After a year of disrupted training, Torquay Boys’ Grammar School and National Trust Ten Tors teams prepared for this year’s event with some rather unfamiliar weather forecast.
Indeed, with training walks having been scheduled to hit all five named storms that fell on weekends through the training season, students and staff could not believe their luck under glorious blue skies last weekend. Luckily, our students were not thrown by this and performed extremely well over the course of the weekend. Our formal dinner at Betty Cottles Inn prior to the event was well received by the students and helped to re-enforce the ethos and culture of the school and Ten Tors teams. It was fantastic to see last year’s 55-mile students come back to help organise the weekend. In particular, their help in cooking breakfast for this year’s walkers was much appreciated.
Huge credit must go to the students themselves of course, who succeeded in coming through this gruelling challenge with enthusiasm, resilience and admirable team work. Despite our disrupted training season, the students were extremely steady and strong. The three 35-mile teams all arrived back on Sunday before 10:15am, with the 45-mile team back at 1:36pm and the 55-mile team, the first team back over the line, at 11:06am. Whilst we do not treat this event as a race, the fact that the teams were so steady proves that the students themselves showed excellent team work and leadership. Congratulations to them all!
Thanks must also go to the staff and volunteers from both the school and National Trust and particularly Pete Davies who has headed up the National Trust’s teams this year. Between all these individuals, hundreds of hours have been volunteered from their free time over the course of this year to allow the students the opportunity to engage with such an enriching event.
The 35-mile Scout team (Joe Cunliffe, Euan Jones, Lawrence
Gardner-Jenkins, Henry Hunter, Hugo Hedges and James Robinson), reached their
8th Tor on Saturday, leaving just 17km for Sunday, completed in 2hrs 35mins,
making them the 4th team to cross the line (just behind the school 35-mile
team!).
Torquay Boys’ Grammar School has been recognised nationally for its excellent results in 2018 based on data from the Department for Education and Ofsted, analysed by SSAT, the Schools, Students and Teachers network.
Torquay Boys’ Grammar School was found to be among the best performing secondary schools in the country, receiving an award for being in the top 10% of schools nationally for progress. The SSAT Educational Outcomes database compares all state-funded schools in England and the highest performing schools for a range of key measures are awarded SSAT Educational Outcomes Awards.
Torquay Boys’ Grammar School will be presented with their award during the summer term at a ceremony attended by winners from across the region.
Sue Williamson, Chief Executive of SSAT said: “I am delighted that Torquay Boys’ Grammar School has won an Educational Outcomes Awards. This recognises one important aspect of the school’s work but at SSAT we believe an outstanding school has deep social justice at the heart of its plan; it subjects that plan to constant challenge and innovation; and it liberates teachers to perform brilliantly in the classroom. SSAT is pleased to recognise the quality of leadership and the hard work of all staff to ensure the success of every child. A big thank you and well done to students, parents, staff and governors.”
Ten TBGS students are celebrating receiving conditional offers from Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard this year. Four of the students received offers from Cambridge for Maths, Architecture, and Engineering (2). Six students received offers from Oxford for Medicine, Economics & Management, PPE, Experimental Psychology, Archaeology & Anthropology, and History.
Justin Chan is our 5th students to receive an unconditional offer from Harvard (with a full scholarship of nearly 300,000 USD). He also secured an offer from Cambridge to study Mathematics but will have to decline this!
Here he is pictured with Mr Bainbridge and James Bedford who came into school just before Christmas; he is currently in his third year at Harvard.
During his studies at Harvard, he has experienced many opportunities including as part of the Harvard College Consulting Group (https://www.harvardconsulting.org/), a Harvard non-profit student group that advises influential businesses and companies on strategic decisions using quantitative and qualitative analysis. These include companies such as Microsoft, Pepsi, and Paramount, among many others.
He also set up an induction programme (FYRE – First-Year Retreat and Experience) for new students joining the University who come from low-income, or are the first-generation in their family to attend College (https://fdo.fas.harvard.edu/fyre). James also spent time in Singapore, during the summer holiday as an Intern, gaining valuable work experience.
Of the group of ten current students, seven are studying the International Baccalaureate and three are studying A-levels. We again have two female students gaining offers: Laura Green has received her offer to study Politics, Philosophy & Economics, whilst Molly Acheson has an offer to study Archaeology & Anthropology, both from Oxford.
