Page 2 Goodbyes! Page 13 Particle Zoo! Page 3 Student ...

Page 2 Goodbyes! Page 13 Particle Zoo!
Page 3 Müller Enterprise Day
Page 4 Student Planner Competition Page 14 New Badminton Club

UKMT Junior Maths Page 15

Page 5 Year 9 Investigation Page 16/17 Grove College

Page 6/7 Grove Music Page 18 New Grove Uniform

Page 8 Pride of Shropshire Page 19/20 New Grove Uniform
Our Town
Page 9 New Social Area Opening Page 21 The Birks
RAF Maths Challenge
Page Page 22/23 Diary of the Birks
10/11
Page 12 Page 24 Diary Dates

To report your child
absent call:
01630 650020

The end of the Summer term will be marked once again with the retirement of
two long standing and extremely popular members of staff. Mr Whittaker,
Head of Science and Mrs Harrison, Progress Leader for Years 8 and 9 will be
leaving us after a combined 62 years of teaching at Grove School.

It’s goodbye from me …..

Mrs Harrison (Mrs Reed) joined Grove in 1986 as a teacher
and has spent the years since dedicated to Grove and students.
She started life as a supply teacher and worked in a variety of
teaching roles. Trained as a Geography teacher, she adapted as
necessary during her early years at Grove, but it was a long
term cover for a member of the English Department which led
her to fulfil her first love: teaching English. During this time she
was also promoted to Deputy in the Learning Support Department and was instru-
mental in integrating children with specific
learning difficulties into mainstream classes. Her caring disposition and dedication to
all children made her a natural pastoral worker, firstly as Assistant Head of Year and
later Head of East House. More recently she was made Progress Leader for Years 8 &
9. It was at Grove she met her ‘wonderful’ husband, Stewart Harrison, who currently
teaches languages and classics at Grove. She has been a huge supporter of The Birks
and has organised and accompanied hundreds of students on visits, ensuring as many
as possible have experienced this wonderful asset. Mrs Harrison is looking forward
to enjoying some quiet time gardening, looking after the chickens and also spending
time with her family. We wish her every happiness for her future.

….and it’s goodbye from him!

Mr Whittaker or Mr Whit has been a firm fixture at Grove since
starting his teaching career here in 1976. He started out teaching
Science and PE Games. During his time in PE he was responsible
for setting up and coaching students in cricket, basketball, rugby
and soccer. His fundraising has been legendary, funding sports
equipment through PE discos and film clubs. He and Mrs Harrison were also respon-
sible for the creation of staff social events. After relinquishing his role in the PE De-
partment, he made progression to Head of Physics and ultimately Head of Science.
He has loved every part of his teaching career stating, “The best reward in this job is
when you see the child’s eyes light up because they have
understood what you are teaching.” Mr Whit has thrown himself into school visits
often accompanying students on trips to The Birks and trips overseas. He is now
teaching second generation children and loves to chat with students about when he
taught their parents! He has always maintained that when a student came to him
and said, “You taught my nan!” that would be his time to leave. Fortunately this
hasn’t happened although it was only a matter of time! Mr Whit plans to spend his
days ahead reducing his golf handicap by playing more golf and learning to cook. We
will all miss a colleague and teacher who is renowned for giving everyone a chance
and never, ever having a bad word to say about anyone. We would like to wish him
all the best for his future.

Page 2

New planner designs

Students got creative when tasked with designing a front cover for
the student planners which will
be given out to all students in
September. Each year students
are asked to design a cover for
their respective House which
incorporates the house colour
and name, but also reflects the
academic and international
aspects of Grove School.
The winning designers this year

Students discuss the fine details of the My experience
process with staff at Design Office in Crewe. “On 23rd May I went to the
Design Office in Crewe as I

were invited to the print studio had won the ‘Design a
where they saw the design and print Cover’ competition for East
process take their artwork from House. It was an amazing
paper to the finished product. Mr opportunity for me and I
McStay, Assistant Headteacher and thoroughly enjoyed it. I
Mr Kinnersley, Subject Leader for learned a lot of
Business Studies accompanied the fascinating things that I
students — Billie-Jean Stevenson, didn’t know before. The
Tom Allwood, Amie Spence and people that work there were
Bridget Drysdale. very nice and their dog was

lovely! I am thrilled I had

the chance to go and it was

100% worth it.”
Tom Allwood, Year 7

At the end of their day the
students were presented with a
poster print of their winning
designs which will feature on
the student planners for the
academic year 2012—2013.
The poster is currently on
display in school reception.

