Headteacher's Newsletter - Friday 20th October 2023

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Parent Newsletter Autumn #7- Friday 20th October 2023

Engage · Aspire · Excel

From the Headteacher

Important Notices

Term Dates

Exam Invigilators

A reminder that school resumes for all year groups on Monday 6th November. The Autum Term finishes just after midday on Friday 15th December.

School Development Parent Partnerships Well Done Year 7!

Kingston Mental Health Support Team Survey Kingston MHST are conducting a parental survey in order to identify workshops that our parents might appreciate and benefit from. If you would like to contribute to their survey you will find it here.

Piano Competition

Exam Invigilators

Oratorio Choir

Science Museum

From the Director

We Are Looking For EXAM INVIGILATORS

In this newsletter I just wanted to thank parents for a growing sense of partnership this term. Tiffin school, and the education of your children, is significantly enriched through parent involvement. More parents partnering us through contributions to the Tiffin Education Fund has already started to make a difference. I have also appreciated your feedback through ‘Tell us at Tiffin’ and some parents have reached out to me and offered to ‘give back’ their expertise in particular areas to enhance school life; and thank your very much to the parents’ rugby association who ran a very successful comedy evening last Friday. I have also been very impressed by the attitudes of your children and would like to highlight the Sixth Formers who helped with our 11+ and Sixth Form Form Open Day, in particular. Thanks for the comments on our parental communications – if you would still like to feedback the link is below.

Creative Writing

Sixth Form Production

Capoeira Workshop

House Dance

Sports Roundup

SEND Board

We are looking for exam invigilators to join our existing exams team.

The successful candidates must be available to work the main exam season from mid-May until the end of June, as well as various time during the year (eg, mock exams).

Parent Communication Survey

Are you reliable, confident and a good communicator?

I hope that you and your children have a good half term.

Do you excel in roles that involve interpersonal interaction and require meticulous attention to detail?

Best wishes

020 8546 4638

Get in Touch

Garth Williams Headteacher

Full training is provided so previous experience is not necessary.

office@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk

Engage · Aspire · Excel

Well Done Year 7! Congratulations to Year 7 who have completed their first half term here at Tiffin. It has been fantastic to see the year group embracing all that the school has to offer. From House Dance and General Knowledge, to Inter-Form Singing and representing the school for rugby fixtures and music events, they’ve done it all! They have taken the early challenges of secondary school in their stride and we look forward to seeing them continue to thrive throughout this year and beyond. We hope they enjoy a well earned half term and take the weeks running up to Christmas as an opportunity to try something new. Piano Competition 2023

School Development

‘Tell us at Tiffin’ is a new platform for parents to feed back positive comments and helpful suggestions across all areas of school life. Feedback will be reviewed regularly by the Senior Leadership Team and a collective response will be given via the Parent Newsletter. To submit your comments, please click the link below and log into Insight. You will find the ‘Tell us at Tiffin’ page under the ‘General’ tab.

Congratulations to the 15 pupils who, following the preliminary round of the piano competition, have been selected to perform in the final. The standard this year is exceptionally high, with many excel lent performances not making it through the first round due to the high level of competition. Notable were the many very challenging works presented by pupils from all year groups: not only sixth form pupils but also those in the lower school. Works ranged from Chopin’s Ballades (1 and 3) and Ra chmaninov’s Preludes (in B and C sharp minors) to Schubert’s Impromptu Op.90 No.2 and Villa-Lobos’ Polichenelo. Those selected as finalists are, in the Junior category: Teddy (7HES), Nikhil (7OM), Jack (8HB), Carlos (7OM) and David (7TW); for the Inter mediate category: Lucas (8RXH), Joseph (8RXH), Ethan (9AE), Yichen (10JE) and Hansen; and per forming within the Senior category: Leela (12MT), Borimir (12LMO), Matt (12LMO), Alan (13SJC) and

Submit Feedback Here

Parent Partnerships

Together

for Tiffin For many years, the generosity of parents such as yourself has helped us to provide a wide range of opportunities and activities to broaden and enrich the education of Tiffin students. From the performing arts to the sports field, in the classroom and beyond, the Tiffin Education Fund has been the cornerstone of the provision of an outstanding all-round education. Now more than ever, the assistance of the whole Tiffin community is crucial in helping us to continue to offer all of our students an exciting Tiffin education. Many families choose to give a regular gift of £70 a month; some families give more, some less and we are grateful for all contributions. Regular gifts by direct debit give us a predictable income so we can plan ahead to ensure that whatever their choice from our wider opportunities programme, each and every student will benefit from the Tiffin Education Fund.

