National School Sports Week 2023 
19th - 25th June 2023
Part 1 

We had gorgeous weather for National School Sports Week 2023. Did you manage to complete the 60 minutes of extra sport? 30 minutes during the school day and 30 minutes outside of school, Averaging 420 minutes per week!

Find out more:

www.youthsporttrust.org/nssw
@YouthSportTrust | #NSSW2023 | #PledgeToPlay

So what happened this week - some highlights of the week…

Year 7 Rounders

Monday 19th June - Year 7 rounders in lessons:

NSSW underway in lessons with the Year 7 rounders skills circuit competition won by Isabel, Carla, Kristina and Katy.
Mrs Kemp

Year 7 Cricket

Congratulations to Lelissei Becar on a fantastic performance in our front foot drive competition.  He scored a total of 16 points which beat all other competitors.  Here are some photos of the challenge involving 3 fielders trying to stop batters hitting the ball through a target area.

An incredibly competitive throwing and catching challenge made for some interesting celebrations in our lesson.  Dropped catches meant starting the challenge again, so the pressure was on!  Congratulations to these pairs who won and can therefore take pride in their performance.

Year 7 Tennis

Well done to the groups who took part in some tennis challenges involving target practice and a hungry crocodile volleying game which was completed with great enjoyment and encouragement to one another... We finished with a doubles ladder tournament to crown the “Champion of Champions”, so well done to Lucas and Mahad.

Well done to our ladder tournament winners!

 Year 7 Table Tennis

The Year 7 girls were getting competitive in National School Sports Week.  Our ladder doubles tournament saw Anushka and Shriya have an impressive run of victories and were named our overall winners.  Well done girls!

Chatting with my Year 7 girls last week, I was blown away by all the amazing activities that they take part in outside of school: trampolining, cricket, swimming, tennis, gymnastics, dance, basketball, hockey, football, futsal (a football-based game played on a hard court) and synchronised swimming to name a few.  Great stuff 7wPe3.

Year 8 Tennis

Well done to all the boys who competed in the “Catch the Return” tennis games.  It was a challenge that saw some excellent catches, as well as brilliant returns into space on the court.  It was highly competitive and resulted in some fantastic celebrations.  

Well done to our ladder tournament winners!

Year 8 Badminton

Badminton tournament for our Year 8 girls.  Who would make it to the top court?  Who would win that crucial last match?  Lisa and Charlotte, That’s who!  Great play to all of you and congratulations to our winners.

Improving our Physical & Mental Wellbeing

A bit of story time with Mrs Howard at the start of the lesson.  Discussing the different activities that we could undertake to help improve our physical and mental wellbeing outside of school time.  I described my walk on the North Downs... We’re so very lucky to have Danson Park on our doorstep.  A beautiful green space to take some time to be present, something I encourage our run clubbers to be on a Friday morning when enjoying the park space.

Year 8 Rounders Challenges in lesson

Winners from Mrs Kemp’s 8w lesson challenge - Poppy K along with her fellow Johnson House class. It was lovely to have Beth, Year 11, join us for this lesson and present them with their award. They can’t keep away!

Photo Gallery

Please click on the link here to view our National School Sports Week 2023 Photo Gallery and look out for Part 2 of this report next week.

For our regular PE updates and sports report scroll down.

Maths News Summer 2023 

Junior Maths Challenge success!

Once again, our intrepid BGS Mathematicians have stormed the UK’s most famous school maths contest. This time it was the turn of Years 7 and 8 to step up to the plate and test their mettle against the fiendish intellect of the UK Maths Trust (UKMT), the inner circle of question-posing boffins whose mathematical interrogations can turn even the most able young minds into a panicky jelly of incoherent innumeracy.

The results speak for themselves:

Table 1: BGS Junior Maths Challenge Results 2023

Bearing in mind that to get a “medal” of any colour, students need to be in the top 50% of the country, and Gold only goes to the top 8%, this is a stunning achievement. Below are some of our high-achieving Year 8s.

 Some of the Year 8s with their JMC certificates

The very top-scoring students were invited through to the next rounds. Best of all was Matilda Sargent 7FIM, who, despite being a year younger than most participants, achieved the highest score in the school. Matilda went through to the Maths Olympiad, a gruelling two-hour paper which she flew through with flying colours - achieving a Merit, which makes her one of the top mathematicians in the country for her age. Mr Gilmore kindly took time out of his busy schedule to present her with her certificate.

Also receiving a special commendation are the students who went to the “Kangaroo” round. Named after the UKMT’s historic ties with Australia, this is a challenging competition, where the candidates are invited based on achieving a very high score in the first round. The following BGS students were invited: Ibrahim Khan 7NRC, George Barnes 8MPM, Greg Hall 8MPM, Kika Jones 8STA, Andrei Mocanu 8CED, Bhavin Mulchandani 8STA, Max Perez 8STA, Edwin Salyga 8JMP, Binisa Subedi 8CED and Raphael Swaroop 8ERE.

