Head's Newsletter 17 March 2017

Dear Parents Welcome to another packed newsletter showing the extraordinary range of activities that Tiffin boys have been engaged with in the last two weeks. There have been a number of notable successes. In particular, mention must go to our dancers who performed in the London Youth Dance competition, coming third, a terrific performance, which you can watch by following the link. Also on the performing arts side, the choir have sung in 'Titanic live', a great opportunity to perform and showcase their talents at the Royal Albert Hall. In addition there is a report on the fantastic production of a Comedy of Errors which the Drama department put on. On the sports front there have been a number of successes in the rugby sevens competitions. In particular the U14s deserve special mention for their victories in both the Cedars and Surrey Schools Plate competitions, and again there is a link to watch their successes. The boys have been on many excellent trips and our success in the national debating competition is also reported on, as is the enjoyable Classics dinner! On the building front, the steel works for the foundations are now virtually complete and we are looking forward to the concrete for the ground floor slab being poured on Monday! It will not be long before we start to

see the new building arise! To see the film of the demolition of the old dining hall made by the boys of the Tiffin Broadcasting Network, click here .

You can of course make donations to the building appeal if you have not already done so by going to ParentPay . Alongside all this activity, the boys are of course working hard, especially those boys in years 11 to 13 who are approaching their exams. In addition senior boys have had lots of opportunities recently to listen to a variety of professionals giving different careers talks, including former pupils now working in various fields who have come back to share their experiences. It has been a real pleasure to catch up with these men who, seemingly not that long ago, were boys at Tiffin like your sons! Please do take note of the important dates below. Yours, M D Gascoigne, Headteacher

IMPORTANT DATES

The School Concert, All Saints’ Church, Kingston 7 pm

Thursday 30 March

Break up for Easter—School finishes just after midday

Friday 7 April

Monday 24 April

Start of Summer term—usual 8.30 start (week B)

Wednesday 26 April

Y10 Parents’ Consultations: School finishes at 14.40 pm

Monday 1 May

Bank Holiday—School closed

Y11 Study Leave commences

Friday 5 May

Y12 Study Leave commences

Friday 12 May

Y13 Study Leave commences

Friday 19 May

the way the country remembered those who sacrificed their lives in war. The jury of eminent historians commended Oscar for his thoughtful and well-argued speech. As the day went on, Oscar’s speech turned out to be one of many fascinating interpretations of the First World War’s impact, which reflects both the huge significance of the war and the talent possessed by the current generation of budding historians.

EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT

On Friday 10 th March a team of eight Year 12 politics students took part in the regional round of the European Youth Parliament’s debating competition. They spent weeks prior to the competition preparing for the debates which ranged across topics as varied as how the EU should deal with the Trump administration, the creation of an EU sugar tax and the regulation of the EU arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The judging panel commended the team for its thorough research, teamwork and eloquence and put the boys through to represent the South- East region at the National Session in Liverpool in the summer. The team consisted of Sulaiman Amin, Andrew Conder, Aditya Deshpande, Ujjaval Dhingra, Oscar Duffy, Adam Fereday, Nathan Langford and Haaris Malik. GREAT DEBATE On Saturday 11 th March, Year 12 history student Oscar Duffy competed in the Grand Final of the Historical Association’s ‘Great Debate’ competition. This year the topic for discussion was ‘How has the First World War affected me and my community?’ and fittingly the final was held at the Imperial War Museum. Oscar was one of 20 finalists from across the UK, having won the Central London heat earlier this year. He was first to make his speech and focused on how the First World War marked a turning point in

MUFTI DAY

Our next Mufti day is Thursday 23 rd March. The school council were impressed and a little overwhelmed by the 76 detailed nominations for charities we might have supported. After reviewing them all they chose ‘The Little Things’ nominated by Kavanan Karunakaran in Year 10 who has family links with the charity. It is a relatively new charity, set up by Medical students, to raise funds to improve healthcare in developing countries. They have recently funded an eye clinic in Arusha, Tanzania, for the local population living with diseases which could be easily treated and a premature baby clinic at Kilinochchi District General Hospital, Sri Lanka, which now offers life-saving treatment options for babies that previously had none. Boys are allowed to attend school without uniform if they make a minimum £2 donation to this charity via their form tutor and we are confident this will have a significant impact on many lives.

of Greek and Latin at University College London. The evening was much enjoyed by all and I would like to extend my thanks to the KGS Classics Department who made us all feel so welcome as always.