Page 3

3

UKMT Junior Maths
Challenge

Each year, in Maths students are
selected from 7L1 and 8L1 to take part
in the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge which is organised by the
United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. The Challenge is a multiple
choice test with questions designed to make students think and not
to guess the answers. Students can achieve a certificate for bronze,
silver or gold standard and the student with the highest mark is
awarded the ‘Best in School’ certificate. This year 40 students from
Year 7 and Year 8 were entered into the challenge and we are
pleased to say over half received a certificate—well done!

Best in School Award—Edward Bromley 7 KH

Best in Year + Gold Award = Marni Webb 8SJ

Best in Year + Gold Award = Edward Bromley 7KH

Gold Award = George Szczadylo 7WT

Silver Awards: Bronze Awards:
Oliver Emmerson 8PW Ed Green 8AR
Zak Williams 8EM Frances Derricutt 8SG
Christopher Holding 8SJ Harriett Adams 8KS
Jacqueline Kiessling 8SMH Max du Bois-Jones 8LB
Joe Higgins 8WT Rowan Cookson 8KLW
Kayleigh Turner 8MB Alice Machin 8NH
Zoe Watson 8JSM Emily Felton 8AR
Connor Stott 8WT Lydia Greatrix 8TK
Jack Groom 7LB Ben Boden 7CP
Oliver Williamson 7AR Erin Middleton 7PW
Emily Dutton 7SW Lauren Harvey 7MB
Jennifer Fulcher 7LB
Alexandra Wickham 7AB

Page 4

Grove students turn

detective to solve a murder…...

Forensic Science became the focus for students recently
as the Year 9 Investigation was launched. For two days
Year 9 students are asked to solve a fictional murder
mystery, expertly put together by Languages Teacher, Mr Harrison.
The case is replicated as close as possible to a
real crime. The students are put in charge of
searching for clues, reviewing evidence and
finally naming their suspect. The team from
each House with the strongest case then go on
to present their prosecution cases in front of
their peers and a judging panel. The
investigation starts with very little background
information about the victim— this year a
fictional super model. Students are then fed in-
formation periodically. This information includes: photographs of vic-
tims and the crime scenes; access to victims phone records, plus any
hard evidence

collected from crime scenes. There is a lot of
information to sift through before identifying
the killer and the motive behind the murder.
The winning group from each House went on
to present their findings during a special Year
9
assembly. Each presentation was judged by
Mrs Harrison, English Teacher and Progress
Leader for Years 8 and 9 and Mrs Fletcher, Vice Chair from the Board
of Governors. All teams were praised for their excellent research and
presentation skills. Mrs Harrison
commented, “The investigation caused a real buzz over the two days
and it was delightful to see the students following such an intricate
story and making informed and imag-
inative decisions.” South House were
declared the winning team for their
overall investigative skills, use of the
technology during the presentation
and public speaking when presenting
their case. Each member of the win-
ning team received a forensic investi-
gation book as a prize. The South

Page 5 5

Grove Music

June proved to be an incredibly busy month for the Grove
Music Department. Mr Mould, Subject Leader for Music
reviews the various activities below.

Joint schools’ concert

On 20th June 6 of the Primary and
Infants schools that feed into Grove School joined forces to stage
the first Grove Primary School Music Festival. All schools, including
Grove, rehearsed and presented individual items and then all the pu-
pils combined to perform 3 songs together. The school hall was filled
with song as over 180 pupils joined together to put on a fabulous
musical showcase. Hopefully this
will become an annual event and
together with the Carol Service
should further enhance the musical
links between Grove and its partner
schools. Congratulations to all
involved for putting on a truly
memorable event!

Social Area Opening

On June 27th the fantastic sounds of the Caribbean were brought to
Grove School as the Steel Drum Band made their debut performance
for the opening of the new seating and decking area created by Ray
Pooler and members of the Year 10 Construction team. Congratula-
tions to all members of
the steel drum group as
they
provided some lovely
background music for
this event. They are all
very excited about their
next appearance!

Page 6

Grove Music

Cheswardine Primary School Summer Show

On June 29th popular Year 10 band ‘All Over
Nowhere’ were taken out on a ‘mini tour’ to perform
at the Summer Show for Cheswardine School. They
were a massive hit with the crowds under the
charismatic leadership of Alfie Chevins. Thankfully
the rain stayed away for this event!

