Head's Newsletter 15 September 2017.p2hp

number of Old Tiffinians working with us for a year either pre or post-university. As we start the new term we have a series of open forums for different year groups when parents are able to meet their son’s Tutor and Head of Year and hear important information; we look forward to seeing We were delighted that once again our students achieved fantastic A Level and GCSE results. With 86% of A Level grades at A*-B, this was another terrific year, particularly as this was the first year of the new linear A Levels. These new exams are being brought in over 3 years by the Government, and signal the end of AS exams which used to be taken at the end of year 12. The high achievement of our students, among other things, allows them to progress to the courses and universities of their choice, and once again we have very high numbers of students achieving places at Russell Group universities, and on the most competitive courses. This was the first year of the new, different GCSEs and grading system in English and Maths, making comparisons difficult, but with 78% of grades at A*/A or equivalent, the performance of the Year 11 boys was excellent. parents there. Exam results

Dear Parents Welcome back to the new school year, and to the first newsletter of the year. I especially welcome all those parents of new boys both in Year 7 and Year 12, and hope that your sons are beginning to settle in very well. It's great to see all the boys as they return in September, and with 180 new boys in Year 7, and over 80 young men joining us new in Year 12, (representing 40% of the year), it is wonderful to welcome so many new faces and know that more pupils will be benefiting from the fantastic Tiffin education. I hope the induction programmes that we put on for these two year groups will have helped in their settling in to a new environment and we wish them all the best for the next 7 or 2 years. We also welcome a number of new staff this September. In English, we welcome Miss Ward and Miss Garrib, and Ms Child as Subject Leader. In Geography we welcome Miss Caudwell, in Music Miss Thomas and in Maths we welcome Mrs Sarma and Dr Selig. Ms Galvin takes over the post of LRC Manager, and we also welcome Mrs Gibson to the LRC, and Ms Smith as our new Music Administrator. We also welcome our new Head Groundsman, Mr Brickley, and as usual we welcome a

IMPORTANT DATES

Tuesday 19 September Thursday 21 September Monday 25 September Tuesday 26 September Thursday 28 September

Y8 Open Forum at 6.30 pm Y10 Open Forum at 6.30 pm Y12 Open Forum at 6.30 pm Y7 Open Forum at 6.30 pm Y9 Open Forum at 6.30 pm

Monday 2 October Tuesday 3 October Thursday 5 October

Professional Development Day; no boys in school

11+; no boys in school, except prefects

Sixth Form Open Afternoon and Evening; school closes 1 pm

Leavers’ Celebration It was excellent to be able to see the A Level students for the last time as a cohort at their Leavers’ Celebration last night. We were delighted to welcome Ken Olisa OBE as our guest speaker. Ken is an extremely successful businessman, and is currently also Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, acting as the Queen’s representative, and it was also good to reacquaint ourselves with his wife Julia, who used to teach at Tiffin. It was amazing to recall the successes of this year group, and we wish them all the very best as they move on to university or employment and hope they keep in touch through the Tiffin Association, which unites the alumni of the School.

Ken Olisa with last year’s Head Boy, Ali Fouladiasl (top) and Deputy Head Boy, Gurnam Grewal

End of summer term It seems a long time ago now but we have not reported on the final summer term events yet. We had a lovely ‘Tiffin in the Garden’ on the Friday evening of the penultimate week, and finished the term with a very good Founders’ Day, remembering the Tiffin brothers whose legacy nearly 400 years ago started the School.

Ken Olisa addressing the audience of boys , parents and teachers

Congratulations to Kingsley Montgomery House who won the overall competition, but special mention goes to the two new houses of Turing Nightingale and Darwin Wilberforce who performed admirably throughout the year. Summer events Although we had broken up for summer, a number of important events took place during the holidays. The choir were continually active, firstly performing to packed audiences on their tour to Spain, and then once again performing at the BBC Proms at the Albert Hall. They have also been rehearsing for the Royal Opera House, and will be performing with Tiffin Girls’ Choir at the Barbican where they will be conducted by the internationally renowned Sir Simon Rattle. The senior rugby squad had a pre-season training camp in Sussex which paid off when they won their first match in our first full rugby fixtures on Saturday against Reigate Grammar. New building

The final week was taken up with our last House activities. We had a great rowing regatta, and a fantastic swimming gala at the new venue in Walton where the pool has 8 lanes for 8 Houses. The House competition finished as usual with our terrific Sports Day at the Kingsmeadow Stadium.