We are thrilled with the number of students receiving Oxford and Cambridge offers this year, across such a range of subjects. They are all very deserving and reflect the students’ outstanding work both throughout their time at TBGS, and during the very tough selection process.
We have a rigorous support programme which prepares students for each element of the application process including: support with personal statements; an overnight visit to the Oxford open day; entrance test preparation; interview technique workshops; mock interviews and various subject extension groups.
We have also been grateful to some of our past students, who have returned from their current study at Oxford and Cambridge, to offer support to prospective students. Credit must also go to the staff that have worked with the students and ensured they can compete successfully at the highest of levels.
Pleasingly, we continue to see great success with our potential Medical students, again this year. They have received much support from Mrs Kilpatrick and Dr Bethune, who have run a Medical Society, where students have received many lunchtime sessions covering various medical topics and issues, have experienced MMI mock interviews from Plymouth University, lectures from practising doctors, as well as undertaking work experience organised independently and via the support of Dr Stites.
Luke Gribbin, in particular, is worth a special mention. Luke achieved one of the Highest ever UKCAT scores with 3550 out of 3600: to put that into context, a very good score is usually around 2800 and an outstanding score would be around 3200; very few people achieve anything higher than this. The highest ever score is 3560, which is only one 10-point increment higher.
He also ranked in the top 2% of people sitting the BMAT exam. As a result, he has been interviewed at all four of his choices and already received offers from Oxford, Birmingham and Newcastle (whilst waiting on Bristol).
Aside from Oxbridge, there are many other top establishments that students have gained conditional places from. 138 students have applied to University and many have already received offers from all five of their choices.
8 of the successful
candidates: Laura Green (PPE), Ted Wynne (Architecture), Justin Chan (Liberal
Arts), Luke Gribbin (Medicine), Molly Acheson (Archaeology & Anthropology),
Allèn Tomy (Economics & Management), Domokos Szarka (Experimental
Psychology), Kyle Dearson (Engineering), Alex Still (History). Ewan Gribbin
(not pictured, Engineering).
This years Science Fair is almost upon us with a variety of demonstrations and experiments, the fair will be open to the public between 4pm until 6.30pm on Tuesday 12th February. We hope to see you there.
Click on the What’s On tab above for tickets to the 2019 TBGS musical. This year, we are staging the very popular Les Misérables, the story of Jean Valjean on a journey of redemption, persistently hunted by a police inspector, Javert, against the background of revolutionary France, where a group of young idealists attempt a coup at a street barricade. If you are enjoying the BBC adaptation, or tried to get tickets for the tour to Plymouth, the TBGS show might just be for you!
It has been a decade since we first staged Les Misérables and we are planning a really special production with new staging, a huge cast and some spine-tingling musical performances. The show will run from Tuesday 5th to Friday 8th March, 7.30pm in the Cavanna Centenary Hall. As in previous years, tickets are priced at £6 for adults, £3 for students Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and £8 and £4 for Friday. Tickets can be purchased from the online shop, which you can access via the What’s On tab above.
In addition, this year we have an exclusive opportunity on offer: a dinner-and-dine package for you toenjoy. On Friday 8th March you could be welcomed, should you choose, in the sixth-form centre at 6pm for a delicious two-course tavern-style rustic French meal with welcome drink, with the added benefit of reserved seating at the front of the hall, and a complimentary programme. This is priced at £18 for adults, £14 for secondary-age students and £11 for primary-age students, and includes your ticket for the main show. The venue has limited space so book early!
Each evening there will be the usual bar, raffle and ice creams, along with a French market offering Chocolat Chaud, Crêpes et Pain au Chocolat.
This year’s autumn concert, on 13th November, was real treat for the ears, with more students than ever, performing to a packed Centenary Hall.
There was such an impressive range of music styles on offer, including some classical favourites, (this year, for the first time, from a combined Boys’ and Girls’ Grammar School Orchestra), alongside some home-grown compositions from class rock bands.
Pete Alderson’s solo marimba playing was incredible, and the preview performance from this year’s musical (Les Misérables, 5-8th March) spine-tingling. The evening culminated in an amazing performance by all the students who had performed throughout, coming together for a uplifting rendition of Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.
