Head's Newsletter 23 June 2017

hot weather has been rather trying this week, and I think the boys appreciated the extra mufti day. We will continue to review the situation although it looks at the moment as if temperatures are returning to more normal levels. GCSE and internal exams are now over, and we look forward to the year group celebrations later this term. A-levels will also shortly be finished. Year 11s have now moved on to work experience which many of them will be doing. It is also a very important time for Year 12 who will be engaging with our Higher Education Festival next week, preparing them for their options after their final year of school which they are now entering. Over the last few weeks we have held three official two minutes silences at School, reminding the boys not only of the uncertain times that we live in, but also that they share a part in a wider community to which they will contribute. In the next two weeks we will also witness some of the joys of being involved in schools, with the Year 6 boys who will be joining us in September coming to their New Boys Day, and with the reunion of old boys, and especially the leavers of 2007, returning to meet up again after 10 years away from Tiffin. Both events are always tremendous occasions and remind me of the unique role that schools, and especially Tiffin school, play in developing individuals as constructive members of society. Yours, M D Gascoigne, Headteacher

Dear Parents Firstly I would like to thank all those many parents who have contributed to the Tiffin Education Fund since our recent appeal went out, as well of course those parents who were previously already contributing. There is no question that we are coming under increasing strain because of declining income from the government, and it is therefore extremely important that parents give to the fund in order to maintain the fantastic educational provision at Tiffin. If you have not yet made a contribution to the fund, please do so: you may access the forms here . I would emphasise that all contributions are gratefully received, and if you are not able to give the recommended amount, please do give what you can afford. I would also like to thank those parents who contribute in other ways to the School, whether through doing the teas for the cricket, or helping with our garden, which you can read about on page 2. These newsletters give you a taste of the breadth and quality of education that Tiffin is able to offer. In this week’s there are articles on our successful dance, as well as the fantastic performances in the maths challenge and in the ‘Go4Set’. There is also an article on the great performance of our rowers at the National Championships, and you can watch the film of the fantastic J14 quad. Although there is no write-up in this letter, it was a great pleasure to witness some excellent cricket wins at Grist’s on Saturday against John Fisher; the sun certainly shone, and so did our boys! The

IMPORTANT DATES

Open Evening; school finishes at 12.40 pm. Y7, Y8 and other boys required for evening

Tuesday 11 July

Stop the Clock Day: Yrs 7-9 out on trips

Thursday 13 July

Tiffin-in-the-Garden 5.30 pm Founders’ Day; last day for boys

Friday 14 July

Thursday 20 July

Team Maths Challenge Success On Monday 19th June, the formidable team of Christian Cases, Arnav Jadhav, Jack Yu and Ojas Gulati set off to the Royal Horticultural Halls in Westminster to compete in the National Final of the Team Maths Challenge. Having breezed through to top place in their Regional Final, the team were up against 87 other schools. They took part in four rounds, solving a succession of mathematical problems including a particularly frenetic final relay round. Working fantastically well as a team they kept cool under pressure despite temperatures soaring into the 30s. After a tough first two rounds which placed them outside the top five, they came fighting back in the next two and at the end of six gruelling hours they were placed 5 th overall. This was an amazing achievement given that over 1700 schools entered the competition this year and is the best ever result for Tiffin. Congratulations go to all the members of the team for all of the hard work that they put in to prepare and on the day to achieve such a fantastic result.

This year’s Lower School Production sees Tiffin students perform one of Oscar Wilde’s classics: The Importance of Being Earnest in the Drama Studio on 3 rd and 4 th July. Each night will see a fantastic—and new — cast from Years 7 to 9 captivate you with this hilarious, classic social satire. Come and see an entertaining evening of farce, melodramatic characters, love interest, mistaken identity and the infamous Lady Bracknell proclaiming “a handbag”! Tickets are £6 for adults and £4 for concessions. All tickets are sold online, please book yours now at https:// www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/188961 . The performance starts at 7 pm and doors open from 6:45 pm. Garden Volunteering Day (Fri 30 th June) A garden Volunteering day is being organised by Helen O'Donovan (a Year 8 parent) on Friday 30 th June meeting at 11:30 in the Tiffin Garden. The aim is to gather together a group of happy helpers to get the Head’s Garden ready for the Summer season which includes Tiffin in the Garden and Open Day. There are some tools that can be borrowed but if you have any of your own (e.g. secateurs, digging tools and garden gloves) please bring them. If you have any questions email Helenswinburn@aol.com otherwise please turn up on the day.

We had a very good weekend at National Schools on 27 th and 28 th May, improving on last year's results. Each event has a time trial where crews are seeded and either get through to the multi-lane racing stage or go home, (which is what happened to us last year!). With standards always very high at National Schools, our goal was to aim to qualify in the time trail and have some fun, and if we were lucky we'd make the multi-lane racing stage. On Saturday our Senior quad made it through the time trials of Championship quads and raced in the C final to come 2nd (16th fastest Championship quad in the country). The seniors then split into 2 Championship doubles for the Sunday where the double of James Lawn and Jake Lane won the C final producing a sterling performance in a nail- biting race where barely a length separated the leading crews. A great performance that bodes well for their Henley preparation.

The J15s unfortunately didn't make it through the time trial stage, so some work to be done here, but they all put in a spirited performance on the day.

However the outstanding performance of the weekend came from the J14 crew of Eyoel Abebaw Mesfin, Nathan Cook, Daniel Smith and Harry Pham Thanh producing an out- standing result to come 4 th in the time trials (http://www.rowresults.co.uk/racensr/ Race7.pdf and then 4 th in the A Final. This makes them the fourth best J14 quad in the UK and the fastest state school quad at National Schools. The footage of this race is here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOnIlVoYyqw (about 7.30 minutes in).

Centre for Business and Technology in Sunbury. We have now received the Assessors’ Written Report which makes for very good reading:

Last Newsletter we commented on the success of our teams who attended the Engineering Scheme (EES) and Go4SET celebration day at BP’s International

Ignition Dance Festival Saturday 17 th June at The Rose Theatre Kingston. Ignition is a community dance platform. Now in its fourth year the festival supports community dancers, emerging artists and mid-career choreographers to create new choreography. Schools, youth groups, youth dance companies and other dance organisations had an opportunity to showcase their pieces at the Rose Theatre, Kingston. Tiffin Junior Dance Company (Year 8 students) performed a piece entitled ‘ Brotherhood’ . This specially commissioned contemporary dance piece, choreographed by Shaun Dhillon, was completed in 6 weeks. Our dancers did a magnificent job and were a highlight of the festival.

Trinity Laban dance trip On Tuesday 20 th June Year 10s participated in an open evening at Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance. This was a fantastic experience to rehearse

in the world’s most renowned School for Contemporary Dance but also to network with other like minded young people. Taking part in the class and learning Youth Dance Company repertoire has expanded Tiffin dancers’ horizons which will no doubt benefit their GCSE dance.