On Wednesday the 31st January the open mic night retuned to Dave’s for a double header. Over 20 pupils played and sung their way through 16 tracks with an all-live band twice, once for the juniors then again for the Sixth Form. 14 pupils, ranging from Year 10 to Year 13, made their Dave’s debut alongside some old stagers for what was, as always, a memorable and fun evening. Special mention to our very own Elvis, ‘Sergio’ who let it all hang out in true Vegas style!
Our beautiful school Chapel is once again home to the popular ‘Soul Space’ this week. Stunning immersive light and sound has been combined with thirteen creative, tactile ‘stations’ to give the pupils an opportunity to develop skills of personal reflection and spirituality in a fun, open, safe and inclusive way.
Congratulations to Chloe-Leila G, Emily M and Georgina B on qualifying for the VEX Robotics Nationals for the second year running! Such resilience and amazing teamwork from a great crew!
To mark LGBT+ History Month, Mr Chart-Boyles delivered a brilliant talk to all Sixth Form pupils, sharing lots of invaluable information and insights. The talk covered key moments in the history of LGBT+ people, inspiring role models, and the importance of being an ally. It was an energised, inspiring and inclusive talk that pupils engaged with really well.
Furthermore, Georgie and Chloe-Leila gave a thoughtful presentation in chapel and we celebrated with cakes and pride flags in the library, which has a wide display of LGBT+ themed books to peruse.
The annual small-bore target rifle match, between Gresham’s Rifle Club and Cambridge University Rifle Club, took place recently. This is normally a very tight contest, often coming down to a matter of just a few points, but this year it was not quite as close as it has been in the past. There was some fantastic scoring by the Gresham’s team, despite the absence of several of the teams’ top shots, with all members of the team doing their upmost to secure the victory. It was two sisters that secured the win for Gresham’s, with Ilana B top scoring out of all 30 competitors in the match, with an impressive 196 out of 200 and Marcella B just behind with a 195 out of 200. The final result in the ‘A’ Team match was Gresham’s Rifle Club 1539 points, Cambridge University Rifle Club 1510 points. The victory to Gresham’s Rifle Club by 29 points!
Since records began, Gresham’s have won the match 12 times and Cambridge 4 times. The ‘B’ Team match was almost just as close but unfortunately with a win to Cambridge University. Gresham’s Rifle Club ‘B’ team, consisting almost entirely of Year 9 and 10 pupils, 1429 points, Cambridge University Rifle Club 1467 points. We thank Cambridge University Small-Bore Rifle Club for a very enjoyable fixture, and we wish them every success in the Varsity Match in a couple of weeks’ time. Huge congratulations to everyone involved in the match.
Year 12 pupils Evie, Eva, Alma and Maddie, who have a strong interest in Law, enjoyed a super visit to King’s Lynn Crown Court. The day’s visit gave them insight of the law court protocol and roles together with the opportunity to observe cross examination of prosecution witnesses. It was a superb day linking subject study learning and future opportunities.
The Prep School Green Team set a challenge to all Prep School pupils last week to decorate their recycling bins and raise awareness in our school community of ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’. The hotly contested competition was judged on Friday and ‘5TH’ are the winners of a fully recycled and recyclable prize – well done to all!Â
Scarlett spoke to parents on raising daughters and she also did a workshop with all of our Year 7 and 8 girls which the HSMs from Oakeley, Queens and Edi attended with representatives from their Houses.Â
Scarlett is the author of The Smart Girls Handbook and is the CEO of Smart Girls Tribe. She is a fantastic ambassador and has some incredible achievements for a woman in her twenties, including being the host of top rated podcast Smart Girl Tribe, a TV commentator on women’s issues, and an ambassador for the NSPCC and Childline.
Many congratulations to our ESU Debating team who journeyed to Langley on Tuesday evening for the second round of the English-Speaking Union Mace Debating Competition.
Having progressed through the first online round, our team faced the best teams in the Norfolk and Suffolk regions in an in-person heat. They had a difficult draw, having to oppose the abolition of the House of Lords, and faced a strong and experienced Langley proposition. Miranda H-S opened for the team and erected a very strong defence case, defending the Lords’ status as an amending chamber and citing various occasions when its scrutiny had rightfully caused the elected Commons to pause and improve legislation. Mojo A defended the Lords as an institution that had evolved and reflected diversity, and noted that corruption and cronyism were faults of politics generally, and not the exclusive fault of the Lords. Eva O’D summed up, astutely noting the points of clash, addressing questions from the floor and reminding the floor of why the Opposition’s case had merit and had prevailed in the debate. Â
There were six teams in the heat in three debates across four hours of debating and only the best two participating were selected for round three. Happily, Gresham’s made the cut and so for the second year running we progress to the third round of the competition which covers the whole of the eastern region of England and leaves the team one win from the national finals.
This is an impressive achievement, not least as Miranda is the only survivor of last year’s successful team. Well done Miranda, Mojo and Eva!
The Gresham’s School Inter-House target sprint competition recently 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. There were eight Senior teams for the first time, as we welcomed Arkell into the competition. The event has been adapted slightly, in order to make it very spectator friendly and also to allow those who 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 thanks, must go to the 75 pupils that took part and that were involved in the event. Particularly well done to Oakeley for winning the Junior trophy and to Oakeley and Woodlands for becoming joint winners in the Senior trophy. Oakeley also won the combined overall trophy, so very well done to them for defending this trophy for the second year in a row.
