VOLUME XIV

NOVEMBER 2016

Beverley Grammar School @bevgrammar

THE BEVERLONIAN

Y7 STUDENTS GO INTO THE WILDS

BGS hosts careers fair Beverley Grammar School h o s t e d a c a re e r s f a i r o n Wednesday 19th October for year 11, 12 and 13 students of BGS and Beverley High School.

In September, 112 Year 7 students escaped the classroom to spend 3 days developing and testing their teamwork skills at an activity centre in Lincolnshire. They also got to know other members of their year group much better through working in house groups during the day, supporting each other. During the time at Caythorpe, students overcame fears and pushed themselves to their limits (and beyond!) Students who were scared of heights scaled 12 metre high obstacle courses with support and encouragement from their peers. The former hunting lodge Caythorpe Court and its extensive grounds became our home as students tackled a huge variety of activities, from rock climbing to quad biking; from trapeze to orienteering. Despite the occasional hiccup (we’re sure quad bikes are so-called because of their need to have all 4 wheels on the ground at the same time!) the students were keen to demonstrate their enjoyment of the various activities, mostly by making a lot of noise for most of the time! The singing and shouting was, thankfully, encouraged by the irrepressible activity leaders at the centre. With the students arriving back happy but exhausted, the staff all commented how impressed they were with the students’ desire and willingness to have a go and do their best at all of the activities. We are confident that these fantastic attitudes will serve them well in their future at Beverley Grammar School.

During the course of the day almost 500 students had the opportunity to speak to representatives from over 30 companies and providers.

The students found the day really useful in helping them to make decisions about what to move on to in the next stage of their education or training.

Beverley Grammar School and Beverley High School would like to thank all of the organisations who gave their time to help our students.

Visit www.beverlonian.co.uk for more on these stories, and to find out what’s going on at Beverley Grammar School

BEVERLONIAN VOL XIV

NOVEMBER 2016

STUDENTS INSPIRED AT SPEECH NIGHT

Headteacher’s Blog | the one about our best advocates

Speech Night 2016 was a really uplifting experience, with a packed Minster seeing over one hundred of our boys and J6 girls receiving prizes for their positive attitude to learning and their academic excellence. This year our guest speaker was Olympian Ben Pipes. Ben was Great Britain’s volleyball captain at the 2012 London Games. He gave a terrific, inspirational speech about the journey he had undertaken in order to achieve his ambition of being a professional volleyball player and representing his country. At first Ben thought he had realised his dreams because he had been lucky, he had met the right coaches at the right time, for example, but he now realises that so much of his journey was down to himself. He took and made the most of the opportunities that came along, gathering up a whole host of experiences that he has been able to ‘draw upon’ in later life. It was a message which all of the students who were present could readily understand and hopefully will take forwards with them. In a fantastic footnote to the event, Ben offered to waive his fee; instead he wished it to go to the PE department so that it benefits our boys. We are very grateful to Ben for this gesture and the PE department have already determined that they will use the funds in order to buy volleyball equipment as it is a sport that we currently do not regularly offer.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Nov 10 | Young Musician of the Year
 Dec 1 | Year 10 Parents’ Evening
 Dec 5 | Carol Service (Beverley Minster)
 Dec 7 | Year 11 Intervention Evening
 Dec 13 | Year 7 Parents’ Evening
 Dec 15 | Year 14 Reunion Evening (BGS) Note to parents - we will for much of our routine communication be switching to a paperless system, via email. Please check regularly.

At our recent, very busy Year 6 open evening there was one feature that nearly every parent commented upon. One thing that truly stood out amongst the many excellent activities that went on. It was the performance of our Y11 ‘school captain’, James Richardson. As part of the presentation to parents and Y6 students James spoke about his experiences at the school, how, in his words the school has helped to sculpt him into the confident, articulate, rounded young man that he is today. James encapsulated better than any of us other presenters could what it means to be a student at Beverley Grammar School, what opportunities exist, and the e x c e l l e n t re l at i o n s h i p s w h i c h develop between staff and students. It was a proud moment for all of us at the school but especially for those such as Mrs Elgey who can remember James when he arrived in Year 7. In her words he was a nervous, disorganised boy who wouldn’t say ‘boo’ to the proverbial goose. Whilst James won the plaudits, however, the open evening had a whole host of students helping out with tours and in departments… To read more of this article, subscribe to Gavin’s blog by following him on twitter

@bevgrammarhead

Visit www.beverlonian.co.uk for more on these stories, and to find out what’s going on at Beverley Grammar School