Sixth Form Inter-House Debating 2022/23 Finals

The annual Sixth Form Inter-House Debating competition has been of an excellent standard this term and Monday night’s final in Big School did not disappoint. Woodlands (Will B, Nikita and Beowulf) proposed and Queens’ (Serenity, Miranda and Sama) opposed the motion ‘This House supports the UK government’s attempt to limit protests that disrupt everyday life in the proposed Public Order Bill’. The debate considered what constituted reasonable protest as opposed to extreme action, the balance between individual and collective freedoms, and the role of the government and the police in limiting the disruptive nature of protest. The adjudicators Mr Beales, Mr Gates and Headmaster Mr Robb awarded the tie to the opposition, Queens’ House, who are the 2022-23 holders of the Marsham Trophy which has been awarded since 1985 to the winning house. 

Odd Socks Day

This week marks the start of Anti-Bullying Week and we encouraged pupils to come to School in odd socks. The purpose of Odd Socks Day is to encourage people to express themselves and celebrate their individuality and what makes us all unique.

Year 10 Spanish pupils produced presentations on festivals

Pupils in Year 10 Spanish had to research and produce a presentation about a festival in a Spanish Speaking Country this week. There were a variety of festivals such as “Las Fallas” in Valencia, the “La noche de San Juan” bonfire festival and of course “Semana Santa”, Holy Week, which led to interesting discussions. It was no Surprise that “La Tomatina” featured too! Pupils presented their work with great pride and excellent pronunciation. Well done Year 10!

Three Sixth Form pupils took part in ESU debating competition

Three Sixth Form students, Miranda H-S, Georgie C and Tillie C, took part in the first round online English-Speaking Union Mace Debating Competition this week proposing the motion This house would ban the use of digital manipulation in advertising, including social media ad content. The team were successful in being one of three teams selected for the in-person second round to be held in January 2023. The Sixth Form Inter-House Debating competition is also entering its final stages. Queens’ overcame Tallis and Woodlands defeated Farfield in two excellent semi-final matches. Queens’ will face Woodlands in next Monday’s final in Big School.

Year 9 History classes during Remembrance Week

In this week of national remembrance, all Year 9 History classes have been undertaking an archival research project to find out more about Gresham’s and its pupils at the time of the First World War. Classes have been introduced to documents from the Gresham’s Archive by School Archivist Izzy Farrow. These included photographs, prospectuses, school magazines, books, medals and other contemporary documents. All the pupils enjoyed a unique opportunity to get ‘hands-on’ experience with original sources relating to Gresham’s and the First World War. 

U14A Rugby triumph

Our U14A rugby team met with Finborough School on Saturday 5th November. Both teams played extremely well and the opponents made for a great match. We left the pitch triumphant with the game finishing 26-21, with tries from Toby G (2), Alec A and Daniel M. Player of the match was Alec A. 

All Souls’ Day Service

The Senior School boarders came together on All Souls Day for a special service to remember those that we love but see no longer. The Chapel was lit with the warm glow of thousands of candles and the choir sung music from the beautiful Faure’s Requiem.

Senior pupils participated in the inaugural Inter-House target sprint competition

The inaugural Gresham’s School Inter-House target sprint competition took place at the end of January.  Each of the seven Houses entered a Junior team (Year 9 & Year 10) of five competitors and a Senior team (Year 11, Year 12 & Year 13), also containing five competitors. The event was adapted slightly, in order to make it very spectator friendly and also to allow those that had not done very much shooting the opportunity to be competitive. Each competitor was required to run 200 meters before coming into the air rifle range and shooting down five targets. Once the five targets had been knocked down then the next runner set off around the track. The event was made slightly more exciting as it was run under floodlight, at 8 o’clock in the evening. Both the track and the range were floodlit to create a wonderful atmosphere.

A huge congratulations, and thank you, must go to all those that took part and that were involved in the event. Particularly well done to Howson’s for winning the Junior trophy and to Oakeley for winning the Senior trophy. Oakeley also won the overall trophy, so very well done to them.

Bunfire Night 2022

On Saturday night we held our annual Bunfire Night on the Senior School grounds. Relocating this year to the new venue by the Auden Theatre proved hugely successful, and despite the rain over 500 members of the School community were in attendance. FOGS kindly offered refreshment stands throughout the evening to support the busy food vendors. Farfield, Edinburgh and Tallis jointly won the Guy Competition with their various eclectic efforts. The grounds team with the support of the Headmaster put on a great display for the crowd; all in all the event raised nearly £2000 for our School Charity, The Holt Youth Project.