The concert once again showcased the inspiring talents of such wide range of students, and was testament to the hard work and commitment of the music department.
Exeter Chiefs lock Sam Skinner was named man of the match on his international debut. The 23-year-old made several telling ball carries and was a prominent presence in the line-out before finishing the match on the blind-side flank.
Gregor Townsend, Scotland Head Coach, said “He did very well. The game he plays for his club and the type of player he is suits what we want to do – a decision-maker, someone that is fit, with skills that can move the ball, can carry and get around the park.”
On November 1st, we welcomed prize winners from year 12 and 13, with their families, to an evening of celebration.
Prizes were awarded for subject excellence in year 11 and 12, along with prizes for progress at GCSE, Aude Sapere (or excellence and contribution to the school), along with special school and memorial cup prizes.
Heads of Department specifically selected books to award to subject prize winners, to stretch their thinking in the field in which they excel. The Progress and Aude Sapere prizes were a unique glass paperweight designed and individually engraved by OurGlass, Cockington, featuring a school blue and celebration gold design; hopefully these will be a memorable and personal keepsake.
The evening began with drinks reception accompanied with jazz piano by Ashley Scott, who was awarded the music prize for year 11, followed by a spine-tingling rendition of Who Am I by Luke Gribbin, from the upcoming school musical Les Misérables, which is already shaping up to be a very exciting production. Luke was awarded C. D. Sears Musician of the Year award.
Thanks must go to the Vice-Chair of Governors, Christine Western, for awarding the prizes. She warmly congratulated all students on their successes, hard work and determination.
Mr Lawrence, speaking at the evening, shared his firm belief that student successes are a product of three parties, parents, the teachers and, of course, the students themselves. The evening was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate success with all parties.
TBGS-MADE VIOLIN FOR SALE – PROCEEDS TO OUR YOUNG MUSICIANS.
Inspire young violinists and own a piece of TBGS musical history at the same time
A TBGS alumni would like to sell a beautiful violin made by a former TBGS teacher and has very generously offered to donate the proceeds of the sale to the Music Department, in order to inspire the next generation of TBGS violinists.
The donation would allow the department to purchase a range of good quality instruments, to be made available on loan to disadvantaged students, and to fund taster events for those interested.
Young students often give up because they aren’t able to produce a good enough sound on a cheap violin. Enabling them to play better quality instruments would help them to persevere and develop the life-long love of the instrument that I have been fortunate enough to enjoy.
The maker, John Cottrill taught at TBGS between 1917 and 1934, and made this violin in 1924 during his time here. He was a skilled enough luthier to be included in Henley’s Dictionary of Violin Makers.
I’ve played the violin and found it to have a good tone, despite being un-played for some time, particularly in the lower and upper registers. As with any string instrument, this would improve with regular playing. It would be perfect for an intermediate to advanced student, or for an amateur player looking to upgrade. It would be fantastic if it ended up in the hands of a TBGS student!
The violin has recently been refurbished, and is for sale for £3000, with the £2000 remaining after refurbishment costs coming to the school.
Below are some notes on the violin from a respected local luthier. The image is of a different John Cottrill violin.
“The violin has a hand written label:
Hand made on True Tone Principles by
J.Cottrill Torquay Zeta 1924
J Cottrill made violins between 1923 and 1936. Rather than numbering his instruments he gave each a letter of the Greek alphabet, Zeta being the sixth.
The general quality of craftsmanship of this instrument, and the selection of tonewoods, is excellent. The back of this instrument is of two pieces of maple with fine regular flame. The ribs are of the same maple. The pegbox and scroll are of maple with a similar fine figure. The scroll is neat,
symetrical and well proportioned. The belly of this violin is carved from fine grained spruce. The f holes are neatly carved, quite upright, with the lower wings fluted. Both plates are neatly inlaid with a single line of purfling set close to the edges. The beestings are elegant. This violin is finished with a soft warm orangebrown varnish over a golden ground, which is in very good condition with some fine craquelure.”
If you are interested in purchasing this instrument and would like to view and play it, please contact me Chris Eastman (Head of Music): ceastman@tbgs.torbay.sch.uk
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