Wow, what a night! We were so privileged as a music department to be able to invite back so many alumni students, past staff members, previous heads - as well as our current students and staff - to give Mr Laing the fitting send off his 27 years at Bexley Grammar School deserved. After weeks of planning between Mrs Casling and Mr Laing, the concert was opened up by Mrs Eacott with a few numbers from Tour Choir and one specially written song that encompassed as many music department-related anecdotes about Jez as we could squeeze in! The tour band followed shortly after under the baton of Miss Todd, with hits from the movies and audience-based participation in ‘Tequila’.

Then the jazz began. An epic three hours of repertoire, rehearsed and performed separately by Junior Jazz, Big Band and Improv Group. The talent displayed on stage was astounding and the joy that the students felt was evident in their playing; they were exuding musicality! And it didn’t stop there, with the final numbers being performed by a hybrid of past and present students all performing at once (at one point, we didn’t know whether we would have enough amps or music stands to go around!) The sound was incredible and fully appreciated by the pizza-eating audience that had gathered to support this event. It was hugely memorable and both highly enjoyable and sad in equal measure for those who have worked closely with Jez. His presence will be missed dearly but his legacy and all that he has done in the music department - and the school as a whole - will live on! Thank you for everything.

Mrs Eacott, Head of Music

On Friday 5th July, Year 10 GCSE and Year 12 IB Design Technology students embarked on an exciting journey to the Business Design Centre in Islington for the annual New Designers Exhibition. This event showcased the innovative work of newly graduated degree students across a wide range of design disciplines, offering our students a unique opportunity to witness the cutting edge of design first hand. The show offered a glimpse into the future of design. What made the experience truly exceptional was the chance for our students to engage directly with these emerging designers. They eagerly asked questions about the designers' creative processes, from the initial concept to the final product, gaining valuable insights into the design journey. This immersive experience not only broadened our students' perspectives but also ignited their passion for design, providing them with fresh ideas and motivation for their own GCSE/IB coursework.

Mrs T Papp, Design Technology Department

The Exhibition Through Student Eyes

As part of our Year 10 DT trip, we went to the Business Design Centre in Islington to see the Designers’ Exhibition, where we got the opportunity to see many new and innovative products, and even talk to some of the designers. We are currently in the process of developing our NEA (Non-Examination Assessment), so this was also an opportunity to take inspiration from these designs and help us with creating our own.

One of the first pieces that we saw was a portable, flat-pack grill for camping, where we got to speak with the designer and discuss his design process; he told us about his research into existing, portable grills and his dislikes with them, his initial design ideas, and even the history of grills and BBQs. His process was very similar to what we are currently doing in our NEA, and our conversation helped give us some ideas and inspiration about what our own products could be, especially as, for some of us, our chosen theme for the NEA is ‘eating away from home’. We particularly liked how the bag was designed to keep the parts of the grill separate and clean, with a smooth, silicone-like material inside to prevent stains.

Another great design we saw was a camping bag. It was a good example of containers for our brief ‘Eating away from home’, and was very versatile. It could be collapsed into a small rucksack for things where you only need a packed lunch or something, or could be expanded to become a bag for larger things such as a sleeping bag or a tent. It was good to see that as a part of eating away from home counts as camping, and so allowed for some extra thought to that area.  

INCLUSIVE DESIGN

We also came across a design called Footer by Rebecca Brown, which is a sensory kit aimed at neurodivergent individuals to help reduce stress and anxiety. The designer sought to support people with stress, depression, autism, and ADHD by encouraging safe stimming behaviours. The sensory kit is customisable, can spin, and includes various sensory textures. It's also portable, allowing those with anxiety or stress to have something to fiddle with on the go, and really inspired us as another theme some people chose for our NEA was “Educational toys and games”, and helped us consider fidget toys as a possible design.

There were so many other amazing designs that we saw that couldn’t fit into this article, but overall, we all really enjoyed this experience, as we got the opportunity to see so many creative and unique designs to take inspiration from, and talked to a lot of aspiring designers who gave us some amazing advice for when we will also be designing our own products. It was really inspiring to see these designers talk about their creations with true passion for their work, and we would really like to visit another one of these exhibitions in our own time in the future.

