The Rifle Club enjoyed an eventful Half Term, during which they had a match against the Old Boys and Girls. This was a close event, with Ilana B, Marcella B, Georgie B and Grace S being narrowly beaten, by just six points, by a very strong Old Greshamian Team. The Gresham’s ‘B’ team, made up entirely of Year 9 pupils, Bella B, James M and Morgana M were also beaten by the Old Greshamian ‘B’ Team but they did have two International shots and a third very competent shot. All three of the Year 9 pupils did exceptionally well to keep to within twenty points of their opposition.

Also, during Half Term, it was announced that ten members of the Rifle Club have been selected to represent England Schools in the annual British Schools International match. Each of the Home Nations (including the Channel Islands) select two teams of 12 firers to compete in this match, but with England having considerably more people to select from, than the other Nations, they also select a ‘C’ and a ‘D’ team to shoot for honours in the match. A third of the England ‘A’ team are from Gresham’s School, with George B, Marcella B, Georgina B and Harry P all being selected. Oliver R, Alexandre S and Belle W have been selected for the England ‘B’ team. Ilana B, Margarethe G and Grace S for the ‘C’ team, with no Gresham’s pupils selected for the ‘D’ team. Gresham’s has more individuals shooting for England, in this match, than any other school and we wish them all the very best for this match and for when the results are announced.

As part of the Gresham’s Challenge, Year 6 have been making posters encouraging people to reduce, reuse and recycle. All of Year 6 have taken part, this is the final group with their posters.

Team Frog won a trophy for their innovative design and engineering for a specific part of their robot (the flywheel) that was well documented and seen as more innovative than the other 35 robots in their league, well done, Team Frog! At the end of the two days the team were interviewed along with many other teams. The interviewer and cameraman said that they gave the best interview responses out of any other team (65 teams!). They were confident and enthusiastic.

A large number of pupils, staff and parents took part in our annual Service of Confirmation on Saturday 2^nd March in Chapel. This very special and moving service was officiated by the Rt Reverend Dr Jane Steen, the Bishop of Lynn. 

Elliot A; Imogen A; Jemima A; Arthur B; Charles B; James B; Iciar C B; Lisa C; Oliver C; Lexie C; Digby D; Walt D; Matilda L; Alfie P-T; Sophia P; Charles P; David R; Alfred S; Paulina v A all took part. As part of the Confirmation Service the Bishop of Lynn gave each of the candidates a hazel tree to plant to remind them of the vow they have taken to care for creation. 

This annual service is a wonderful Gresham’s tradition which has seen a real revival in recent years. We have seen a large increase in the number of Baptisms and Confirmations taking place in our Chapel with 125 people taking part in these special moments in less than three years. 

We welcomed James Bracey and Richard Janes to tell their story of The Big Ordeal – rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic to raise £100,000 for charity in the World’s Toughest Row – The Atlantic.

They gave the audience a superb insight presented with honesty and depth on the 2-year in total feat of organising and completing. Their talk generated an enthusiastic audience Q&A.

A quite incredible accomplishment. Read more of the story here: https://www.the-big-oardeal.com/

Year 12 A level History Wars of the Roses pupils were lucky enough to attend an excellent online conference hosted by the Richard III Society on Tuesday 27^th February. They listened to lectures on kingship in late medieval England by Professor John Watts, the relationship between Richard Duke of York and Henry VI in the 1450s by Dr James Ross, the kingship of Edward IV by Dr Rachel Moss, Fifteenth Century Parliaments by Dr Hannes Kleineke, Queen Margaret of Anjou by Lauren Johnson, and Professor Steven Gunn on Henry VII and the Pretenders. The day concluded with a fascinating debate between Matt Lewis and Nathen Amin on whether Richard III usurped the English Crown in 1483 and an excellent presentation by Dr Daniel Hucker of Nottingham University on the value of reading History as an undergraduate degree.

Last week Mr Majid had a very different kind of school day. He was invited to talk at No.10 and have a tour of the building with the CASEVAC club (a group of service personnel who, like him, were injured during active service). He was there speaking about the experiences of veterans and the importance of the Guinea Pig Club – a group of people injured during World War II who underwent experimental plastic surgery and reconstructions and which can be thanked for huge advances in prosthetics and plastic surgery. It was a successful meeting in which Veterans Minister Jonny Mercer and Akshata Murty both agreed on the importance of clubs like CASEVAC and its members being points of contact and figures for the veterans community.

On Saturday 10th February George M represented Leicester Tigers U18 academy, claiming a 33-17 victory over Midland’s Central at Loughborough University Ground. George will be involved again this weekend in Sunday’s Finals Day at Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester.

On Sunday 11th February, we held an U14s and U16s 7’s competition, hosting Oundle, Uppingham, King’s Ely, Langley School, Framlingham College, Wymondham College, Samuel Whitbread and Norwich School. It was a great tournament with some excellent rugby on display. Gresham’s U16s competed well and despite losing a few players to injury, they managed to finish third overall. Gresham’s U14s had a brilliant day, they managed to put together what they’ve been practising during training sessions and came out victorious beating Wymondham College 33-0 in the final. A fantastic day had by all and we’re already looking forward to hosting it again next year.

Looking ahead we have the County 7’s competitions coming up as well as the Queen Elizabeth Barnett 7’s and at the end of term we have the notorious Rosslyn Park 7’s competition. 

Before Christmas, the A Level PE and BTEC Sport pupils travelled to Essex University, and Jemima C, Macey T, and George W, all A Level PE pupils in Arkell, wrote about their experience:

“The purpose of the visit was to gain an insight into Sports Science at University and beyond as well as enhance our understanding of our Sixth Form courses. On arrival, we had a tour of the university followed by a presentation about the day ahead, and then a session on Biomechanics. This was to aid the practical tasks which would follow. The first task was a jump test on a force plate to measure our explosive power and the force exerted from the muscles in our legs. We then had a throwing task to measure the force generated by our upper body. This involved using an iPad to measure the time and distance and thus the velocity that the ball travelled at. We were also able to analyse our throwing technique. Next, we did a one repetition max test, using a dynamometer that measured the maximal force we could exert. The final task was to use limb kinematics to analyse movement. It was a hugely beneficial and unique experience to be able to use specialist sports science equipment, as we could deepen our understanding of Biomechanics and how we can analyse athletes’ specific movement patterns to refine their technique and improve their performance.

In the afternoon, we were shown around campus where we were allowed to experience all that Essex university has to offer. During this time, we were able to start to experience what student life would be like. After a delicious lunch, we met up with the team of staff and students from the University. There were five stations we were to take part in, all testing various aspects of our fitness like strength, power, reaction time and aerobic capacity. It turned into an incredibly competitive afternoon amongst staff and students alike, especially during the wattage test where everybody was competing for the greatest output. At the end of the day, one of the Gresham’s pupils got the chance to partake in a V02 max test whilst the rest of the group analysed the data which was produced during the test. We all got a chance to help throughout the test, reading out different figures and numbers from the screen and plotting graphs. It was so interesting to see how oxygen uptake changed throughout the course of the test.”