Mia (12LO). They will perform for guest adjudicator John Irving (piano and fortepiano soloist, and profes sor at the Universities of Bristol and London) in the competition final at 7pm on Tuesday 7th November in the Walden Hall, located in the Chester Centre Building. All are welcome to attend this event to which entry is free of charge and no ticket is required. Tiffin Oratorio Concert Tiffin Oratorio Concert 2023: The Dream of Gerontius, Sunday 19th November 7pm Our largest-scale concert is taking place this term, on Sunday 19th November, in the Sports Hall. The Oratorio Choir, made up of singers from across the Tiffin community, will join with all the school choirs to sing Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius alongside professional orchestra and soloists. Tickets can be purchased here. Please do join us for this spectacular event.

Donate Here

Thank you for your support – regular donations have the power to collectively make a huge difference. If you have any questions about donating to the School, please contact development@tiffin.kingston.sch. uk

Engage · Aspire · Excel

Thoughts from the Director

Science Museum Trip

On Thursday 12th October, all 186 Year 7 students embarked on their first school trip as cohort to the Science Museum. By all accounts, pupils had a great day exploring different areas and exhibits in the Science Museum, with time to complete specific tasks in their workbook but also time to enjoy look ing at items that interested them individually in order to develop their independence alongside their passion for Science. The highlight of the day had to be the hour long session in the Wonderlab, where all of the exhibits were hands-on, such as slides (to test the friction of different surfaces), a rotating model of the solar system, and a number of live demos from the Science Museum Explainers. The Tiffin Venetian blazer is iconic, and leads to us being recognised in most places that we go - it was particular ly pleasing to receive positive feedback from the museum staff, particularly after an impromptu work shop that was offered to the lucky 7JM as a result of a last-minute cancellation from another school where Miss Mitchell was told she should be proud of how amazing our students are! Well done Year 7 for an excellent start to your time representing Tiffin.

In my role as an English teacher and latterly Director of Literacy, I’ve found that my own reading is often the subject of curious enquiry. I’d like to use this platform to share what I’m reading and will be gently chivvying colleagues to do the same. This half term, I am to be holidaying on some of the Aegean islands and also taking the opportunity to read Stephen Fry’s retelling of the Greek myths, Mythos*. As I often tell my students, there really is no better way than reading to develop crucial skills. In an increasingly uncertain and contradictory world, reading literary writing develops and manages an awareness and understanding of uncertainty and contradiction. It is an encounter that involves both sensory experience and detachment from that experience. In short it develops what is needed to successfully navigate life.

Truth, like reality, is an encounter. May you have some excellent encounters of the literary kind whilst school is on its half term break.

Mr Liddy

* One of these things is more true than the other.

Creative Writing Club

A huge congratulations to Arthur Holt, 7HES, for being one of the winners of Creative Writing Club’s first competition. The students were tasked with writing a short fairy tale with a moral lesson.

More winners will be announced after half term.

