Borden Grammar School Parent Portal

Dear Parent or Guardian,

We basked in the Spring sunshine last week at Borden and it was so nice to see the students back out on the field enjoying themselves. It’s amazing how much a little sunshine means students and staff smile more and everyone feels like normality has returned. This is all the more important because Covid really hasn't gone away. We ‘limped’ through to the end of this term without having to make any adjustments, but only just. By the end of this term we had around 1 in 10 staff and students isolating as a result of Covid, reflecting a rise to over 1000 per 100,000 in Swale. This creates consistency issues for students who have lessons covered or who miss lessons themselves, all of which is unsettling. Added to this, students haven’t experienced a full year in school, or formal examinations, for over two years. We will endeavour to keep things as ‘normal’ as possible at Borden, but once again I ask that you reinforce the need to be vigilant and thank you for your patience as we do our best to keep things going.

I would also like to say a huge thank you to the generosity of so many parents and students in response to the Ukraine refugee appeal. The hall stage has been jam-packed with donations and it was quite an effort shipping it all across to our local hub ready for transportation to Poland. We raised over £1000 from our Red nose /Red Cross non uniform day, as well as raising much more from our various other treasure hunts/raffles/competitions. This fits nicely with our Borden value of ‘kindness’ and is truly one of the real strengths of the school.

We also had a wonderful ‘Old Bordenians’ Saturday celebration this term, where many of our students from past years attended a dinner event at the school. I personally sat next to a gentleman who attended the school in 1941 and was enthralled to hear stories of how the Borden boys used to try and find out where the latest plane crash was locally so that they could make their way straight from school to gain souvenirs. At that time, most of the school was ‘fee paying’ with around a third gaining scholarships to the school. It certainly made me reflect on how proud I am to be the headteacher of a wonderful school with students who are here because they are able rather than just because they can afford to pay.

We also had some great sporting fixtures and successes this term. Many of these will be covered in this newsletter, but I wanted to briefly write about one I personally witnessed. Year 9 attended the local rugby tournament and had a clean sweep of victories against our local schools. However, whilst winning is always nice, what really stood out to me was the approach shown by our students. It was noticeable that all the students reflected our Borden values;
- showing true courage in their approach, making hard tackles when needed and - - supporting their team members when things got tough.
- showing respect to the other teams, applauding when they scored or at the end
- showing kindness when someone got hurt (often offering a helping hand to an opposing team member)
- showing resilience, particularly when falling behind - in the toughest match Borden came back to win from being behind at half time.

We obviously take very seriously our job of making sure that our young people work hard and achieve success in their examinations. However, I genuinely believe that it is more important to create young people who will make the world a better place than it is now. From what I witnessed above, we are in good hands.

Have a very happy and restful Easter and I look forward to seeing our community again in the summer term.

Kind regards

Ashley Tomlin
Headteacher

Some words from our Heads of Years

Year 8 have focused on making sure they are prepared for their learning during the Spring term. Now that we have settled back into Borden routines, boys are regularly coming to school fully equipped with stationery, reading books, uniform cards and full school uniform - well done to everyone consistently ready for school on a Monday morning. We have covered a wide range of topics in form time, including the Philosophy of Pooh, Holocaust Memorial Day, World Sleep Day and International Women's Day. World Book Day was particularly well-celebrated by Year 8 with some incredibly imaginative costumes and excellent participation in the challenges set by Mrs. Hall. We are also proud of the efforts of one Year 8 student as he raises funds for the World Scout Jamboree he will attend next year. In our final celebration assembly, the winner of the Inter-form competition will be announced, with the prize of a non-uniform day on the last day of term at stake. Well done to everyone who has contributed Achievement points towards their form's total.
Mrs. Edwards Head of Year 8

This term, Year 10 have been discussing many social issues such as gender equality, Holocaust Memorial Day and celebrating World Book Day. Pupils should be thanked for their level of maturity in discussing such issues and displaying an ability to discuss alternative opinions with such maturity. Boys have also had an opportunity to explore a range of differing revision strategies from the use of flash cards to GCSE Pod video software in order to begin to prepare themselves for their GCSE mock exams at the end of April.
Mr Weller Head of Year 10

