup in a new format saw both the A and B team in the top six. This was despite one of our brave A team competitors battling heroically against illness. These results coupled with a grand slam of all four borough titles are a testament to the time and effort the students have put in. It is also due to the efforts that Miss Nava, Mr Costello, Mr Bala and Mr Russell have put into the teams which have helped to produce such good results. Mr Russell takes our thanks and appreciation with him as departs for the delights of Essex after Christmas. We wish Mr Russell continued success in his new position closer to his home.