The Kangaroo competitors all put in a wonderful effort. Ibrahim and George achieved Merit. Congratulations to both and all our amazing mathematicians this year!

 

George and Ibrahim with their Kangaroo certificates.

Mr Male, Maths Department

 

Intermediate Maths Challenge success!

Six students in Years 9 to 11 who qualified for the Mathematical Olympiad through their success in the Intermediate Maths Challenge.  A massive congratulation to Ashna Adhikari, Diep Anh Nguyen, George Miao, Sam Bowring and Haris Dalipi for their participation and amazing results.

 Andy Yu 11LC with his Olympiad Medal

The maths department would also like to give a special mention to Andy Yu in Year 11 for winning a Bronze medal and book prize in recognition of his incredible achievement in the Maclaurin Mathematical Olympiad 2023. This places him in the top 100 mathematicians in the country. Well done!

Miss Mani, Maths Department

Year 9 ~ Celebrating ILP Success 

It was good to see Year 9 together for our long awaited assembly to celebrate their successes in the Independent Learning Project, completed at the end of last term.

There had been a wide variety of subjects explored by students - including sport, music styles, dance, current affairs, and environmental issues - and a range of presentation styles - models, videos, display booklets, as well as extended written reports.

There were 2 students per form awarded a certificate to recognise their efforts:

  • 9CPB - Oscar Vacarciuc & Josh Rawal
  • 9KAS - Daniel Quinn & Ashna Adhikari
  • 9MMC - Rebecca Kidby & Ashraya Karki
  • 9PDH - Kate Rooney-Douillet & Maia Tourral-Hopkins
  • 9LPV - Blake Wymark & Abigail Carter
  • 9REL - Adi Vedamuthu & Jade Mensa-Bonsu
  • 9VLT - Ritadyumna Jinka & Avanni Dutta

In addition, two students were commended from across the year group for their effort and commitment to the project:

  • Daniel Durand (9PDH) The Treasure of Izentarth, the Last Fire Breather - Adventure game
  • Holly Filer (9VLT): Impact of climate change on animals around the world

Well done to everyone for their hard work on this project.  As we discussed in the assembly, it has introduced & developed skills which will support independent work in both KS4 and in the IB studies in the Sixth Form, through planning, researching and prioritising material to include, presentation skills and time management.

Mrs Spencer
Year 9, Director of Studies

Year 8 Students host Hook Lane Primary School

The Year 8 Student Council along with a number of other Year 8 students helped to host Year 5 students from Hook Lane Primary School. The afternoon had been set up to give the Year 5s a taste of what life is like at secondary school.

The afternoon included a science lesson, a Spanish lesson and most importantly an opportunity to ask questions of our students. The Year 8 students were impressive in their ability to engage and respond to a vast range of questions, from “What is there in the canteen at lunchtime?” to “How long is a detention?” The positive atmosphere that the students helped to create really enabled the Year 5s to take advantage of their taster afternoon of what it is like to be in secondary school.

Huge thanks to all students involved. I know the visiting students learnt a lot and enjoyed meeting you all.

Mrs Belton Owen
Director of Studies, Year 8

English Department News

Visit from Ayaan Mohamud 

Ayaan Mohamud - a debut novelist and medical graduate - visited BGS a couple of weeks ago and delivered an insightful speech to a group of avid book lovers.

The presentation on her book ‘You Think You Know Me’ was fascinating and inspiring. It helped me understand more about the book itself and the process of writing and publishing books. It was a fantastic experience to meet a real author and be able to ask them questions about their process! Mohamud outlined the roles of all the people involved in publishing a novel, offering incredible insight into something that I had never really considered before. To find out what inspired the author to write it as well as gaining a deeper understanding of what it was about was an unforgettable experience.

I found the book delightful and would definitely recommend it to people who are interested in hearing the story of a Muslim woman finding her voice. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to hear Ayaan Mohamud’s presentation.

Amber Starkie, Year 10

PE News

Year 8 Rounders

Round two of the Year 8 Bexley Borough rounders tournament took place last week.  A huge squad of 13 stepped out for Bexley Grammar, these girls have been so keen all summer, to challenge the other teams.Their excellent play saw them narrowly miss out on victory to Chis and Sid, next time girls!!  Hugely well done.

Year 7 & 9 Cricket

Our Year 7 cricketers took on Chis and Sid in their debut cricket match for the school.  The commitment from the girls was astounding, no fewer than 18 girls were eager to play in the 8 aside match, and we were happily able to field two Bexley Grammar teams to create a mini tournament.  Incredibly impressed by their batting and fielding skills and their encouragement of each other.  Very close games with both teams just being pipped by Chis and Sid.  A superb first performance! 