Good luck to those who submitted! Once upon a time, in a small village nestled amidst lush green hills, there lived a young girl named Amelia. Amelia was known for her flat, dull imagination and her hate for storytelling. One sunny afternoon, as Amelia was strolling through the meadow, she stumbled upon a mysterious book hidden beneath a bed of wildflowers. Intrigued, she opened it and discovered that it was a portal to a realm called Fantasia. With slight hesitation, Amelia stepped through the pages and found herself in a land filled with mythical creatures and breathtaking landscapes. “ ” Full Version

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Sixth Form ‘katzenmusik’

Year 8 Capoeira Workshop

Over the past month, an incredible cast and crew of Year 12s & 13s has put together our sixth form production of ‘katzenmusik’ by Tom Fowler. The subject matter of this darkly-comedic, political play was taking on in stride by the exceptional students, who were involved in everything from acting, to stage management, set design and construction to technical rigging/mixing and operating. As the director, it was a privilege to watch such a sense of community develop during the process - everyone got stuck in as one team, from Yr.13s who’ve been here since Year .7, to Y ear 12s who only joined the school the month previous.

The production was a sold out run, with chairs having to be squeezed in to fit all those trying to come along! We welcomed audiences made up of staff, students, parents, governors and even welcomed the return of Mike Gascogne, who as always couldn’t make it through a performance without being interacted with (or perhaps accosted is more the word?) by a member of the cast during the show. I just wanted to pass on again how much it meant to the students to have such full, engaged audiences - the time you make to come along means so so much to them all, so thanks again everyone that came, though apologies to any now slightly horrified cat owners! It had been a privilege working on the production, and I hope to hopefully work with them all, without exception, again!

On Monday 9th October all year 8’s participated in a Capoeira Dance workshop led by capoeiristas from Capoeira Senzala London. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art disguised as a dance and performed to musical instruments and traditional Brazilian songs. It is comprised of specific offensive and defensive movements and, unlike in other martial arts, the participant is constantly in motion. During the workshop students explored variation of actions and capoeira techniques as well as listened to the traditional instruments used.

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House Dance Competition

On Wednesday 18th October, the Main Hall was full of students and staff waiting in anticipation for the House Dance finals. House Dance is split into three categories: Set Piece (a song is set by Mrs. Brittain for all houses); Free Piece (any music or style); and Solos. Mr Williams attended his first House Dance event as Headteacher, and as one of the three judges joining Mrs Payne from Art and Mr Bala, a veteran House Dance judge. After the heats, Livingstone (L), Raleigh (R) and Darwin Wilberforce (DW) qualified with both group dances and Kingsley Montgomery (KM) had an excellent Free Piece go through. KM and R also had soloists through: Daniel Houghton and Asad Khan respectively. With ‘Dance the Night’ from the recent and popular Barbie film as the assigned piece of music for all houses, it was surprising to see the variety and difference in creative ideas for the choreography, however, all three dances included bursts of pink with a Disco feel. In the end, L won the set piece, with R and DW finishing in that order behind them on the podium.

For Free Piece, KM had a wonderfully filmed dance (due to one of the four dancers being away on the day). The dance could have easily been mistaken for a professional performance. There was clarity, precision and purpose to every movement and such well thought out choreography. L gave a crowd favourite performance to Justin Beiber’s ‘Let me love you’ with a large group of over 30 dancers from the Junior Years who danced in complete unison. DW moonwalked their way into earning the audience’s favour gaining large cheers with their dance including dancers from a variety of year groups. R gave a spectacle of a performance with their acrobatic and breakdance influenced piece telling the story of ‘fallen soldiers reuniting in heaven’. R won the Free Piece with KM close behind in second place. Finally, the Solos category this year was as fierce as ever. Y9 Daniel went up against Y13 Asad, who actually made his house dance solo debut despite being a key member of Tiffin Dance for a number of years. Daniel’s recorded performance was incredible but Asad’s smooth, acrobatic dance to Hozier’s ‘Take me to church’ took the win. Overall, Raleigh won House Dance for a second year in a row and for the fourth time in seven years, winning in the free piece and solo categories as well as coming second in set piece; a testament to their hard work and collaborative efforts.

A huge well done to all House Masters, choreographers and dancers for all their hard work and effort.

