Head's Newsletter 2 March 2018

Dear Parents It has certainly been eventful with the ‘beast from the east’ disrupting travel and bringing very poor conditions to school this week. Obviously we look forward to everything being fully back to normal on Monday when we will be returning to the usual spring weather. It was good to see parents at the Year 7 Parents’ Consultations last week and we look forward to seeing Year 8 Parents at the rescheduled Consultations on Thursday, 8 March. The term is progressing very quickly with only four weeks left until we break up for Easter, and the pace of work for year 11 and year 13 is obviously accelerating. It's been good to hear about the successful offers that Year 13 have been receiving and we hope their efforts will bear fruit in the summer. The building is coming along very nicely and we are hoping to be able to occupy it straight after the Easter holidays. It has been very exciting to see the progress and to see the landscaping and new entrance being done around the building, which will undoubtedly improve the playground area. We have raised around £180,000 so far towards our £200,000 target for the building, and we are hopeful that we will reach that target very soon. This is the last chance for parents to get their name on the commemorative plaque for donors of £500 or above, or the commemorative

webpage for £50 donations. Thank you to all those who have donated so far. To donate to the New Building Fund, simply log in to ParentPay , choose a ‘Voluntary Donation - New Building Appeal’ option and put in the amount you wish to donate. Alternatively, you can donate by bank transfer or cheque; please see the form to do so. Please also remember to tick the Gift Aid consent if you are eligible to do so as we are able to then claim back from the Government 25p in every £1 donated. There are many interesting reports in this newsletter, demonstrating again the breadth of opportunities available at Tiffin. There is a final write-up of the 1stXV rugby performances now that the block fixtures have finished and we are into the rugby sevens season. Other sporting successes in cross country and table tennis are also in the newsletter. We've had some excellent trips go out recently including of course the biggest ski trip that we have done as a School; my thanks especially to Mr Marley and the 15 other staff who made this trip possible. We have also had day trips within the Classics Department and a new trip to Chinatown for the boys learning Mandarin. You can also read in the newsletter about the chess and debating successes as well as the participation of our student mental health ambassadors in a local conference. Yours, M D Gascoigne, Headteacher

IMPORTANT DATES

Thursday 8 March

Y8 Parents’ Consultations: School finishes at 1 pm

Tuesday 20 March

Spring Ensembles Concert 7 pm

Thursday 29 March

Break up for Easter holiday

Monday 16 April

Start of Summer term

Y10 Parents’ Consultations: School finishes at 1 pm

Wednesday 25 April

CLASSICS DEPARTMENT REPORT

were lectured by leading experts from a range of universities, including Oxford and UCL. In the afternoon the boys were taken on a tour of the Mithraeum in the City of London, an 1800 year old Roman temple (see below). The building, dedicated to the god Mithras, has been restored to its original site. It lies beneath the new multi- million-pound Bloomberg headquarters near Mansion House. Boys got to explore various artefacts before immersion in the depths of the original Temple, 7 metres below street level. This was an extraordinary, never-to-be-forgotten experience for us all.

The final week of last half-term was an action-packed one for the Classics Department. Mr Karski selected candidates for the ARLT Classical Reading Competition. He was really impressed by the number of quality entrants who showcased their talents at reading Latin texts aloud in auditions. Congratulations go to Georgiy Lesyuk, Haseeb Rahman and Will Tilotson who have been selected to represent Tiffin in the Junior Competition, to Euan O’Connor and Harry Lambert in the Intermediate Section, and Duncan Tarboton and Dylan Hillier in the Seniors. We wish them luck in the Competition. On Wednesday 7 th February 19 Senior Classicists attended a highly entertaining performance of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata at the Shaw Theatre. Using Alan Somerstein’s much-loved translation, the amateur cast managed to balance the original flavour of the ancient Greek play with some very amusing, if somewhat risqué, contemporary touches! This served as an excellent introduction to Greek Comedy and was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

My thanks as always go to my colleagues who help to facilitate such wonderful opportunities for the boys. Mrs O’Connell VISIT TO CHINATOWN On Monday 19 th February 15 Mandarin students from Years 8-10 belatedly celebrated Chinese New Year on a visit to Chinatown with Mrs Thompson. During the course of the day the boys explored a Chinese book shop, supermarkets and bakeries where they were able to learn more about Chinese culture and to put their speaking and reading skills to the test.