The new building is coming along extremely well. The building is watertight, the roof is being completed, the curtain wall has been going in as well as the internal walls, and work has commenced on the front where the old tatty fence is being replaced by a

new boundary and new pedestrian entrance as part of the works.

cannot drive onto the site, and that if you do need to visit the School for any reason you must go through the pedestrian gate (Hilmy Gate) on the corner of Queen Elizabeth Road and Birkenhead Avenue, and report to reception. As always we are very grateful to parents for their support of the School. Please do come and support your sons when they are playing in rugby matches or indeed in other sporting fixtures, and please do offer your support to the parent groups which support rugby, rowing, music and other things. We thank parents also for contributing to the Tiffin Education Fund. Without these contributions we would not be able to offer such an outstanding education. If you are yet to do so, please go to this link to download and return forms for contributions. We wish our pupils a very successful year and look forward to seeing parents at the open forums. Yours, M D Gascoigne Headteacher

The reconfiguration of the upstairs of the current building where it meets the new building has been completed, and our new IT room is now available for use. It is certainly exciting as we look forward to the completion of the building in January.

Thanks to the Tiffin Parents’ Association for funding the computers.

We have also been undertaking a large number of other works around the site over the summer. As well as ongoing renovations to the Main Building, a completely new fire alarm system has been installed, as has a new electronic door entry system, making the site more secure. I would remind parents that you

of Snowdonia national park. It’s been another great season for staff and participants. Well done boys!

DUKE OF EDINBURGH EXPEDITIONS Tiffin Boys continue to show their aptitude for navigation and adventure within the school’s DofE Expedition programme, facilitated by Simon Blyth and staff from Resilience Education & Adventure Ltd. This year over 200 pupils in year groups 10 to 13 have taken part in training practice and Qualifying ventures which are self- sufficient in nature, with a great emphasis on co-operation and teamwork. These outdoor journeys are undertaken in adventurous and challenging terrain and weather conditions.

Boys develop their skills and confidence through Bronze, Silver and Gold Award levels, which takes them from the rolling beauty of the surrey hills, to the epic Brecon Beacons routes and onto the ridges

construction company prepared for me, through which I was able to learn about every role in a construction project the size of London Bridge Station. Every day was something new, whether it was working with the CAD specialists behind the 3D models and planning or going on site with the mechanical engineers and seeing the work that goes on from behind the public

Year 11 and Year 12 went to work 110 students from Year 11 and Year 12 organised diverse and imaginative placements for themselves for the fortnight we free up for work experience in July. They represented Tiffin superbly, with their hosts commonly praising their curiosity, independent thinking, problem solving skills, ability to get on with others and their approach to work. The feedback gathered so far from students indicates that it was a largely positive experience from their side too, with highlights including attending important meetings, learning new skills, learning about work from the people who do the jobs, understanding how business is done and free food! As one student put it, “I learned a lot that I wouldn't have by being in school or even online”, which nicely sums up why we continue to support and encourage work experience as part of their education. Damon Ho (pictured on his work experience) got a place on a two-week structured shadowing programme alongside other students from Tiffin and other schools. “I worked at a Costain office that worked on the redevelopment of London Bridge Station. I was lucky to have a timetable with various different departments in the

view. I really value the experience these two weeks have given me. I was treated well and looked to as a young adult rather than a child that needed to be looked after. I enjoyed the lively workplace and the openness of all the people I met, some of whom I got to know more personally. I took this as an opportunity to ask questions and really come to an understanding of the happenings in a real life work place. It was a really enjoyable and appreciatively hard experience that I am forever thankful for.” Facing a grilling – Year 12 interview day During ‘HE week’ all of last year’s Year 12s were given the opportunity to experience an interview with one of 41 volunteers who regularly interview in their work-life. Following a CV workshop and personal development session with Tiffin staff earlier in the week, the aim of the interviews was to give each student the chance to practise presenting and talking

about themselves in a professional way, to help them prepare for future university or job interviews.

