Head's Newsletter 2 February 2018

Dear Parents, With Easter falling early this year, this half term has been very short but nevertheless very action packed. The exam classes are working hard as the GCSEs and A-levels rapidly approach, and we hope those students approaching their final exams will use their time productively between now and then to really achieve their potential. There are two articles to read related to our focus on literacy; Year 7 were fortunate enough to have a visiting author Ross Welford come and speak to them, and the Creative Writing Club were able to learn from journalist Nick Duerden about the craft of writing. In addition, the boys' persuasive writing and speaking were ably demonstrated through the Human Rights Competition that a number of Year 9s have been involved in. One of the big House events was held this week when the Sports Hall hosted a very strongly contested house singing competition. Congratulations to the winners and all who took part. The final is the culmination of many weeks of practices and heats in which hundreds of boys have participated and sung, invariably led by the senior boys in the school. The participation, engagement, teamwork, and leadership of the older role models, are all fine examples of the benefits of the Tiffin house system, and the attributes that it develops in the boys.

It's also been good to see the start of the indoor cricket which always acts as a prelude to the nets and outdoor cricket of the summer season. The boys got off to a flying start winning the first local competition. I'm also delighted to report very good success in the first round of the badminton competition. We are very much looking forward to the school play, Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III , which takes place next week. A number of our boys have also been participating this week in the production of Romeo and Juliet at Tiffin Girls’ School. The Tiffin Boat Club shares the boathouse with Kingston Rowing Club; please see the KRC advert for parents who wish to get involved in rowing. The newsletter also has news of some individual triumphs in acting and skiing. We do hope the weather and snow will be excellent in Austria for the 100+ boys going on the largest ever Tiffin school ski trip over half term! Construction work has moved on another step this week as we start to do some of the landscaping around the new building; it certainly is exciting seeing the project come to fruition. I wish everyone a very restful half term holiday. Yours, Mr M D Gascoigne

IMPORTANT DATES

5 February to 8 February

School Play: The Madness of George III at 7 pm

Friday 9 February

Prof. Development Day: no boys in School

Boys start back after Half Term, normal 8.30 start Y7 Parents’ Consultations: School finishes at 1 pm Y8 Parents’ Consultations: School finishes at 1 pm

Monday 19 February

Wednesday 21 February

Thursday 1 March Thursday 29 March

Break up for Easter holidays

parents and teachers in the audience an understanding of their projects. The boys were simply brilliant and were able to discuss very sensitive Human Rights matters with excellent maturity. Each group should be very proud of their achievements and dedication to completing the project in their own time. The groups and their topics are outlined here; well done to all involved. Jack Yu, Roman Nicholas, Austin Taylor, Jotaro Takanohashi – Refugees in the UK, are we doing enough? Alistair Brendon, Joe Murphy, Will Murphy, Shubhan Mannyamgari – Is it ever Right to Restrict Someone’s Right to Liberty? (Winner of Best Presentation on the Night) Ibrahim Ejaz, Arrian Tabatabai, Aadit Dudhane, Joshua Cruice – Does prohibiting 16 Year Olds from Voting infringe upon their Human Rights? (Winner of Best Researched Project) Bulcsu Diossi, Ameer Morshed, Zameer Shahpurwala, Will Tillotson – Should Workers in the United Kingdom have more rights?

On the evening of Monday 22 January 16 Year 9 boys travelled to Surbiton High School to conclude a project that they had been working on for 3 months with the British Institute of Human Rights. During a trip to Queen Mary University on 1 st November, the 16 Boys were introduced to the topic of Human Rights and were able to ask questions about specific Human Rights and what they protect. The boys both asked and answered questions excellently during the workshop and showed a real interest in the subject that impressed the University lecturers. Following on from the workshop the boys conducted a research project in to an area of Human Rights that interested them. In groups of four, they decided upon a question and worked together to produce a 3-4,000 word report in answer to their inquiry. These were submitted in December, before the boys embarked upon producing a presentation for the evening in January.

The presentation evening itself was a celebration of all the boys’ hard work that went in to the projects, and a chance for the groups to explain what they found interesting in their research and to give

Mr A Watkins History Department

BERLIN TRIP

had been captured trying to escape the iron curtain and as punishment incarcerated at Hohenschönhausen in 1987. He vividly brought to life the psychological strain the prisoners were put under, the dehumanising rules and the constant control. He was later expelled from East Germany to the West. This was a harrowing tale and really unique experience. We spent the 3 rd day on the Museuminsel of Berlin, exploring the cultural and historical variety that this capital has to offer. Not forgetting our enjoyment of the sizeable portions at the restaurants we ate at - portions in Germany are BIG. Despite the cold we were able to glimpse the versatile nature of Berlin, which has enriched our cultural knowledge and will surely give us food for thought beyond the A - Level Exams.

