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In January 2025, I, alongside several other students at BGS, took part in a sponsored sleep-out to raise money for the Greenwich Winter Shelter.
Last term, Year 7 and Year 8 students participated in the TSBA book club, thanks to the generosity of the PA. They read eight books on the theme of 'You Are Here', a selection of books set in far-away countries or different historical periods. The book they voted as their favourite was A Flash of Fireflies by Aisha Bushby, a book about a young girl relocating from Kuwait to England. Their second favourite was Dogs of the Deadlands by Anthony McGowan, a book which focused on the dogs who were abandoned after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. All the books that we read are available on a display in the library, so please pop up and borrow a book.
Mrs Carey, Librarian
I really enjoyed attending Book Club after school because reading is definitely my favourite hobby, and we did lots of fun activities based on books we read at the Book Club and even got to make our own imaginary movie trailers! I liked when we made a podcast the best, as we got to discuss in detail the book we chose (Dogs of the Deadlands, in my case). Making trailers was also quite fun too, as was acting out the storyboard. I also got to know new people from Year 7, because I was placed in a group where I only knew one person.
There are definite perks to joining the Book Club, like indulging in your hobby and meeting new people, but other than that, we had biscuits at every meeting! I especially enjoyed the last meeting, because we played a Kahoot quiz and ate three kinds of cake -Victoria sponge, carrot and chocolate as well as chocolate biscuits!
I would definitely recommend going to the Book Club; it was a fun and an easy way to settle in and make new friends!
Safaa Abdul-Aziz, Year 7
Over the past couple of months, Year 8 have been involved in the First Give project and each form has chosen a charity to support. Below you can read about what 8ML and 8LC have been doing for their projects.
Mrs Paige, Senior Academic Mentor, Year 8
Wednesday 18th December saw the BGS EX Hide & Seek event hosted by Wellman 8ML. The event was a fundraiser for Bexley Foodbank, a charity which aids local people in crisis, offering three-day emergency food supplies. On that day, so many people were so eager to attend, excited about the opportunity and wanted to donate as they knew it was going to a good cause.
BGS EX Hide & Seek was a thrilling, fast-paced game of hide and seek, spanning across the vast school campus. Taking place for an hour after school, the game was competitive, exceeding 100 students participating from Years 7-9. The event was split into two 30-minute segments, commencing with 11 seekers from 8ML, whilst others were chosen to be hiders, and vice versa.
Alongside the main hide-and-seek event, a selection of seven students volunteered to showcase their proficient, high-level expertise in baking through a bake sale. During the bake sale, a variety of baked goods were sold, ranging from banana bread and brownies to cookies.
We are pleased to announce that with the efforts of all those who participated, we were able to raise a grand total of £158 for the Bexley Foodbank. The event not only provided a fun and engaging way for the community to come together, but also showcased the creativity and dedication of those involved in planning and executing the game. The funds raised will go towards supporting various charitable initiatives, having a positive impact on the lives of those in need. We are very grateful and appreciative of the many students who donated to the charity.
Joshua and Jake, Year 8
8LC’s social action for the First Give programme started in early December and all the money we raise from our events will go towards the amazing charity Bexley Snap, which supports disabled children and their carers.
So far, we have launched a raffle and a quiz night, and we are hoping to host two more events in early 2025. Thank you to all participants and well done to the winners of the raffle and quiz night!
Our next event will be a movie night held on the 10th January, and the movie is voted for from the three choices on our poster. We hope to see as many people there as possible!
Thank you again to everyone who has already taken part in our events to support the worthwhile charity Bexley Snap.
Aysu, Year 8
On the 16th December, Bexley Grammar School were given the amazing opportunity to meet a real-life graphic novelist, Stephen Salah. He talked us through his most famous book, The Dark Lines of London. We were taught many new techniques and literary devices, such as putting in little extra details to add more flavour to the plot of our own stories.
We all came up with ideas for our own graphic novels. Evelyn in Year 8 won a free book for the most interesting idea. Thank you to Mrs Quinton for arranging this event. I can’t wait for another author to visit!
