Gresham’s Rifle Team competed at South London Rifle Club – Club Championship 2022

Nine members of the Gresham’s Rifle Team headed down to Bisley, on the first weekend of Term, for the South London Rifle Club Full-Bore Championships. This is a one-day event and is always very friendly, great fun and hugely competitive, and this year was no different. Unfortunately, the start of shooting had to be delayed for an hour due to the heavy fog sitting over all of the ranges. As a result of the delayed start, and the limited time available, there had to be a couple of changes made to the format of the competition but that did not dampen spirits. A minute’s silence was observed, by the raising and lowering of a single black target, in the centre of the range and then the shooting got underway. It was very nice to see that two of the morning shoots were won by Hannah B, in the 300 yard shoot, and Linda T in the 600 yard shoot. Hannah B also won the Short-Range Aggregate, dropping just three points during the morning. Marcella B won the Magpie Shield.

As with the morning, in the afternoon there were different winners at each of the two distances. Hannah B continued her fine form to win the 900 yard shoot with a 49.6 and Georgie C won the 1000 yard shoot with a 47.3. Hannah B also won the Long-Range Aggregate dropping a total of 7 points. Many congratulations to Hannah on becoming the South London Rifle Club Champion for 2022 and for winning the Col. John Howe Cup. Well done also to Harry P who placed second.

Year 9 Oakeley pupils have been learning outdoor survival skills

Oakeley Year 9 ventured out to the bunk house in the woods to learn how to use knives safely to whittle wood, saw logs and chop wood using axes this week. This was the first session of four where the pupils learn the basic survival skills which include fire building, shelter building and cooking over an open fire. This course is open to all Year 9 pupils throughout the year, attending in House groups and is intended to build their interpersonal and life skills as well as self-confidence.

The second week of survival skills comprised of finding materials to build a fire with, perfecting the use of a fire stick and keeping a fire going once lit – which is much harder than it looks!

Gresham’s Archivists Group given access to impressive collection of military memorabilia

Gresham’s Archivists Group had a real treat as they were allowed to explore the uniform and kit of Major Thomas Warcup Kirkbride (1867-1953), who had been an officer in the Royal Horse Artillery and seen active service in India, before coming out of retirement as a major in charge of a camp in World War One. Pupils enjoyed exploring Major Kirkbride’s medals, uniforms, swords and First World War periscope. The kit was also seen by one Year 9 History class, and we hope the rest of the year will have the chance to view it at a later date. We are very grateful to the Ashby family for the opportunity to experience such an unusual and immaculate collection of military memorabilia from over a century ago.

This year’s Sixth Form House Debating Competition gets off to a flying start

This year’s Sixth Form Inter-House debating competition got off to a brilliant start as Queens’ (proposition) and Woodlands (opposition) produced a debating masterclass exploring the motion ‘This House believes that economic sanctions do not work’. There was not a weak link in either debating team – and yet amazingly three of the six debaters (Serenity M, Will B and Sophia C) were on debut. The highlights included the heated exchanges between Miranda H-S and Nikita T and the killer question trades between Beowulf O’D and Sophia C. The debate was so well informed, exploring the efficacy of economic sanctions on Cuba, the Netherlands, South Africa and of course Russia. Best of all, this debate played out to a packed house in Queens’ Common Room which added to the intensity and drama of the fixture. The arguments of Woodlands prevailed but this was an exhibition of debating of the highest standard and bodes well for the year ahead.    

School Captains and Prefects 2022/23

We are delighted to announce our School Captains, House Captains and School Prefects for this academic year. We wish them every success in their new roles.

School Captains:

• Anton L (T)
• Tanya P (E)

Deputy School Captains:

• Grace H (O)
• Nico A (H)

House Captains:

• Lily C (E)
• Raphael C (F)
• Tom E (H)
• Lara K (O)
• Georgie M (Q)
• Lucas T (T)
• Ben P (W)

School Prefects:

• Annabel G (E)
• Molly P (O)
• Hattie R (Q)
• Konstantin L (T)
• Emil S (T)
• Toby P (T)
• Charlie H (W)

Pupils have raised £24,278 for Holt Youth Project

Our pupils were proud to present a cheque of £20,000 to local charity Holt Youth Project, although the grand total raised for Holt Youth Project last year was £24,278.11 after a few last-minute additions. Our pupils, involved in the school’s Charity Committee, have been working hard throughout the academic year to raise money through a variety of innovative activities and events. The Charity Committee are also excited to announce that Holt Youth Project are going to be a long-term charity partner, meaning we will continue to help support the young people involved in the charity.

Holt Youth Project aims to provide a safe environment for young people to meet and socialise with the minimum of supervision, building their social communication skills and promoting ownership. By partnering with the charity, we are helping to give the young people opportunities to experience positive activities, nurturing care, to grow in confidence, feel valued and loved. Julie Alford, Founder of the Holt Youth Project, said “We were humbled and thrilled to be chosen as Gresham’s Charity of the Year. This support will make such a difference to our work serving children and young people across North Norfolk, who sometimes find themselves in desperate situations through no fault of their own.”

Throughout the school year, the Charity Committee have set up activities including a Valentine’s Ball; sponsored walks; a FIFA tournament and an enormous clothes bank collection. They also organised a Teddy Bear zipwire for Gresham’s Pre-Prep children at St. Andrew’s church in Holt. The committee have also taken part in the Goldsmith’s Award, which recognises school-charity community partnerships, where they reached the Regional Finals.

The Charity Committee also puts on annual events which all helped to contribute to the charitable total, such as the Chapel Christmas Tree Festival; Gritty Grasshopper; Gresham’s Half Marathon and Christmas jumper day.