Junk to Funk Show

On 22nd June Grove School staged the popular
‘Junk To Funk’
Fashion show. A number of pupils created items
as part of ‘The British Collection’ and this year saw
the evening accompanied by many
talented musicians ranging from solo singers, a
Samba Band, Grove Jazz Ensemble, piano solos,
guitar and vocal duets and a top Year 10 band to
headline the evening. The evening was
organised and hosted by members of FOGS and
was a great success. Thanks go to all members of
FOGS for supporting this event, all staff who got
involved and helped out with the fashion creations and the music
and all the pupils for putting on a fantastic show.

Page 7

7

Pride of Shropshire
Awards

Grove student David Walley has been crowned
‘Learner of the Year’ and also overall ‘Pride of
Shropshire 2012’ in recognition of his amazing
fight against the odds following an accident
which left him unable to walk and talk. David was seriously injured in
an airgun accident which left a pellet lodged in his brain. The outlook
following the accident was very bleak with doctors giving David just
a seven percent chance of survival. Amazingly, David did survive but
was left paralyzed on his right hand side and was unable to eat,
breathe or walk unaided. With the help of his incredible family David
fought his way back to health learning to talk and walk again. His
determination to get back to school and ‘be with his mates’ gave him
the much needed courage and strength to defy the odds and rightly
take his place back in mainstream school. David has been at the
Grove since 2010 and attends classes with his peers with the support
of a team of dedicated Teaching Assistants from our Learning Support
Department. His achievements at school are outstanding: he is a
regular name in special achievers assemblies, and has also been
awarded ‘Student of the Year’. David was optimistic about his win,
saying, “I thought I had a good chance of winning the ‘Learner
Award’ but when they announced my name for the ‘Pride of
Shropshire Award’ I just put my head down. I couldn’t believe it was
me! It was great, everyone clapped and gave me a standing ovation,
I had lots of people coming up and congratulating me, including lots

of girls—so that was nice!”
David is a delightful and
inspirational character. He is
never seen without his
trademark grin. We are
incredibly proud of him and all
he continues to achieve both in
school and outside of school.
The “Pride of Shropshire” title is
so very deserving for this
outstanding young man.
Well done David!

Page 8

Year 7 ’Our Town’
project.

Market Drayton Town was the focus for Year 7
during a recent cross curricular day. Over
two mornings Students took part in the project entitled ‘Our Town’
which included English, Maths, Geography and PSHEE/Citizenship
lessons. Firstly, students were taken on a land and environmental
survey through the town with staff from the Geography Department.
They were asked to identify the current buildings and facilities the
town offers. The aim of the project was for groups to work together
to create a new, viable business venture in the Market Drayton area.
They spent time in their groups studying different aspects of the
project. They looked at the land, the building and the environmental
impact of a new business in Geography. The Maths Department
assisted with costs and pricing. PSHEE/C discussed how the
business/project would be accessible to young children and people
with disabilities. Staff from the English Department helped students
to prepare literature to promote the new business as well as their
speeches for their presentations and the key words to help ‘sell’ a
product or idea. The winning teams from each House were asked to
present their idea to a panel of Judges which included Councillor
Steve Glover, Mayor of Market Drayton, , Mrs J Campbell, Deputy
Headteacher and Mrs C Bedford Assistant Headteacher and Progress
Leader for Year 7. Market Drayton Mayor Steve Glover said he was
very impressed with the work the students had produced in a very
short space of time and was delighted to note that two of the finalist
options of a craft centre and sports park are in his vision for Market

Drayton. The winning
team were from West
House who planned to
build Market Drayton’s
first waterpark.

Sareese Roberts,
Thomas Worrall, Josh
Hartley and Nia Brannan

with Mayor,
Steve Glover.

Page 9

9

Grove Ground Force

This….

Plus
These...