VISIT TO UCL On the 9 th March thirty enthusiastic Year 12 students went to UCL’s Institute of Education where they saw five excellent sessions of phenomenal physics on topics from the big bang to superconductors to rebuilding our society from scratch, finishing off with the physics of waves explained through rock music; who says physics is boring!

AS LATIN SET TEXTS LECTURE

The renowned Roman politician and orator Cicero would not often admit defeat. Especially in one of his published works. It is for that reason that the AS Latin set text pro Milone (‘In Defence of Milo’) is of such interest to Latinists and was one of the two pieces of Latin literature discussed (in addition to Virgil’s Aeneid book VIII ) at a series of lectures held on Tuesday 14 th March in central London. The eleven students of Latin who attended were very lucky to listen to lectures delivered by professors from the University of Oxford and University College London. They were all able to take away a great amount of information about the set texts which supplemented their learning in the classroom. This annual series of lectures deals with the set texts covered by the boys in their year 12 Latin syllabus and is an invaluable opportunity to experience university-level formal lectures in a wholly Classical environment. With any luck the boys will take on board the wealth of information discussed and find no reason to admit defeat of any sort in their examinations this summer!

The students were particularly captivated by the talk given by Dr Andrew Steele on superconductors and their extraordinary properties and many went to speak to him during the break to find out more (see photo above). It was an excellent insight into some ‘real’ physics and thoroughly enjoyed by all of the boys. CLASSICS DINNER 19 Tiffin Classics Students from Years 10-13 had the pleasure of attending the Kingston Grammar School Senior Classical Society Dinner at the Canbury Arms on Monday 6 th March. The boys were treated to a delicious 3 course meal and met with like- minded Classics enthusiasts from other schools before a very engaging and informative talk on the historian Herodotus by the esteemed academic, Professor Chris Carey, Emeritus Professor

Following its sell-out world premiere in 2015, Titanic Live returned to the Royal Albert Hall on 11 March in celebration of its 20th anniversary. Tiffin School supplied 40 trebles for the day’s double-screening of James Cameron’s 1997 romantic epic, accompanied by James Horner’s timeless score played live on stage by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Ludwig Wicki.

The level of ensemble playing was exceptionally high which is testament to the hard work put into weekly rehearsals by the boys and instrumental teachers.

On Wednesday 15 th March a concert of Chamber Music took place in the Walden Hall featuring: Tse String Quartet, Clarinet Choir, Guitar Ensemble, String Ensemble, Piano Trio, Hur String Quartet, Wind Quintet and Chamber Orchestra.

DRAMA On Thursday 9 th February Tiffin School's production of Shakespeare's 'The Comedy of Errors' came to its all-neon disco-pop finale. It was the first whole school production to be performed in the Drama Studio and it proved a huge success, continuously boasting large audiences. The fantastic performances from all actors and actresses and the retro style brought this Ancient Greek text to the 1980s, breathing new life into one of Shakespeare's earliest plays. Yet another incredibly enjoyable Tiffin production, Wham-packed with disco tracks, filled with audiences like a Flock of Seagulls, it was far better than any night out at the Spandau-ballet (these references are not for those with Simple Minds. A-Ha ha ha). Huge congratulations to all involved.

GEOGRAPHY DAY OUT

On Tuesday 28 th February, all the Year 12 geographers travelled to the heart of London to experience the effects of change on the city and how history has impacted on the buildings and the locals throughout the years. This journey took us through parts of the capital that many of us had never experienced before and provided unique insight into the changes that certain parts of London had undergone. One of the most interesting factors of change was the migration of people into London who had fled persecution and war and brought aspects of their culture with them. It was amazing to see evidence of this in the form of a mosque that has once been a synagogue and a church before that. We ended the day in Petticoat Lane, with a fresh view of the city that so many of us thought we knew .