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In cross country, we hosted the English Schools Cup at Grists and Tiffin was represented in the Senior, Intermediate and Junior boys competition and competed fiercely across all three fronts. The Junior boys team featured the athletic might of Struan Fisher, Eddie Lazenby, Adrian Cortesia, Kai Flamber, Mateo Buytaert and Maxim Peretyaktin. The team put up a valiant effort across the 2500 m course and placed a respectable 8th position. The Intermediate course, at a distance of 4400 m, was hotly contested and the Tiffin team included Zac Ainsley, Thomas Whorton, Lucas Scheel, Ethan Fawdrey and Ariel Klimovich. The team finished in 5th position and special mention must be given to Thomas for running up a year group but finishing magnificently in second place in the overall race. The Senior competition, course distance now increased to a demanding 5140 metres, was met with heroic resolution from the Tiffin team. Connor Foley, Estaban Spencer, Oscar Luck, Atharav Pruthi, Cathal Lucey and Joshua Anstey proudly pulled on the Tiffin blue running vest and set fire to the course. In the first 6 finishers, half were runners from the Tiffin team. Special mention to Connor Foley for finishing first in the race with a time of 13:44. As the half term approaches, our athletes have the opportunity to rest and recharge, preparing for the fixtures that lie ahead. Here’s to a restful break for our young athletes and the anticipation of further successes after half-term.

Sports Roundup

As this half term has come to a close, Tiffin School’s athletes showcased their unwavering commitment and participation throughout the past week in our final rugby fixtures of the half term against London Oratory, basketball/badminton fixtures and a cross country competition hosted at Grists! The true stars of the week were Tiffin’s 1st XV Rugby team, who not only secured two significant victories but also displayed exceptional resilience in the face of strong opposition. They firstly outmanoeuvred London Oratory with a close 22-17 win. Following this intense match, they delivered a commanding 32-10 victory against Glyn School in the National Vase Third Round. The win sets the stage for an eagerly anticipated rematch against Coopers’ Company & Coburn School in the fourth round, promising a thrilling reprise of last year’s encounter - we hope that this year we can be the ones to progress further. These remarkable performances leave their record at 8 wins and no losses, solidifying their reputation as a force to be reckoned with and a 1st XV we can be very proud of so far this season. The 2nd XV unfortunately fell 19-5 to Oratory but showed great resolve and are progressing well as a squad. The 16A’s faced a formidable opponent in a strong Oratory team, and their narrow 15-8 loss highlighted the depth of their determination and skill. Similarly, the 16B’s encountered tough competition, concluding their match with a loss of 56-5. These matches served as invaluable learning experiences, underscoring areas for growth, but also showed the 16A’s how far they’ve come in just a year, after last year’s result against Oratory was a 45-10 loss - a vast improvement. The 15A’s engaged in a hard-fought match, culminating in an exciting 24-24 draw. Meanwhile, the 15B’s played exceptionally well in a resounding 50-0 win, displaying commendable teamwork and skill. The 14A’s secured a convincing win with a score of 61-7. Notably, the 14B’s celebrated their first victory of the season, ending the match 40-10, marking a significant milestone in their development and progression as a team - well done! Despite facing challenging opponents, the 13A’s showcased their resilience, concluding their match with a 30-5 loss. The 13B’s unfortunately fell to a strong Oratory B team 10-40, but this age group keep showing their enthusiasm in training and will certainly improve given their attitude to the game. The Year 7 teams demonstrated promise and great commitment with two wins, a draw, and three losses, indicating a foundation of potential and enthusiasm within the budding athletes. The past week also saw two basketball matches take place in the lower school. The U14’s, preparing for their London Youth Games tournament, played brilliantly in the second half to secure a close 47-44 victory against Hollyfield. The U13’s also played their first ever game for Tiffin Basketball and despite a 59-19 loss, got progressively better throughout the game and never let their heads drop once which bodes well for future fixtures! Tiffin Senior badminton teams continue their unbeaten run which now stretches over 2 years. On Wednesday this week, they beat Hampton school by an impressive margin, the A team winning by 8 games to 1 and the B team won by the same margin. Sterner tests will follow after half term!

Engage · Aspire · Excel

Tiffin School 020 8546 4638 · office@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk · tiffinschool.co.uk

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