Kendra Kukunda, Year 8
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Exam stress is something which we all have experience of, and although stress is good and prepares us (e.g, enhances our focus and motivates us). Too much of it can lead to cognitive problems, for example, impairing our memory. Which is something we need running during an exam!
Stress can impact how memories are formed, as well as reduce retrieval.
It’s important to recognise symptoms of stress-impaired memory, as well as what is causing this stress in the first place! Finding the root of the problem and coming to terms with it helps to create a more focused approach to dealing with it.
Symptoms to recognise include (but not limited to):
So how can we tackle this problem?
There are many coping mechanisms which we can use to reduce stress.
One simple, yet effective way to improve memory, by reducing stress, is to create a relaxation system. Whether this is a series of breathing exercises or visualising your happy place, it is important you have these systems in place and ready to use at the first sign of stress.
Many researchers (Zandi et al, 2021) have found that practising mindfulness (e.g. meditation) can help improve your memory by minimising stress, and even helping with any issues of getting to sleep.
Sleep is also an important key factor to doing well in exams, sleeping after studying helps to consolidate your learning (reinforce new information and commit them to long term memory), as well as allowing your brain to be refreshed for the next day (Diekelmann et al, 2009).
Which means you won’t end up falling asleep during your exam!
For some more information, here are some helpful links:
For anyone who may need some support, here are some useful organisations:
Zandi- DOI: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_616_20
Diekelmann- doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2008.08.002.
Blaise Stokes, Year 12 Psychology Prefect
During such an exam-heavy academic term, it can be easy to overwork ourselves and sacrifice our sleep in the process, having negative implications on our emotions. With 1 in 3 students not receiving 9 to 11 hours of sleep per night, this being the optimal cognitive function needed, this leads to problems with learning, focusing, and reacting, having challenges later in life.
Looking at sleep from a more emotional perspective, proper sleep is crucial not just for cognitive performance, but for emotional recognition and regulation amongst school students. Insufficient sleep can impair abilities to recognise emotions in yourself and others and engage in positive social interactions. This can affect academic performance as well as social and emotional well-being.
Some impacts include:
It has been scientifically proven that poor sleep quality has a strong correlation with lower grades and reduced academic achievement, as it affects your cognitive abilities like memory, mood and concentration.
Some studies have shown this:
The effect of sleep deprivation and restriction on mood, emotion, and emotion regulation (Cara C Tomaso, Anna B Johnson & Timothy D Nelson et al 2020)
Get a brief insight into the amygdala, what sleep debt really is and sleep deprivation and how you can avoid it (Zahid Saghir, Javeria N Syeda, Adnan S Muhammad & Tareg H Balla Abdulla et al 2018)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6122651/
GB, Year 12 Psychology Prefect
The BGS Prefects have a list of sports to watch out for next year.
This term, Year 7 students have shown incredible enthusiasm and dedication to netball at Bexley Grammar School. Weekly training sessions have been buzzing with energy, with an impressive number of students attending regularly to hone their skills and work as a team. Their hard work has paid off in matches, where they’ve displayed excellent gameplay, teamwork, and sportsmanship, achieving commendable results against local schools.
Special recognition goes to our Players of the Term who have stood out for their outstanding effort, commitment, and positive attitude throughout the season.
Players of the term
Well done to all involved – we can’t wait to see how you continue to develop next term! They finished this term with a Christmas tournament.
Fabulous friendly festive fun! The winners were the reindeers, closely followed by the puddings! A fantastic way to end the term. Thank you for your commitment. A massive thanks to the Year 9 leaders for assisting working on their DOFE every week.
Click on the link here to view the PE Winter Photo Gallery 2024.
Mrs Kemp, PE Department
We regularly have 3 full courts of netballers training after school on a Wednesday. This has been a superb commitment this term, girls! Recent fixtures have seen convincing wins against St Catherine's.
More to come in the new year. Really well done and have a wonderful Christmas break ladies!
We have had huge numbers attending netball club on Wednesday nights from our Year 10 & 11 cohorts.