CHARITABLE DONATIONS A group of boys in Years 7 to 9 raised £138 for our Autumn MUFTI charity, The Lunchbowl Network. We were delighted to receive the following letter: “On behalf of The Lunchbowl Network (www.lunchbowl.org), I just wanted to say a huge 'Thank You' to all at Tiffin School, for supporting the charity through the sale of ‘spider’ key rings. The boys raised a total of £138 which equates to feeding over 400 children for a day - many thanks for the generous donation to the charity. As you are aware, the goal of the Lunchbowl Network is to continue to make a difference in the lives of the orphans in the Kibera and with the help of donations from supporters such as Tiffin, we will continue to supply healthy and nutritious meals and educate increased numbers of children attending the feeding centre. I attach a thank you picture from the children of Lunchbowl Angel kindergarten.”

"The mock interviews were really helpful for me personally – beforehand, I was expecting the volunteers to ask typical questions that you would be asked in an interview setting, but in reality the interview was much more in depth. Not only did we discuss topics that would crop up in a specific job interview, but we also talked about careers in general, as well as how I present myself on my CV and in real life. I now know I will definitely be more confident in future interviews having had the practice, and I will be able to think faster on my feet now knowing that these sorts of interviews can take unexpected turns." Rory McKeon, 13PR Many of the volunteers were friends of Tiffin or parents of Tiffin students. I would like to thank them for helping with student nerves, for their specific feedback for each student and for making the event such a success. Ms Varley Careers Adviser

MUFTI DAY FOR JUSTDIGGIT Our most recent Mufti Day raised £1,291.47 for ‘Justdiggit’, a Dutch Foundation with the mission to restore landscapes in vulnerable regions and create positive awareness for climate action.

I am delighted that the Tiffin Boys’ Choir was invited to return to the BBC Proms for a second consecutive year, and so, this summer term ended with the choir performing alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers and Slovak Philharmonic Choir in Mussorgsky’s Khovanschina, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 from the Royal Albert Hall (photo below).

Kingston, it was unusual for the choir to be appearing, as live, in two countries simultaneously, also at the Santuaria de la Peregrina in Sahun on their tour of Spain. Other venues included the Palacio Figueroa and San Sebastian Church in Salamanca, as well as the Cathedrals of Salamanca and Burgos. The welcome received by the choir was truly

remarkable. Not only were the seats at each performance ‘sold out’ but, at most venues, not even standing room remained for the audience. Walking to the front of a queue hundreds of metres long, and singing to such packed houses, gave the singers and the performance a

This was, however, not the choir’s only appearance on national radio last term. One week earlier, Classic FM broadcast Tiffin Boys’ Choir’s 60 th Anniversary Concert from All Saints’ Church Kingston. The choir of sixty was formed of more than thirty trebles, alongside recent alumni, including Gareth Johns, baritone soloist in the choir’s performance of Faure’s Requiem. Following their time in the choir, many alumni have achieved highly in the music profession, and Gareth is no exception, performing this year as a soloist with Welsh National Opera. During the broadcast of this concert from

buzz not experienced every day. The secular tour venues gave the choir the opportunity to present a concert of two contrasting halves: the first including Benjamin Britten’s The Golden Vanity, starring choristers Daniel Blaze and Joshua Dennis (captains) with Aditya Deshmuk, Daniel McCarthy and Joe Desmond

(bosun and cabin boys).

many GCSE and A- level students who return after exams to support and say goodbye to Tiffin, including two exceptional violinists: Christopher McDonald and Jim Tse. Long may this

