Head's Newsletter 10 May 2019

BRITISH INFORMATICS OLYMPIAD On Wednesday 19 th December, 10 students took part in the British Informatics Olympiad, a 3 hour programming competition requiring students to produce code for 3 different problems of increasing difficulty. The competition is targeted at older students, but it was heartening to see so much enthusiasm with Years 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13 represented. The large quantity of fully working programs was incredibly encouraging, with some excellent scores achieved by many. Special congratulations should go to Ojas Gulati (Y8), who qualified for the National Final at Trinity College Cambridge, one of a select few. Ojas wrote about his experience there: " On Friday 29 March, I arrived at Trinity College, Cambridge. I had been invited as I was one of the top 15 students from the previous round, which was run across the country and included all students from sixth form and below. The final began with a series of preparation sessions, covering topics like Dynamic Programming and Graph Theory. The contest was an intense, 5-hour programming exam on Saturday, with awards given on Sunday. The event was really fun and I enjoyed the kind and highly talented (yet much older!) community that came there. I look forward to entering again next year. " Huge congratulations to Ojas. (sample question below!)

The last MUFTI day supported Muscular Dystrophy UK, in particular memory of former Tiffin student Jonathan Holden. Muscular Dystrophy UK helps those with over 60 muscle-wasting conditions and the relative rarity of such conditions means the charity's specialist services are crucial. Jonathan Holden, who suffered from Muscular Dystrophy, is remembered fondly by staff at Tiffin, particularly for his work in DT and his immense success, despite the challenges he faced. We raised the grand total of £2,077.42.

SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICES AT TIFFIN

Tiffin now has access to two members of the School Health team. We continue to have Veronica (School Health Practitioner), who is in school on Mondays and Thursdays. Additionally to this we have Jo (Specialist School Nurse) available on Mondays. Jo and Veronica will be based in the room opposite Room 17. There is a set drop in time of Monday lunchtime, though the boys can also attend at any other time on Mondays and Thursdays for support with their health and well-being by knocking on the door. Pupils can also be referred to the School Health Team via their form tutors or Heads of Year.