The teams have worked hard to develop their skills throughout the court and, individually, students have really improved.
Scores
St Matthew's
Year 10A 18-8 St Matthews A
Year 10B 6-6 St Matthews B
Chislehurst & Sidcup GS
Year 10 15-11 CSGS
Year 11 12-15 CSGS
Gravesend Grammar, Sixth Form
1st team 26-20 GGS
2nd team 13-4
Year 11 Tournament
A team - 1st place
B team - 7th place
Year 10 Tournament
2nd Place
Ayaka has been outstanding this term, showing real strength in the shooting circle and great versatility on court. Ayaka is highly dedicated and has a fantastic attitude.
Sophie has shown great leadership on the court for Year 10 this year. Her shooting and dominance on court has been evident in every game she has played!
A huge shout-out to Alice Black and Evie Matthews, who played in our first team against Gravesend Grammar in November. Both girls showed great experience on court and led the team to a very close win!
Well done all!
Click on the link here to view the PE Winter Photo Gallery 2024.
Year 9, 10, 11 Badminton Club sees a spread of year groups. Year 9, 10, 11 girls playing against Dartford Grammar with Key Stage 4 becoming victorious!
Thank you to all who have attended badminton this term that sees KS4 Badminton finish for this year. We welcome KS3 students to join us after Christmas, 7.45am in the Sports Hall, Year 8 every week A, Year 7 every week B.
Our swimming teams have attended galas at Colfe’s school this term. Our senior team had a superb gala in November, with the girls finishing 3rd and the boys being crowned champions. The team finished 2nd overall. There were some fantastic performances, with BGS winning 15 of the 35 races.
Every Friday, Week B at 7.45am
Around Bexley Grammar School, there are many parks and green areas. We are proud to have a running club, where anyone of any ability can run in Danson Park and enjoy the great scenery, landscape, and also some friendly faces from the school! We meet near the sports hall, then we all head off to Danson Park, where we go on our run. Please join the running club. It is a fun way to start your day and have a relaxing run.
Scott Morris, Year 7
Running club takes place every Friday, Week B in Danson Park, and is a fun way to start your day. We take a relaxed run around the park, admiring the scenery (and the baby ducklings if we’re lucky!). Everyone can come, you don’t need to be a brilliant runner!
Caitlin Mackintosh, Year 8
We’ve been lucky to have Charlton Academy working alongside this group of students with more fixtures to look forward to in 2025.
The Year 8 squad have enjoyed their first season playing 11 a-side. There have been some great goals scored alongside some impressive results, particularly the 9-0 win over Cleeve Park and the 6-3 victory against Harris Falconwood.
The Captain has been rotated and many of the squad have stepped up and taken their turn at leading the side. There is a great spirit within the team which will definitely prove a good foundation to build on. I want to thank those players who are not always in the squad but have contributed so importantly this season.
Representing BGS is something that you should all be very proud of! Keep up the great work Year 8!
Our rugby teams have enjoyed a busy term, and have produced some fantastic performances in their games. The highlights for me are always the progress of new players. With a limited rugby pedigree, it’s always a real pleasure to see our players grow in confidence and understanding over the course of training and matches. There’s a lot to learn in rugby, and with our fixtures starting early, some players can feel a bit unprepared, but they quickly acclimatise and do really well.
With that in mind, our rising stars for rugby this term have been:
Year 7 - Pavel Jankulowski, Jason Rai
Year 8 - Kevin Taflaj, Aarush Upadhye, Jean-Andre Koidjo
Year 9 - Daniel Moss, Dev Prasadh
Year 10 - Alex Dimitrov, Joshua Chukwu-Ike
Performance highlights would include:
Click on the link here to view the PE Winter Photo Gallery 2024.