After the October Y13 trip to Berlin was very disappointingly cancelled due to a French air controllers strike, we were very lucky the 2 nd time around. Six A-level Germanists plus 2 teachers landed in very cold, snowy Berlin on 17 January.

After checking into our hostel in the multicultural district “Kreuzberg”, we explored the city, first visiting the Historical Museum of Berlin and the monument dedicated to the local resistance movement against Nazi Germany. The highlight of the day was a visit to the German “Reichstag”, the German parliament with its famous Sir Norman Foster glass dome, where our Sixth formers were sitting in the press gallery overlooking the German parliament and a historian explained the key political structures of the German government to us. The interplay of the talk and the material covered in lessons encouraged us to use the opportunity to ask questions – gaining knowledge that will surely be useful in the A- level exam. We all agreed that that the trip to the former East German secret police prison at Hohenschönhausen on Thursday was our absolute highlight. This year's group was very fortunate to learn about the grim reality from somebody with first hand experience. Our tour guide, Mario Röllig,

VISITING AUTHOR

Shared Writing: Stories from a Local Journalist On Wednesday 24 th January, the Creative Writing Club were fortunate to have been visited by a local freelance journalist, Nick Duerden.

On Thursday 18 January, Year 7 was paid a special visit by best-selling author Ross Welford, who has written, 'Time Travelling with a Hamster ', 'What Not To Do If You Turn Invisible ' and 'The 1000-Year-Old Boy' . He spoke to Year 7 with much humour as he described his latest book ( The 1000- Year-Old Boy ). He even gave us an exclusive look inside what he is planning for his next exciting book! We were given a tutorial on how to write a story and we even made up our own as a year group. At the end, he signed books that students had bought. We can’t wait until his next book is published.

The lunchtime discussion revolved around Mr Duerden’s career in journalism: He had many stories to share with the boys about writing features on famous pop stars, among other pieces of work. Mr Duerden also discussed his inspirations for becoming a writer, and how his studies supported his entry into the profession; both of which allowed the boys a great insight into the importance of writing, and the motives that some people have to write for our society today. Tiffin’s creative writers made the most of this opportunity, and showed a keen curiosity and engagement with Mr Duerden by asking him questions about a range of topics, including the rigours of the editorial process, self-motivation and integrity in writing, and the liberties of self-publishing. Due to the success of this first workshop and the boys’ interest, the Creative Writing Club will be visited again by Mr Duerden on Wednesday in the last week of this half term: The boys are looking forward to hearing more about the processes of writing, and to editing their own work with the guidance of an experienced writer.

By Meet Thakker and Leo Saggese Yr7

H ouse Singing

Daniel Blaze (KM), with an extremely moving performance of Howells’ King David . Henry Studholme (L) came second, having confidently sung a lilting tune by John Jeffrys, and Milo Morrod (CG) delivered a sensitive performance of Henry Purcell’s Here the Deities , coming in third place. Unison Song was the most fiercely contested category, with the tone set by Churchill-Gordon who strode onto the stage in their shirtsleeves and performed a spirited version (with actions) of Forget You by Cee Lo Green. Darwin Wilberforce took the opposite visual approach, standing in neat rows in pristine uniform, but their singing of Noel Gallagher’s Don’t Look Back In Anger was no less spirited, and gained them second place. The winners were Drake, confidently led by Nathan Langford through a precise and beautifully sung classic, Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines , in which every word was audible (no mean feat in the sports hall!) Kingsley Montgomery came third, singing Rather Be by Clean Bandit, with great dynamic variation and excellent resonance. The evening ended with Turing-Nightingale performing a hugely entertaining version of I’ll Make a Man Out of You from Disney’s Mulan. Congratulations to all participants for a fantastic evening of performances, and special thanks to the leaders of the Unison and Part Song groups, and everyone who accompanied their house on the piano or drums. Rory McKeon deserves special mention for his conducting, which was judged not only the most spirited (despite being entirely the wrong way round), but also the most mimicable, and won him the coveted Baton award.

The House Singing on Wednesday 31 January was a triumph of teamwork and musical performance, demonstrating the breadth, depth and importance of singing in the school. The evening began with the ATB Solo Song category, won by Vith Ketheeswaranathan (DW) with a subtle and beautifully characterised rendition of Butterworth’s Is my Team Ploughing? Euan O’Connor (DW) scooped second place, and made singing in French look easy, and Duncan Tarboton (R) came in third, holding the audience captive throughout his performance of Howells’ King David . Ben Gibson (TN) turned out a really lovely performance of Vaughan Williams’ Silent Noon , while Rory McKeon’s (KM) Widmung was both beautiful and appropriately giddy. Nnaemeka Anyamele (TN) closed the category with a wonderfully characterful movement from Handel’s Judas Maccabeus , which demonstrated a real understanding of the music he was singing. Turing-Nightingale took the trophy for the Part Song category, with a cheeky and light -hearted performance of Perry Como’s Magic Moments , closely followed by Kingsley-Montgomery, for whom Rory McKeon had arranged Amy Winehouse’s Our Day Will Come . Raleigh took third place with a resonant rendition of Fields of Gold . The Treble Solo Song category was won by