Equals:

After an arduous six months, the Year 10 Construction Project is
finally complete. The group of 20 students have worked in all
weathers under the guidance of Grove’s site team staff member Mr
Ray Pooler to transform an area of overgrown shrubs into a beautiful
seating area. The project was undertaken during students’ Key Skills
and Construction lessons. The group were involved in all stages of
the planning and design of the new area. They assisted with the
budgeting and ordering of materials and more importantly all the
hard work! In a cold and wet January they started to clear away the
existing shrubbery and prepare the ground. The work continued
throughout the colder months. One of the aims of the project was to
demonstrate a career working outside, which meant students did

Page 10

Grove Ground Force

endure some unpleasant weather! The students have been
enthusiastic throughout the project and have been able to apply a
whole range of skills in all stages. They have developed skills in
carpentry, building the decking and railings and also a great deal of
horticultural knowledge and skills, laying turf, pruning the hedges
and planting the beautiful wooden planters which they also made. A
Grand Open Afternoon was held to celebrate the completion . The
students were once again responsible for organising and hosting the
party, sending out invitations and planning the menu. The weather
was perfect as family and friends of the students involved, along with
staff from Grove, watched the official opening by Market Drayton
Mayor Steve Glover and Project Manager Ray Pooler. The steel drum
band were on hand to provide musical entertainment and hot dogs
and burgers were served to the guests. A lovely way to celebrate a
great achievement from our Year 10 Construction group.

Page 11

11

RAF Maths Challenge

Year 9 students enjoyed
an interactive Maths
lesson when staff from
the Royal Air Force spent
the day in school
demonstrating how
Maths is a vital part of
working life in the Armed
Forces. Teams of
students were asked to
work on six different
scenarios which serving
personnel in the RAF may be required to work on. All scenarios
were very different
and ranged from
calculating cooking
times, loading
different sized cargo
onto an aircraft to
plotting co-ordinates
for a flight path. The
students had fun
problem solving using
and applying their
Maths knowledge.

For information on
careers in the RAF

visit
www.raf.mod.uk/

careers

Page 12

Grove’s Particle Zoo!

In Science lessons you are told about atoms and that they are the
smallest whole part of stuff. Later on you find out that these atoms
are actually made up from some other bits (electrons, protons and
neutrons). Well that is not the end of the story as the A level Physics
groups find out. Atoms are much more complicated and the bits that
make them have very odd names like Strange, Charm and Quark.
This is Particle Physics. To try and help people get an idea of these
odd particles Julie Peasley came up with the idea of some soft toy
models after a lecture at the University of California and Los Angeles.
These toys are easy to get in the USA but not so easy to get in

England. Fortunately the Textiles Department at Grove are very
talented and took on the challenge of making a set of these particles.
The Year 10 students managed to make a complete set of a textile
version of ALL the particles in the zoo including some that scientists
have not proved to exist yet. So next time you hear about the
scientists at CERN trying to find special particles just sit back and
laugh because we already have them here at the Grove.

Physics teacher, Mr D Marsh takes receipt of the ‘particle zoo’ from
Textiles teacher, Mrs Gilling and Year 10 students.

Page 13

13

Müller Enterprise Day

A ‘Business Enterprise Day’ was held
at Walford College in Oswestry.
Students from Year 10 took part in
order to improve their skills in
Business Development. The course
was run by staff at Müller Dairy.
Year 10 students from Grove along
with students from Rhyn Park
School in Oswestry, were set a
challenge to design a new chilled
Müller product. Groups of students
from both schools made up
different teams. Problem solving,
communication and team-work were
all encouraged as students came
together to work on the products. The winning team featured three
students from Grove: Joe Lloyd, Megan Foster and Stephanie Corbyn
who designed a ‘Gingerbread’ range of products. The day was
treated as a day at work and all students from Grove impressed staff
by dressing very smartly in a business-like manner.

Are you eligible for free school meals ?

Your child is eligible for free school meals if you or your partner are
claiming either:
* Income Support
* Income based job seekers allowance
* Income related Employment and Support Allowance
* Guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
* Child Tax credit (provided you are not entitled to Working Tax

credit and have an annual income that does not exceed £16,190.)
* Support under Part V1 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

If you have any queries regarding free school meals, please do not hesitate to
contact the school office 01630 65 21 21

Page 14

New badminton club

Page 15

15

News from Grove College

Year 12 students have returned from their examinations to Higher
Education and Careers Week. Representatives from Bangor, Keele
and Staffordshire universities gave talks on preparing for the
university application process and the on thorny topic of university
finance – “Think of it as an investment for your future, not a loan”!
Ex-student Alex Munn, talked to the OCR Sport students about his
career path since leaving College and the range of employment
opportunities available in sport. The remainder of the week involved
preparation time with Guidance Leaders, a visit to the UCAS
convention at Staffordshire University and visits to Open Days at
Nottingham and Birmingham Universities.