Tiffin's U14 Squad have had a wonderful sevens season which has been the icing on top of a thoroughly enjoyable 15s season. The Sevens squad won both the Cedars U14 Plate on Sunday 5th March and the Surrey Sevens Plate on Tuesday 14th March. Along the way we beat Wallington, Wilsons, Worth, Bishop Thomas Grant, St James', Caterham, Emmanuel, Christ's Hospital and Halliford (and only lost to St Benedicts and Trinity). The Surrey semi final and final were televised and can be viewed by following the links: vs Christs' hospital: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beHgXG147DQ vs Halliford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlKxHFTjHvA . In twenty minutes of footage you will see 10 Tiffin tries shared between Josh Clough (4), Noor Elsheik (3) Jake Craddock (3) and Matthew Cormack (1). Other things to look out for include: Dan Smith catching his own kick off or off-loading a try scoring pass out of the back of his hand while being tackled, Nathaniel Tesfaye twice pouncing on loose ball to secure vital turn-overs and more quality tackles than the Head of Maths was able to count. In addition to all this individual brilliance the thing that really stands out is the teamwork - the defensive shape, the speed with which the ball is shipped wide to take advantage of space, the aggression with which every player goes into support their teammate in the tackle area and the camaraderie throughout the 12 man squad.

U14s winning the Cedars Plate

U14s winning the Plate at the Surrey Sevens

U12 Following on from their success at the Ibstock Schools 7s, hopes were high for the boys at the Surreys’, although we were only too well aware how much harder it was going to be. An opening victory against The Cedar’s School was followed by close defeats at the hands of Glyn and Emanuel, frustrating as we were ahead in both games only to concede silly second half tries. Dulwich College proved too strong and we proceeded to the afternoon stages as 4th placed team in our group. Playing much better 7s and rotating the whole squad effectively, we recorded very good victories against St James School, Ashcombe, and Hinchley Wood, scoring 65 points and conceding just 20. Our final game was against Reeds who had also gone unbeaten through the afternoon. Saving the best for last, we scored at a rate of a try per minute to win by 40 points to 5. U15 Tiffin U15 finished 4 th in a very difficult group at the John Fisher Founders Day 7s on Thursday 9 th March. Some of the strongest teams in the South of England graced the competition, and Tiffin were on the end of heavy defeats to Hampton and Wimbledon College, and Abingdon School. The U15s recovered to beat QE Barnet by several tries, and have made great improvements. A better performance is expected for the upcoming Surrey Schools’ 7s this Thursday. 1st VII Tiffin 1st VII reached the final of the Plate in the Middlesex 7s after strong performances from Stef Frost, Will Sharp and Hayden Hyde. The Surrey 7s proved a difficult day and with the result of the day a 14-12 loss to Dulwich who have won the Daily Mail Trophy and the National 7s numerous times. The boys look forward to next Wednesday’s National Schools 7s where the squad has an excellent chance of progression to the second day.

London Youth Games Dance Competition at the Copper Box

Exciting news … Year 9 managed to secure 3rd place (bronze medal) out of 22 schools in the London Youth Dance Competition at the Copper Box on Wednesday 8 th March. An amazing achievement from the dancers who represented the school so well. Here’s Edward Gravestock’s (9KB) account of the day: We had to get to the Olympic park by 9:00. As we were warming up, everyone was relieved to find we were 18 out of 22 in the running order of dance groups performing from across London. Watching the other groups go on before us was nerve-racking, the competition was tight and every new piece seemed to be better than the last. At last, our time came and we waited nervously on the side-lines for our names to be called; we knew that even to come tenth we would have to dance our hardest. I was shaking with nerves as I got into my place – I could see all three judges writing things about us before the dance had even started. Our music came on and everything got better from there – Oscar did his ballet solos, Arjan did his butterfly kick, James leapfrogged Krushan, Kush did his well-known freezes, Darren did his tornado kick and Sonny whipped out a backflip for the occasion, the energy was unstoppable and when we had finished, the applause kept on going from all three sides until we had left the arena. We got back to our seats and waited for the winner to be announced. Finally, the top three dance groups were announced, no-one could believe their ears when they announced that Tiffin was third, and we ran down to receive our medals and get pictures with the judges who included the famous dancer “Turbo”. On the minibus home Sonny said “I still can’t believe we came third” and everyone agreed.

Here is a link to the Dance Competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skTiMTzn1Rw&feature=youtu.be