Gresham’s fielded four teams in the online regional heat of the Oxford Schools Debating Competition on Friday afternoon and evening. 8 debaters (Tillie, Miranda, Georgie, Kitty, Mojo, Arthur, Pablo and William) took part in two back-to-back debates in the British Parliamentary Style, in an event that lasted four and a half hours. The teams had just fifteen minutes to prepare their case on motions related to digital start ups and the abolition of private schools. This is intense and difficult debating and all four teams acquitted themselves very well. Many congratulations to the Gresham’s A team of Miranda and Tillie who were selected as one of the best eight teams in the competition and now progress to the national finals day at the Oxford Union on Saturday 11^th March.

Well done to the Gresham’s Quiz Team of Guy P, Wulfie O’D, Cerys D and Erin O’D on winning a close semi-final match away at Sheringham High School, by 280 points to 190. They have now qualified for the regional final where they have a chance to defend Gresham’s title as holders of the Schools’ Challenge East Anglia North Quiz Trophy. This was a great team effort where all four quizzers played an important part in the win.  

At the start of half term, 9 members of the Rifle Club, and three members of staff, set off on a small-bore tour of Northern England and Edinburgh, via Cambridge. It was a five day, four match, three University and one School tour.

On the Friday, at the start of half term, the tour party travelled to Cambridge, along with 6 other members of the Rifle Club, for a match against Cambridge University. The University Rifle Range is located within a road bridge, which always quite interesting. The Gresham’s A team beat Cambridge A by 23 points, to continue their winning streak, and our B team beat Cambridge B by 2 points. A good start to the tour! The touring party then travelled north to Durham.

Our first day in Durham started with a most enjoyable tour of the University by the President, and other members, of the Durham University Rifle Club. After lunch, we had a match against the University.  Despite a challenging range, the Gresham’s team continued to battle on through to the very end. Each member of the team probably scored 4 or 5 points below their average, but they just managed to scrape a victory. It was nice to shoot against former Gresham’s Rifle Club Captain, Fergus Robson, who rather appropriately was joint top shot in the match, along with Georgie B. The team were hugely pleased to have the support of Mr Atkinson for the day and for some of the match. Thank you, Mr Atkinson.

The final leg of the tour took the team to the beautiful city of Edinburgh, where upon arrival they went straight into a match against Edinburgh University on an interesting double-tiered range, in a former air raid shelter. This was their largest margin of victory, winning by 64 points. Although Hannah B had the top score of the match with 199 points, closely followed by Georgie B, it was Alma De R’s score of 193 that was a hugely impressive score and a real highlight of the match.

Both Cambridge and Durham Universities are currently tying for first place in the top Division of the Inter Universities Rifle leagues, and Edinburgh University are joint second in Division 2.

The following morning, they took on Edinburgh’s leading school in Target Rifle shooting, George Watson’s College. Being their half term, they could only produce a team of 4, so the Gresham’s tour party was split into two teams of 4: left-handers and right-handers. While there were only ten points between the teams, Gresham’s succeeded in taking 1st (right-handers) and 2^nd (left-handers) place.

The afternoon was spent exploring Edinburgh, where some members of the team suffered their only defeat of the tour and were unsuccessful at escaping an Escape Room. They had their final tour dinner at a Chinese buffet, with Mr Grounds donning a kilt for the evening. This was followed by a lovely walk back to the hotel through the streets of Edinburgh.

The tour was a fantastic success and thanks must go to the team for being wonderful company and for some excellent shooting, despite the challenges of new ranges. A huge thanks must also go to Mrs T Liberman and Mr O Liberman for all that they did for the team during the tour and for the support they gave to Mr Grounds. It was a truly memorable and enjoyable trip for everyone involved.

Language pupils gathered on Wednesday 1st February for an evening of entertainment, karaoke, plays, and games to celebrate the diversity of languages in Gresham’s. It was all crafted by pupils right through Years 9 to 13 and showcased their incredible talents and creativity. The evening was filled with a huge array of performances, from poetry to quizzes, such as ‘Wer wird Millionaer’. Some highlights consisted of an ingenious play written by Pullo W, a Spanish introduction to Gresham’s by Mrs Mousley’s Year 9 class, a charming poetry reading by Jasmijn F and Gabby H in Spanish, and a karaoke session with Eduvie O singing ‘Despacito’ to engage the whole audience. Kitty R and Daisy W wrote a short play from ‘Le Petit Nicolas’, which they starred in alongside some Year 9 & 10 pupils, (Alec A, Ted K, Emily K, Toby W and Seb W). The audience was also deeply amazed by the beautiful solos, such as Ruby S accompanied by Jake O on the piano singing ‘La vie en rose’. It ended with international cuisine in Tig’s café at the end.

A huge thank you to the pupils and staff involved, as well as to the audience for showing such super support, and also for showing year after year what an important role Languages play in the Gresham’s community. Special thanks to Clara’s team of IB pupils, Paloma, Viktoria, Esther, Bruno, Ludwig and Ben, who event managed the night, before, during and after.

The Senior School marked the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday events. The day began with a special Chapel service, in which the choir sang Allegri’s Miserere and Rev Jack reminded pupils that they are made of ‘star dust’. At break pupils were offered ‘Ashes to Go’, which was an opportunity to stop for a brief moment of reflection in the middle of the busy school day.

Henry F was selected in the final 23 man squad for London and South East U18 rugby team who faced The North U18 team on the weekend. It was a highly competitive fixture which saw London and South East come out victorious with a 12-5 win. Henry will play for them again this weekend against London and South West. Well done Henry and best of luck.

In the week leading up to half term, the pupils on the Talented Athlete Development (TAD) programme welcomed Andy Duckham, who delivered a session with a focus on breathing technique. Andy predominantly works with boxers and MMA athletes to enhance their recovery in between rounds. Andy was able to guide the pupils through different breathing patterns and techniques which have been evidenced to improve recovery, reduce stress and anxiety and improve sleep hygiene. 

The first week back from February half term, the TAD programme had Jason Fligg deliver a performance nutrition workshop. Jason is a registered Performance Nutritionist who works with a range of athletes to meet their nutritional requirements. The pupils made three recipes which consisted of a portion of overnight oats, a hypertonic sports drink and a muesli fruit and yogurt bowl. The feedback from the sessions has already been very positive.