Year 11 had an important term with preparations for their GCSE exams well underway. The year group completed their final set of mock exams this term, with many boys working incredibly hard to produce some impressive performances. Along with the mock exams, students have continued to revise, with the library regularly used at lunchtimes and after school to complete extra study. In form time we have explored new study skills and improved upon revision techniques. The boys will be working hard, attending revision sessions and continuing their preparations over the Easter holidays as well as having a well earned rest.
Mr Finch Head of Year 11

Year 13 have had a busy term making much progress in their subjects towards this summer’s final A-Level exams. They have sat exams in certain subjects already with many students attaining some encouraging results that will form part of their overall grades in IT and Financial Services. There has been much discussion of the advanced exam board materials in lessons and students have been revising hard and completing mock examinations to help practice and improve their exam techniques. The 1st Eleven football team managed to reach the semi-final of the Kent Cup, recording some excellent victories on an impressive cup run. Eventually they lost to Harvey Grammar School in a nail-biting semi-final. There were some top Year 13 performances over the season from Alex Musk, Max Lissenden, Femi Kuku, Dylan Mepstead, Tommy Sanderson, Josh Decarte and Lee Burnett. The Senior and prefect team have continued their excellent work around the school in forms and mentoring work with younger members of the school community. They have managed this alongside helping to organise and run events like the Tonga Tsunami Appeal and Easter fund raiser for Ukrainian refugees. I would like to thank Thomas Blackmore, Gabriella Deevoy, Temi Olayinka and Luca Ascheri and the prefect team for all their efforts over the year. They have all certainly contributed in an extremely positive way to the values we hold dear at Borden Grammar School. I would like to take this opportunity to wish the whole of Year 13 luck with their upcoming exams and my best wishes for their future endeavours.
Mr Whiting Head of Year 13

Religious Studies News

The Religious Studies Department was successfully awarded a grant for approximately £500 from ‘The Jerusalem Trust’ (part of the ‘Sainsbury’s family’ – the weekly shop has helped to provide learning resources!) This money was used to buy over sixty ‘Holy Bibles’ to help teach the Christian faith. They have been in lessons already, and it has been wonderful to see students using them in class. The font, called Zondervan, is specially designed to make it easier to read. In addition, students loved the soft leather feel and the embossed cover.

The department was also proud to support ‘International Women’s Day’ on March 8^th. All students at Key Stage 3 and all GCSE RS students had homework based on trailblazing women in religion.

Year 7

Year 7 have been looking at Christianity for the past two terms. The have looked at how the birth of Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament, how Jesus served others through his ministry and the significance of his death and resurrection.

As part of their learning, they spent some time exploring the events of ‘The Last Supper’, and after looking at Leonard Da Vinci’s famous painting, students were asked to create a traditional or modern interpretation. Here are two that really stood out from Sean K and Jack J.

Year 8
A core part of Year 8’s work has been looking at denominations within Christianity, and trying to understand how and why these branches of the faith developed. They have also too looked at rites of passage, unusual stories in the Bible and how to become a nun! They were also asked to make a badge to reflect a ‘united church’. This is known as ‘ecumenicism’ when the churches work together. One great example was from Robert D.

Year 9
Year 9 have been exploring Islam; beginning with Muhammad (pbuh) and then leading into the Five Pillars of Islam, rites of passage and Islamic art. Next term we are looking to create a display of their own Islamic inspired art outside the RS rooms in the S Block.

GCSE
To put it bluntly, it is now exam season for both Year 10 & 11. Year 10 have been practising their exam skills in both the Christian and Islam components of the course; all this is building towards their mocks early in Term 5. Year 11 have just completed the second set of mocks, and of course in Term 5 they will be sitting their external exams on the 16^th and 28^th of May. We wish both groups well.

From myself, Mrs Mahoney and Mr Gilham we wish all our students and their families a very restful holiday. There are so many festivals at this time; Ramadan, Vaisakhi, Passover and Easter to name but a few. Whatever you do, we wish you a happy and peaceful time.

Mr Sherwood-Farnfield Lead teacher for RS

Dear Parent or Guardian,

Some words from our School Captain

Some words from our Heads of Years

Sports Department News

We are pleased to report

Gardening Club update

Religious Studies News

Sporting achievements

An excellent example of creative writing in Year 7 English

In the press

Extra Curricular Clubs