Then on Thursday 8 th February 28 GCSE Classicists attended a series of lectures of Latin and Greek texts at Westminster School organised by Mrs Attenborough. The boys were given a valuable insight into University life as they

In addition, they enjoyed a fantastic Dim Sum lunch which served as a useful and interesting introduction to Chinese table manners. They also got to try bubble tea and some delicious cakes in the afternoon. This was a really enjoyable experience for all involved and my thanks go to Mrs Thompson for organising the trip and giving the students this opportunity.

been beaten by Vincent Trieu (Darwin Wilberforce) in the pool stages - he came back to win all his remaining games, including an exciting final against Vincent. Raleigh narrowly won the senior tournament beating Livingstone into second place. Kingsley Montgomery did just enough to win the overall chess trophy (due to very strong results in the Year 7 to Year 11 competitions) with Churchill Gordon in second place.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS In further exciting news, our boys won their match (4-2) against a very strong KCJS Wimbledon Team, booking themselves a spot against Hampton or Reigate in this region’s final. The country is split into 14 regions, so to have reached the final they are (speculatively) amongst the strongest 28 teams in the country. A phenomenal achievement to have reached considering this is the first time in over a decade that Tiffin have entered a team.

SENIOR HOUSE CHESS On 23rd January, while the Sports Hall was buzzing with the noise of the Year 9 Parents Consultation, the Main Hall was captivated by the hush of the Senior House Chess Competition. An excellent turn out saw 47 boys competing for the coveted Senior House Chess Trophy in an intense 2 hour tournament. Each boy participated in five matches with 10 minutes on each clock. On board one Henry Maxwell (Turing Nightingale) was the victor - despite having

SKI TRIP

The largest Tiffin School ski trip for a number of years set off for the slopes of Axamer Lizum resort in the Tirol, Austria. 109 intrepid pupils and 16 staff got up very early on Friday 10 th February to make the journey to Stansted to pick up our privately chartered flight to Munich.

Once the sun went down, the boys were entertained in the evenings with an IMAX cinema visit, unlimited 10-pin bowling evening, and everybody’s favourite, the in- house casino night! I must pass on a huge thank you to all boys for their excellent behaviour and positive attitude throughout the week, and to all the staff who devoted their half-term week to help the boys learn to ski! Can’t wait for the next one … Mr Marley

The size of our hotel was only matched by the food portions at dinner, and the whole party enjoyed the Alpine experience.

We skied in excellent conditions in the Azamer Lizum resort for 5 full days, and made the most of the hearty cuisine, fresh air and breathtaking views. Despite starting with over 50 beginner skiers, the boys made astonishing progress, and were skiing all over the mountain by the end of the week!

RUGBY REPORT

This season each year group will receive an A and B team Coach’s player and a Players’ Player of the Season award as well as a Most Improved Award for one member of the two squads. Good luck to all for the awards and the sevens season and well done on the completion of a gruelling fifteen-a-side season!

The 1st XV finished their season as they began it, in mixed fashion. The penultimate fixture and final Saturday was as absolute mud bath of a game against St George’s School, Harpenden, alma mater to the likes of Owen Farrell and George Ford. It is safe to say even they may have struggled on this biblical morning. A picture paints a thousand words as can be seen from the photos in this report. Suffice to say it was a tough game against a typically large pack and Tiffin were unlucky to lose the mud wrestle 28 – 14. Fawsett scored another try, typifying his work ethic and contribution to the team this year and Dan M-W finally found his kicking boots however, it wasn’t quite enough. The 1st XV squad ended the season having played 22, won 9 and lost 13.

Morlans Whitehead finds a half gap

Are you a TIPRA supporter yet: Tiffin parents supporting Tiffin school rug- by? To find out who your TIPRA par- ent representative is please email ablackburn@tiffin.kingston.sc h.uk. Follow us on Twitter @tiffinrugby for updates on school rugby!

The 1 ST XV Squad after the Battle for Harpenden

Scrum time

The teams of the year both ended on a high with good wins over St George’s School, Harpenden. The U12A team ended the season with ten wins and the U13B team finished with eleven wins. Huge congratulations to all involved.