Our Year 9 cricket leaders played a key role in leading cricket based activities and scoring throughout the afternoon.  Enthusiastic, encouraging and super organised, we really couldn't have had such a fantastic event without their help.

Mrs Howard, Mrs Mallin, Miss Leffen, Mrs Kemp, PE Department

Safeguarding Update 

Dear Parents/Carers,

May I take this opportunity to remind carers and parents of the importance of checking children's phone settings? We have been made aware of young people receiving unwanted upsetting content on their phones outside of school because privacy settings have been left unlocked.  

On a separate note, as we approach the summer break, Internet Matters have produced a handy guide to apps that support young people keeping active over their holiday:

https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/apps-guide/apps-to-help-kids-get-active/

Kind regards,

Mr S Auckland, Designated Safeguarding Lead and Deputy Head
 

 

Recent safeguarding updates can be found on our website or by clicking on the link here.

News items you may have missed

Greenwich & Bexley Hospice Marathon Update

Well done Dylan! 

For the second year in a row I ran the mini marathon for the Greenwich and Bexley Hospice, who gave end of life support to my dad. This year was very special due to it being the 10th anniversary of the marathon. I ran it with my friend who also ran with me last year and who was running for his Nan.

My family came to watch and I raised over £1000 for the charity, whilst also beating my time in just under 20 minutes. There were big crowds and lots of excited people, and to top it off the weather made for perfect running conditions. Overall it was a wonderful day and I encourage other people to take part next year.
 
Dylan Banks, Year 9
 
There's still time to support Dylan's fundraising for the Greenwich & Bexley Hospice by clicking on the link  here. 

 

Native speakers of Italian…

We are looking for members of our school community, who are native speakers of Italian who would like to join our amazing team of Modern Foreign Language teachers in September 2023 to maximise the exposure our sixth form students have to authentic conversation in their chosen language of study.

The Language team would organise a schedule around your availability, which would allow for small workshops and conversation classes of 2–5 students. We are looking for native speakers who could ask students questions and support them to articulate and develop their responses accurately. Our Language teachers would support you with the planning of the workshops and topics for discussion. Topics of interest include: Identity, Traditions, Tourism, Food, Culture, School Systems, Equality and The Environment.

If you would like to know more, please contact symons_m@bexleygs.co.uk. We would welcome the chance to include our wider community in our mission to continue to provide an outstanding curriculum.

The MFL Team

Lost Property

We have a number of lost coats at reception (see below).  If you see anything that might belong to your child either contact Reception or send your child to speak to the reception team.  Please note, we are unable to store lost property items indefinitely.  Any lost items that are unclaimed by the end of the summer term will be recycled. 

Thank you

Reception Team

 

Please click on the link here to report lost property or email us directly
reception@bexleygs.co.uk.

Reception Team

GCSE Results Day

GCSE Results for Year 11 will be available for collection from 9am on Thursday 24th August 2023.   Results will also be emailed to your school account later that day. Should you encounter any problems receiving your results please email the Examinations Officer, Mrs Bono (bono_a@bexleygs.co.uk).

If you would like any other person (including family members) to collect your results on your behalf, you must give your written authorisation to the Examinations Officer before results day.

GCSE certificates will be presented to pupils at a school assembly in November. Pupils who do not attend can collect their certificates from the Examinations Office.  Please email Mrs Bono to arrange.

Thank you 

Dates for your Diary

July

Tuesday 4th-Friday 7th ~ The Addams Family Musical 7pm (see notice)

Wednesday 12th 6pm ~ Jazz Evening 6pm (see notice)

Tuesday 18th ~ Speech Day (Early Finish)
Year 12 students will be dismissed at 12.35pm
Years 7-10 will be dismissed at 1.30pm

Friday 21st ~ Last Day of the Summer Term (Early Finish)
Year 12 students will be dismissed at 10.35am
Years 7-10 will be dismissed at 12.25 pm (all students to be off site by 12.35pm please)

August

Thursday 24th ~ GCSE Results Day, 9am (see notice)

September

Monday 4th ~ INSET Day (no students in school)

Tuesday 5th ~ First Day of the Autumn Term for new Year 7 and new Year 12 (current Year 11) only
Year 7 students to arrive at 8.20 am at the bottom gate (tennis courts) 
Year 12 students register in forms at 8.30 am. Please enter via the Canteen doors.  

Wednesday 6th
Years 7-11 & 13 register at 8.30 am as usual
Year 12 register at 10.00 am in form rooms

Tuesday 12th ~ INSET Day (Closed ~ no students in school)