Lucy, Alex, Elin & Jessica 

8NRC ended the year with a Maths group project, where students collaboratively researched famous mathematicians from various centuries. They explored the significant contributions and lasting impact of figures like Euclid, Ada Lovelace and Terence Tao. Each group presented their findings through detailed reports and engaging presentations. The project aimed to foster teamwork and deepen their understanding of mathematical history, while also enhancing their research, presentation and, most importantly, literacy skills. I was incredibly impressed with how deeply the students delved into the lives and work of these pioneering mathematicians.

Special mentions to Bertie Heath for demonstrating great dedication through dressing up as Ingrid Daubechies, team Euclid for their short play re-enacting possible speculations on how he died, as well as interactive quizzes by team Euler and team Lovelace.

The winning group (decided by a whole class vote) was team Maryam Mirzakhani, detailing her groundbreaking achievements, including being the first woman to win the Fields Medal, her work on the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces, and her significant contributions to understanding the symmetry of curved surfaces. Her work has profoundly impacted theoretical mathematics and inspired many young mathematicians worldwide.

Massive thank you to 8NRC for participating and engaging fully with the group project. Fantastic work!

Miss Goh, Maths Department

Some images/messages to include from students:

Winning group - team Mirzakhani

“I enjoyed the challenge of this project, especially being able to work collaboratively with my friends on the research. My favourite part was presenting our findings to the class and winning the prize for best mathematician.”

Max Glaser-Batdorff, Team Mirzakhani

“To be honest, I was astounded at the fact that Marjorie Lee Browne is not well known and thus limited research is in my grasp. It really highlighted the difficulties black women faced during the 1900s. However, as the project went on, I found it to be a really inspiring experience, and it was a really enjoyable process working with my team.” Yatharth Agrawal, team Lee Browne

“I’m really proud of how well our group worked together, everyone contributed equally, and the presentation went smoothly. My group found these maths projects very interesting, and it was really inspiring to learn how far maths has evolved throughout the years to what it is now.”

Inesh Giri, Team Tao

“During our project, my group had the pleasure of researching Leonhard Euler. This project aided our commitment and teamwork skills as well as learning a bit about an incredible mathematician. Overall, we enjoyed the project.”

Elsie Jeffries, Team Euler

Bexley Grammar School has had another exciting and action-packed year of STEM. There is a summary in the Summer Magazine that is well worth a read, to see all the things the students have been doing.

The summer holidays are a great time for students to build up experiences that they do not have time for during a busy term. It can be an opportunity to develop an interest and also build up evidence of your passions. Whether a Year 8 student has an afternoon free or a Year 12 student is looking for something to add to their Personal Statement, there are lots of fantastic online resources to help spark an interest in Science. I would highly recommend students have a look at the University of Oxford’s Independent Science Magazine, which has a wealth of fascinating articles and reports from the cutting edge of scientific research. In addition, the Royal Society awards a Science Book Prize annually. The 2024 shortlist will be out over the summer, but the 2023 list is also well worth a look. It includes books for those interested in any STEM field, from Engineering to Evolutionary Biology and everything in between. Please see more details here.

Primary Science Clubs

Over the last four weeks, three local primary schools have been fortunate to be visited by our Science Leaders. The teams of Year 12 leaders have been delivering a series of Science Workshops after school to Year 5 pupils. They have been absolutely amazing and the glowing reports from the Primary Schools fill me with pride. The Science leaders represented our school really well and helped to promote a love of science.

Ms Lusted, STEM Coordinator

Congratulations to our Year 13 IB students and their teachers for their IB results, which were released on Saturday 6th July. We're very pleased to continue to maintain high standards, and average point score of 34 points, with our biggest ever cohort studying the IBDP. 

With 168 points equating to 3 A* grades, you can see from the table below that our students have once again gained a qualification of great academic value and exceeded typical global averages.