Some words from our Heads of Years
I can't quite believe we have finally arrived at the end of this long academic year! Year 7 impressed us with their resilience and effort whilst we prepared and sat our end of year exams. Looking across the year group, they have a strong set of results which set the students up well for Year 8. It has been a pleasure to work with Year 7 for the last 10 months, supporting them as they made the big transition to secondary school, forming new friendships and trying out new subjects. I would like to thank my wonderful form tutors for their efforts and dedication to offer the best pastoral care for our youngest members of the school. Congratulations to 7JCF for winning the form competition! They have worked tirelessly to gain more achievement points from their teachers whilst also improving their behaviour during lessons. I hope you enjoy your non-school uniform day and sweet treats! Have a lovely, well deserved break Year 7, I look forward to seeing you all as Year 8's when you return!
I'd like to also give a shout-out to our new year 7's joining us in September, please have a look at the New Year 7's tab on the school website for any information you may need before starting with us very shortly! (We can't wait to see you again!)
Miss Irinoye
Head of Year 7
Year 8 have continued to maintain the good standards and expectations demonstrated in Year 7 across this academic year. With the implementation of a form time curriculum, each student has been able to gain a better understanding of their mental health needs as well as the idea of 'how we learn' in strengthening pathways to reinforce understanding. This vital information will prepare them greatly for the challenges that lie ahead with Year 9 options and then their GCSE's fast approaching. I hope each and every student has a well-earned rest over the summer holidays but also enjoys themselves as much as possible.
Mr Beeson
Head of Year 8
Year 9 have completed an important year to round off their time in KS3, with much of the year spent preparing for the transition to KS4. With the boys taking their options exams, form times were used to learn vital study techniques for the exams to carry into year 10. The boys conducted themselves admirably during the exams, working hard to achieve some good grades. One of the highlights of the year was the fantastic levels of engagement from parents and students at both the year 9 options evening and the subsequent parents evening. Returning to in-person events helped to provide a sense of normality and community following the disruption and move to online events following the pandemic - an issue that’s been particularly disruptive for year 9 during their time at Borden.
After the completion of the options, a large portion of the year group took part in the Duke of Edinburgh award. Watching the boys prepare for the expedition has been very rewarding, seeing the boys take on extra responsibilities outside of their studies and coming together working in teams to plan and work on their expeditions. This term, 9PDR and 9OL have been in a close battle in the form competition, with 9PDR just moving ahead in the last week to earn themselves a non-uniform day on the final day of term. Well done for your good behaviour and continued efforts in the classroom. 
We also had several boys working together to fundraise for Save the Children, raising an impressive £65 selling drinks and sweets during a break and lunchtime. Well done to those who organised the sale!
All the boys in year 9 should enjoy a well-earned summer break before their step-up into KS4 in September. Well done and have a great summer!
Mr Finch
Head of Year 9
In our end of year Celebration Assembly, we reflected on the extremely busy and successful year that we have had. Year 10 have taken part in a wide range of activities - the Ski Trip, Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award, the Barcelona visit, STEM trips in science and English visits linked to the curriculum. April and May were particularly busy, with the Year 10 mock exams and Work Experience week which followed. During form time, our Year 10 prefects have supported Year 7 form groups all year, and we have covered an extensive pastoral curriculum building on our Borden Values. Academically, there were some outstanding exam grades achieved across the year group, as well as the invaluable experience of how formal exams are conducted. We celebrate the eight students nominated by form tutors for consistently representing the Borden Values with a reward breakfast, as well as the nine students going bowling on Friday to recognise their high number of achievement points.
Next year students will remain in their current form groups, and we will continue to register in H block, with a new team of form tutors. Any student collecting GCSE results on 22nd August should arrive at the Library between 10:30-11:30am.
Wishing all parents, carers and students a restful holiday to recharge their batteries before the return to Year 11.