Alongside the choir’s summer concert, the school’s musicians also prepared for the department’s other, traditional events to celebrate the end of the school year. The choir played its central role in Tiffin’s Founders’ Day Service singing, among other works, Vaughan Williams’ ‘Lord thou hast been our refuge’, with the trumpet part played by leaver, Adam Meyer, who will be taking up his scholarship place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2017. Following an intense period of study leave and exams, the school’s instrumental groups also reassembled to perform at ‘Tiffin-in-the-Garden’, the annual outdoor festival of music with food provided by the parents’ association. Performances were given by the Swing Band, Jazz Combo, Orchestra, Brass Band and Wind Band, as well as a variety of chamber groups. This event is also traditionally the platform for the winners of the Year 9 ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition. This year, the standard of performances given by the bands was especially high, reflecting the musical talent of the outgoing Year 9 pupils. As a result, not one, but five winning bands were chosen to perform, many presenting very creative and original work. Many of the performances, including the orchestra’s fourth movement from Dvorak Symphony 8, would not have been possible without the dedication of the

tradition continue. The event was also our opportunity to say goodbye to members of staff: Patrick Taggart (Visiting Flute Teacher) and Rebecca Bevan (Music Administrator). Many of the opportunities written about here would simply not be possible today without Rebecca’s tireless dedication to Tiffin over many years. Just one day earlier, Tiffin musicians spent their day at the Rose Theatre. Here the Tiffin Boys’ Choir, Oratorio Choir, Children’s Chorus and chamber instrumentalists participated in a performance entitled ‘Sea Stories’. Directed by Jeremy James Taylor, the show included Britten’s Golden Vanity, performed by the Tiffin Boys’ Choir, Roxanna Panufnik’s Upside Down Sailor, performed by school instrumentalists alongside actors and musicians from the Royal College of Music, and Sinbad the Sailor, written by former Director of Music David Nield and performed by Kingston Children, including Oratorio and Children’s Chorus members. Performing these dramatic pieces in a space like the Rose Theatre was particularly rewarding and, after squeezing the dress rehearsals into just one morning, the pupils gave excellent matinee and evening performances, for which there was a royal audience, followed by an opportunity to meet and receive thanks from the royal guests.

HOUSE CHAMPIONSHIP

KM Seniors gather to celebrate winning the house trophy and the sports day trophy. Captains Laurence Ellis and Krishan Sachdeva, both wearing KM green, hold the trophies.

YEAR 12 INDUCTION On Wednesday 6th September nearly 200 Year 12 students descended on Grist’s for their induction day. It was a fantastic event organised by the team from Wise Up, which included a variety of practical problem solving tasks designed to test their mental and physical mettle. It was a great opportunity for new and returning students to get to know each other and work as part of a team and finished with the best task of the day, creating catapults to throw water bombs at

the competition! This is a fantastic part of the induction week and gives both the boys and the tutors the opportunity to work together in a fun and challenging environment.

CRICKET The Cricketer Magazine wrote to let us know that in a judging panel to determine the Top 100 cricketing schools in the country, Tiffin School was adjudicated to be one of those schools. They received 250 submissions this year, and to determine the Top 100 they judged each entry against a set of carefully considered criteria set by The Cricketer. It really is a great achievement to make it into this year’s guide. We will appear in their prestigious supplement ‘The Playing Fields Of England: An A-Z Guide To The Summer Game’s Top 100 Schools 2018’ accompanying the December issue of the magazine (hits the newsstand on 24 th November). CANOEING During the summer holidays Arthur Leech, now in Year 13, raced in the National Canoe Championships and is now National Junior Canoe Champion for this year. As a result of this he has been selected by British Canoeing to represent Great Britain, competing at the Olympic Hopes Competition in the Czech Republic in September; a fantastic achievement.

RUGBY Tiffin rugby started quickly and with mixed results at the beginning of the 2017/18 season. We have a new block fixture on the first Saturday, with eight teams playing Reigate. A mixed set of results but promising performances from all teams. The performance of the weekend went to the U15A team who ran out convincing 40 – 19 winners with Noor Elsheikh running in an excellent try. The 1st XV opened the season away to Reigate on the same pitch they suffered a heart breaking 21- 19 defeat at the end of a long season. With the boys keen for revenge, hard carrying from Kokhulan Ramanathan, Vitti Murugesu and Cameron Helsby as well as incredibly resilient defence led to a first win for Captain Gavin Griffith (scoring below) and his team.

Unfortunately, the 1st XV could not match Saturday’s win against KCS Wimbledon on Wednesday but with lots to work on and a new forwards coach to help out, it promises to be a successful season.

WIMBLEDON Pictured are the Tiffin boys who were fortunate enough to be Ball Boys at the Wimbledon championships this year.