Every year, selected members of the Rose Young Company perform alongside professional actors in Kingston's Rose Theatre Christmas production. This year, Billy Rilot (9CCC) played Tweedledum in Alice in Winterland (below, right)

Tom Nelson in Year 12 belongs to the Kandahar ski club and is a very good skier. There is a spectacular and quite famous race call The Inferno. It is the longest downhill race in the world – 14KM long, with a 2000m vertical descent, over pretty much untended terrain. It even has some uphill sections. Over 1800 people race it, with two starters every 20 seconds. Depending on conditions, the fastest racer can do it in anything between 8 minutes and 15 minutes. It’s a real test of strength and stamina and mental endurance. Despite weather issues with rain below 1600m and too much snow and wind above 2500m the race went ahead although it was a bit truncated. Tom did very well for his first time. His start time was very late afternoon – there were only about 70 people after him – in a field of over 1800 racers. Unfortunately, a blizzard blew up from mid-afternoon which obviously affected the speed of course and therefore the later racers’ times. Additionally, he lost a ski on a particularly bad corner which was sad for him. Even so he got a time that put him in the bronze category for his class which is really commendable. Photo below—with his Tiffin tie!

The show was performed 43 times to more than 24 000 people over the Christmas period, including many local schools. The audition process was in May and rehearsals began in earnest by September, including every day of the October half term. Balancing school work with this level of commitment was a real challenge but definitely worth it. Billy has made some friends for life and developed skills in stage fighting, clowning, and even perfected a West Country accent. The Rose Young Company runs all year, so if you are interested in drama, please do look at The Rose Theatre's website. It is a community theatre with a mission to build links with local communities and to see people from all walks of life taking part. There is even a Rose Players company for adults! https://www.rosetheatrekingston.org/take -part/young-people

CRICKET NEWS An excellent afternoon from the Under 13 cricketers saw them as comfortable winners against the other Kingston Schools. They will progress to the next round of the games in the spring.

The Senior squad are finishing the season with an excellent team spirit which has seen them win two out of the last three games. Strong performances from Messrs Morlans-Whitehead, Fawsett, Coats, Long and Murugesu have really improved the 1 st XV defence which has been complimented by notably strong rugby schools such as John Fisher and RGS High Wycombe. A win on Wednesday 31 st against an all year 13 Latymer side was another impressive defensive performance. Sam Gunman really showed his potential with dynamic running and powerful tackling. A potential future leader of the 1 st XV? Elsewhere in school rugby, the U16 team hosted Belgrano Day School on tour from Argentina. Powerful runners and a lack of game understanding for the Tiffin side led Belgrano to a small victory which the boys were rightly disappointed with. Lots to work on for the Senior squad next season! The U12s continue their impressive season although just failed to get across the line against John Fisher after a last minute interception try. The U13B team are currently the team to beat at Tiffin with ten wins. Hopefully they, along with the rest of the sides can finish the 15s season on a high this Saturday at St George’s.

The Year 9 and Year 11 badminton teams have also progressed to the next round of the London Youth Games in early February. Year 9: Asaph Choi, Ninad Patil, Trinabh Kholi, Joe Murphy and Ashrith Behara (Year 8) Year 11: Varun Hanchinal, Aaryan Suriyakumaran, Tejas Kamath, Navraj Mann and Daniil Shmelev Captain Datta Vasireddy, Alex Cormack, Shivan Aggarwal, Harshil Shah,Farhaqan Shaikh, Iain Westbrook and Ashwin Bosé

Are you a TIPRA sup- porter yet: Tiffin parents supporting Tiffin school rugby? To find out who your TIPRA parent rep- resentative is please email ablackburn@ tiffin.kingston.sch.uk. Follow us on Twitter @tiffinrugby for up- dates on school rugby!

U16s v Belgrano Day School

On Wednesday 24 th January Tiffin Junior Dance Company (Y9 students) performed at The IGNITE Dance Festival at the Edmund Keane Theatre at Richmond College. Dancers performed the piece ‘Mi Gente’ which was a fusion of contemporary and street dance styles and the boys represented Tiffin extremely well! Our dancers took an active part in creating the movement material/ choreography.

Tickets are now on sale for this year’s main school production ‘The Madness of George III’ by Alan Bennett. The play is taking place from 5–8 February at 7 pm in the Drama Studio, and tickets can be bought online from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/ event/221979 Tickets are priced at £8 for adults and £5 for concessions. Alternatively, students can bring cash to the Drama Office and buy tickets at school.

Gavin Griffiths strolls over for his 3rd try in two games

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