Mrs. Edwards
Head of Year 10
Congratulations to all of Year 11, who have now completed their GCSE exams. It was lovely to see our students saying goodbye to each other at their leaving assembly, as young adults ready for their next steps. They have all worked so hard and we wish them all the very best, whether coming back to us in the 6th form or venturing off into the world! A reminder that students are able to collect results from 9.30am -11am. Please see the results' day letter for more details. Miss Phillips
Head of Year 11
Wow, what a year it has been!
As part of the year 12/13 RSE curriculum, external speakers; Talk Consent, visited in October to deliver an assembly on the topic of empowering future generations to reduce rates of sexual violence and create a safer and healthier society.
Developing resilience and an awareness of mental health is very important, hence we have embedded a culture of talking about mental health openly through workshops and also with the support of the MHFA student team who work with KS3 and KS4 students to provide support throughout the year when needed.
Year 12
It feels like only yesterday that we were welcoming our new year 12 students into the sixth form. This has been an immensely productive year for our current year 12 students, and I’m proud of their dedication, resilience, maturity and collaborative attitude.
Peer mentors
Over the course of this year, our wonderful peer mentors have demonstrated their skills of commitment, compassion and empathy when supporting students in the lower years. Peer mentoring underlines the core values of the school and serves to reiterate the caring and supportive environment that defines not only the sixth form, but the school as a whole.
Work experience
To complete the year, students embarked on a week's work shadowing at companies such as Crowe UK, The Bank of America, Beta X Ltd, Hilton Dentistry and various schools and pharmaceutical companies. Here are a few quotes of what the employers had to say:
“Well educated and polite.”
“An active listener and shows great enthusiasm”
“Good personal skills”
“Well behaved, on time, professional.”
“He is a credit to his family and your school.”
This is a testament to our year 12s, and I’m endlessly proud of their positive work ethic and how they’ve actively modelled the Borden Values during their work experience placements.
Our final assembly of the year celebrated the positive contributions our 6th form students have made to the wider school community, such as open evening and peer mentoring, as well as their academic achievements, including 100% attendance and subject nominations. This was such a lovely way to finish the year. Well done year 12!
To finish off, some quotes from our current year 12s reflecting on their first year of sixth form:
“Over my journey in year 12 the biggest thing I have enjoyed is the sense of independence. This is because I have been able to focus my studies on what is most important to me in the enrichment and study periods.” - Kristian Wigg
“I’ve really enjoyed the freedom associated with year 12 and being treated like an adult.” - Kian Scott.
“I have enjoyed all my subjects thoroughly and settled well into the school.” - Jamie Huckle
Student leadership
I’m delighted to announce that our student leadership team for next year will be as follows:
School Captain: Ife Fadipe
Vice Captains: Kristian Wigg and Amelia Bowker
Senior Prefects: Chris Mutah, Emily Gillan, Alisha Lang, Esther Molloy and Kshitish Joshi.
Year 13
A very busy final year which has brought about many emotions; excitement when writing personal statements, completing entrance tests for Oxford, Cambridge, medical professions and visiting universities of choice, to the anxiety faced when sitting those final public examinations.
Our budding chemists saw theory become reality at the Discovery Park in Sandwich, including chemical tests, melting point apparatus and Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC). In addition, the students had access to sophisticated equipment to perform both Infra-red Spectroscopy and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy analyses.
In January, the Finance students travelled to London to visit the campus of The London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF). They were also taken on a guided walking tour around the financial district. This was a great opportunity for students considering a career in banking and finance to experience what it might be like to work in the City.
February was a busy month; the Art, photography and DT department took year 13 to the Tate Modern and the Design Museum in London, and they were clearly inspired, as their final A level pieces were outstanding. The lucky A level English Literature students saw Shakespeare's play, Othello come to life at the Globe Theatre, and finally, the Geographers.
In March, the politics students were lucky enough to visit Westminster for the day to develop a broader understanding around their learning. The Geography students visited Herne Bay for their NEA field trip in July to investigate the seashore rock erosion.
