On Tuesday 17^th June, 170 Year 8 students and 31 members of staff took part in London Lifesavers training, a programme delivered by the London Ambulance service to train students in CPR and using a defibrillator.

Organising the culture competition was such a great experience!

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

8ML

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

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 afternoon of 14th July, a team of seven Year 7 boys took on seven girls from Newstead Wood School, brought over by Dr Beaven, who recently taught some maths at BGS. This was the first inter-school chess competition that has happened at the school in more than eighteen years. It was initiated by Dr Beaven for our students to compete for the Asker-Beaven Cup (sadly more notional than real). Across four hard-fought rounds, the boys had to deal with the ebb and flow of emotions that come with sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but they ended the day as champions, with captain Enzo undefeated in all his games.

The players were: Enzo, Chaitanya and Rantimi (7JR), Rassim, Matty and William (7TMR), and Soham (7LC).

The team did brilliantly to keep themselves calm and focused as they faced strangers across the boards. At the halfway stage, it was neck-and-neck, before the BGS team stretched ahead. Credit to every player, each of whom won at least one of their games, contributing to a final score of 17-11.

My thanks to Dr Beaven for giving us the opportunity to venture into the brutal world of competitive chess! Here's to many more matches in the future.

Mr Asker, Chess Club Coordinator