On a crisp, cold December evening, an enthusiastic group of Year 11, 12 and 13 linguists visited St Dunstan’s College in Catford and were treated to a 'Careers in Languages' evening. The event was billed as a chance to attend an inspiring evening to unlock a world of opportunities with languages. Students explored the diverse and rewarding career paths that language skills can open up. They discovered many incredible opportunities listening to speakers from top organisations such as GCHQ, Military Intelligence, the Foreign Office, and the UN. They also heard first hand from a panel of current language undergraduates, who shared their experiences of studying languages at university. Additionally, they had the opportunity to take part in a fascinating taster session of Japanese, hosted by Kings Language Centre. Many BGS students came away inspired about future career possibilities of which they had not been aware prior to the evening.
Mrs Watkins, MFL Department
The trip to St Dunstan's was amazing! At the beginning of the event, we listened to a presentation by a group of people who are currently studying languages at university and using them in their jobs. It was very interesting as we also found out about different job ideas, such as working with GCHQ, MI5 and MI6. I had such a good time looking at the different stalls, where we were also given freebies too! The school was so grand and it was overall an amazing experience!
Gracie Gosling, Year 12
I really enjoyed the language trip to St Dunstan's - we enjoyed a variety of talks from a range of people using languages daily in their work and I found it fascinating to see the variety of ways that languages can be used in work. Translators aren't the only jobs, there are many others, such as GCHQ Language Analysts, Hotel Managers and many others. It gave an amazing insight into the pathway languages can give you in the future and I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to take part.
Rafael De Souza-Plans, Year 11
Tuesday brought an exciting opportunity for Bexley Grammar School MFL department, in collaboration with St Dunstan's College, who provided an amazing event on the subject of careers in languages. The night was a fantastic, information-filled evening where I got to hear from many linguists, such as a representative from the United Nations, members of the British Army - Intelligence Corps, GCHQ, university students and graduates, business owners, teachers and more. I think the most interesting moment for me was the question panel at the end!
As someone who is hard of hearing, and fascinated by sign language around the world, I thought it would be interesting to hear if any of the professional linguists had any interaction with foreign sign languages. The silence after I had asked this question was powerful, as all the best linguists that could be brought to the career evening expressed their bewilderment and interest in sign language, but none had learnt any sign in the over 300 sign languages in existence, that provide over 70 million people with communication in the world. This question also led to some fascinating personal conversations, including with some of the panellists about my experiences with language and communication. I hope this spreads awareness to all present in the evening, and those reading this, about the prevalence of sign language around the world.
Louis Luckman, Year 11
Wednesday 4th December, saw the annual Christmas Concert by the Music Department after another term packed with weekly rehearsals from all ensembles, culminating in a brilliant display of musical talent. We invited all ensembles to perform, right the way through from our beginner brass group to our more seasoned ensembles, like the Senior Choir, Symphony Orchestra and Improv Group. There was such an array of musicality on stage, and it was clear that all the students thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the night - well done to everyone who performed, and a special thank you to everyone who was involved in the planning and running of the night. Have a listen to a few minutes of highlights here!
Mrs Eacott and Mrs Casling, Heads of Music
Earlier this term, some lucky Year 12s studying Higher Physics IB had the amazing opportunity to attend an enlightening experience at Townley Grammar School with special guests from the aerospace careers programme.
I was very shocked to find out that aerospace is one of the biggest engineering fields in the UK, especially considering I, along with the rest of my cohort, knew very little about it and how to obtain a career in this field. This made the whole experience so much more interesting and useful as we got to explore an industry that we hadn't before. The day was filled with informative talks, VR demonstrations, and we even had the opportunity to use the equipment they work with as real aerospace engineers.
My highlight was our Q&A with a Boston Dynamics model of the robot, 'Spot'. I have been lucky enough to work with one of these before from a coding perspective, so it was very interesting to see the AI features of the model and how it could listen to our questions and give us an answer. We asked so many questions with Spot's answers ranging from ones in Japanese to explaining why he can't dance.
A huge thank you to the physics department for this amazing opportunity. We have all learnt so much, and I definitely want to explore aerospace engineering more in the future...
Matilda Jackson, Year 12
This term, a group of our outstanding Year 8 students took part in University College London’s Ocean Health Challenge 2024, a prestigious national engineering design competition for secondary school and college students aged 11-18.