Finally, in May we said goodbye to our students, starting with the Head of Sixth form’s speech, followed by an entertaining student compilation of their version of life at Borden. Throughout their year, the students, as always, were a credit to the school and, most importantly, themselves.
The Prefect team took part in numerous formal events, providing first-hand information about their journey through Borden. We are so grateful for the energy they provided within the 6th form and how they modelled expectations through their behaviour and approach to academic studies.
Final comments from the school captain, Noah Flatt
For most people, Year 13 has been tough. A year with countless mock exams and practice tests, cramming in as much revision as possible, before sitting through a set of exams that determine what most of us do next. Alongside that, we’ve had to write personal statements, and make applications to universities and apprenticeships. It’s a big undertaking compared to the relative ease of Year 12, but we’re through it now.
What happens next is going to be very different for everyone as we go our own ways, but we’ve all got a long summer ahead to relax. So, enjoy the Euros, the Olympics, festivals and everything else in between, have a great summer, and best of luck for the future!
Enjoy your extended summer break.
Looking forward to seeing you on August 15th for exam results day.
Please stay in contact as we appreciate hearing what the Borden Alumni are doing and how your journey has developed.
Mr Brinn, Mrs Searle, Ms Das, Mrs Francis
The Sixth Form Team
maths and Mr Westby as assistant headteacher. Mr Westby was also the school captain under the headteacher Mr Vafeas, after which we are naming the new building. I think it says something really important about Borden that so many of our students leave us to train to become teachers and then return to us in later life. 
All classes except Mr Reynolds’ class, will be studying ‘An Inspector Calls’. Mr Reynolds’ class will be studying ‘Lord of the Flies’. Your son will be told which class he will be in by the end of this summer term. So, please ensure you buy the correct text. There are various editions of ‘An Inspector Calls’ and any will do. These include the Heinemann (hardback) ISBN 978-0435232825 for £9.99 or the Penguin Modern Classics (with other plays) ISBN 978-0141185354 for £8.40. Please ensure the relevant boys have this book for the start of the new term. For those students in Mr Reynolds’ class, we have enough stock to sell directly to the boys; these include brand new to very good to used conditions. We can sell these for between £1- £5 and will leave that until September. You can, of course, buy your own copy over the summer if you wish. This is published by Faber ISBN 978-0571191475 for £7.99. Furthermore, there are plenty of inexpensive set text revision guides on the market too, if you wish to buy them. 
‘Macbeth’. We ask that parents purchase a copy of the text so that students can take notes directly into these books. This will greatly help the students to prepare for work and revision. For those students in receipt of Free School Meals, the school will buy the books for them. There are lots of editions to choose from: two to recommend are Macbeth (Cambridge School Shakespeare) ISBN 1107615496 at £8.75 which has excellent notes and the almost equally good but inexpensive Collins Classroom Classics - Macbeth : GCSE 9-1 set text student edition ISBN 0008363604 at £3.00. Please ensure the boys have their books for the start of the new term. Furthermore, there are plenty of inexpensive set text revision guides on the market too, if you wish to buy them. 
The aim of this event was to bring ideas to Chemistry teachers and technicians when carrying out core practicals and demonstrations in our schools at all levels (KS3, KS4 and KS5). We tried to attend different workshops within the event in order to get as many ideas as possible to bring to our Chemistry Department at Borden Grammar and hence to our students. During the day, we also had the opportunity to discuss our experiences at our own schools with teachers and technicians from other schools, giving and receiving ideas from each other, which was quite enriching.
Well done to Harry from Year 10 who was awarded a very exciting certificate and virtual badge for his Work Experience at BAE Systems.
The attendance guidance from the Department for Education is changing in September 2024, and we have updated our attendance policy in response. You can read the full policy, or we have created a summary specifically for parents.
We are developing a Sensory Room and would be very appreciative of any donations to furnish and equip this room. Please email Natalie Zarzycki (SENDCo) 
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