The debating society

MENTAL HEALTH

The Debating Society has been very busy with lots of fixtures in addition to its regular Monday lunchtime debates. On Tuesday 30 th January, Tiffin’s senior pair travelled to Hampton School. Having beaten Surbiton High in the first round of the English Speaking Union Debating Competition, Tiffin clashed with The Lady Eleanor Holles School in the second round. Arguing against the motion: This House would prohibit the media from using software to cosmetically improve an individual's appearance , Aditya Deshpande (Year 13) and Keir Hackman (Year 12) prepared and delivered speeches while also rebutting the points made by the proposition, eventually winning the debate. However, only one school out of the four competing could progress that day – and that was the winner of the other debate, Tiffin Girls. Nevertheless, the adjudicator praised the boys’ delivery and quick wit, placing them in second place. Two intermediate teams competed in the London Region heat of the ESU’s Public speaking competition at St Mark’s Catholic School in Hounslow. Saij Lamba, Bakr Al- Derzi and Harry Lambert performed very well to scoop the runner-up prize with Harry being judged best questioner and Bakr outstanding personality. In addition Kajan Kailayanathan, in our second team, was awarded the Best Chairperson prize. Another Senior Team competes at Dulwich College next Monday and The Cambridge Schools Debating Competition is also coming up later this month so there is plenty more opportunity for success.

On 20 th January, twelve specially selected Year 9 students attended a conference at Coombe’s Girl School about mental health in our society and its effects. They listened to many speakers teaching them about strategies that they can employ to help others. They collaborated with other schools to discuss why people may feel certain ways, what effect it has on them and how to support them. They listened and responded with great maturity and represented the school exceptionally well. These 12 students are Tiffin’s latest group of mental health ambassadors and will venture to use what they have learnt to the benefit of our School and its students.

Tom Armstrong represented Surrey in the inter counties cross-country competition on Saturday 3 rd February in Newbury. He was part of the Junior Boys’ team and they won the South East Inter-counties title.

TEAM MATHS CHALLENGE

based on games won. In the round of 16 an unlucky draw pitted Tiffin against Tiffin, Aarya vs. Parin. It was a thrilling match that went right to the wire, Aarya winning in the final game. Further misfortune in the draw saw Tiffin against Tiffin in the quarter finals, Aarya vs. Ashrith. Incredibly shots from both players dazzled spectators but it would be Ashrith’s day, as he progressed to the semi- finals and booked his place in the London individual championships. In the semi-finals we were in awe of the quality of table tennis on show, Ashrith narrowly missing the final. Well done to all competitors!

On Tuesday 27 th February, the formidable team of Ojas Gulati, Nathaniel Johnson, Benedek Szilvásy and Jack Yu journeyed down to Churcher’s College in Petersfield to take part in a regional final of the UKMT Team Maths Challenge. The team breezed through the first two rounds working together to ensure a perfect score with plenty of time to spare. They continued their success in the afternoon – not even dropping a single mark in the notorious shuttle round – to win the competition by a large margin and earn themselves a place in the national final in June. Congratulations go to the boys for their dedication in preparing for the day, resulting in Tiffin’s best performance yet.

PUBLIC HEALTH ANNOUNCEMENT Kingston Council is promoting cancer screening . There are three national cancer screening programmes in England ( cervical , breast and bowel ), and they save thousands of lives every year. Everyone is encouraged to take up their screening entitlement—find out if you’re suitable here . There is a better chance of recovery if cancer is found early . If you are or know someone suitable who has not been invited to make an appointment, please contact your local GP practice . You can also email the Kingston Council Public Health Team directly at phps@kingston.gov.uk ; all queries welcome.

TIFFIN TABLE TENNIS The U16 South London individual qualifiers took place on Tuesday 6 February. Darshan Kumaresan, Krushan Krishnananthan, Luca Chan and Tom Ogle headed to Wallington. All players were impressive against some fierce opposition, with Darshan and Krushan progressing to the quarter-finals. The U13 South London individual qualifiers took place on Friday 9 February. Ashrith Behara, Harshil Shah, Oliver Cheung, Aarya Karthik, Parin Shah and Qais Kamaraldin went to Whitgift. The standard was exceptionally high; Harshil, Qais and Oliver each won 2 matches but narrowly missed out on qualification from the group stages