Year 13 students have celebrated the end of their time in College
with their annual
Leaver’s Ball. This
was held at Keele Hall
where they
enjoyed a formal meal
to which they invited
teaching staff and
were then joined by
Year 12 when the mu-
sic started.

The end of term can’t come soon enough for six College students who will
be spending four weeks of their summer holidays helping with ‘Camps
International’ environmental projects in Borneo. They will be led by Mr
Richards who has supported them with their mammoth fund-raising
activities over the last eighteen months. The hard work of the first three
weeks will be rewarded at the end of the expedition by several days of
scuba diving from a nearby island. A report of their adventures and no
doubt beautiful photographs will be included in the next newsletter.

Page 16

News from Grove College

The weather for the five
day expedition of the
Duke of Edinburgh Gold
Award students will be in
stark contrast to the heat
of the Borneo

Jungle. They are leaving
to walk over the

mountains from Bala to
Barmouth on the day
that the forecast gives an
amber warning for the worst storms of the summer. They have spent
considerable time over the last year training for this and are

confident of completing the journey. We wish them well.

BREAKING NEWS!

For two College students all their hard work has paid off:

Laura Coggins (Year 12) has been picked to play hockey for Wales
in the Four Nations tournament in Edinburgh this month.

Kirsty Warner (Year 13) has been
chosen to have one of her

paintings exhibited at the Mall

Gallery in London - a well-deserved
reward for the exceptional work
she has produced during her A Lev-
el Art course. Kirsty will be taking
up a place in September to further
her studies in Art at Loughbrough University.

Page 17

17

Grove School Uniform

From September 2012, we are
introducing a new school uniform.
These changes will be compulsory
for current Year 6 and Year 9
students. Students who are
currently in Year 7, 8 and 10 will
need to wear the new style trousers
or skirt but do not have to wear the
blazer, shirt and tie unless they wish
to. We would urge parents and
carers to buy the new uniform for all
students should they need to
purchase new items of clothing as
the new uniform will be compulsory
for all Grove students from
September 2013.
The compulsory new uniform
consists of a black blazer, with a
school badge, a plain, white shirt, a school tie (appropriate to the Key
Stage and House) and black trousers for boys. Girls can choose to
wear either a skirt (only available from our school uniform supplier) or
black school trousers.
Blazers
These are available with the badge pre-embroidered from Smart
School Uniform. You can order and purchase online at
www.smartuniform.co.uk, or visit the shop in Newcastle.
The address is 9, The Barracks, Barracks Square, Newcastle-Under-
Lyme, ST5 1LG. Tel: 01782 713650. Prices start at £22.95 for
blazers measuring from 28” to 36” chest. Parents/carers not wishing
to buy a blazer from the approved supplier are more than welcome to
purchase a plain, black blazer from another company (such as Tesco,
Asda or Sports United) and then buy a badge from school and sew it
on. Prices for blazers from supermarkets start at about £14.00 and
badges will cost approximately £5.00.
Ties
There will be a design of House tie for Key Stage 3 and a different
design of House tie for Key Stage 4. This is, in effect, the only
difference in uniform between the two Key Stages. Ties can be
bought either from school or from the Smart School Uniform shop.

Page 18

Ties will cost £5.00.
Shirts
These will be plain, white school shirts with a collar and can be
purchased from any local supermarket. Shirts can be either long or
short sleeved.
Trousers (from September 2012 for all students)

Boys will wear plain, black school trousers.
Girls will wear plain, black school trousers. Fashion trousers will
not be considered to be appropriate school uniform.
Please refer to the “Look for Learning” handout for guidance.
Skirts (from September 2012 for all students)
These can only be purchased from our approved uniform supplier
Smart School Uniform. The skirt is a plain, black knee-length skirt.
Prices start at £13.95. Please refer to the “Look for Learning”
handout for guidance.
Shoes
Boys will wear black leather or leather look shoes appropriate for
school. Please note that no other style of footwear will be acceptable.
Girls will wear black leather or leather look shoes appropriate for
school. Please note that no other style of footwear will be acceptable.
Please refer to the “Look for Learning” handout for guidance.

Look for Learning - Boys

Grove School Blazer
White school shirt
KS3 or KS4 tie
Black school trousers

The following trousers are acceptable

Asda - Black School Trouser (adjustable waist.) Priced at £5.00 - £6.00.
Online product code 2558676/2565148/2666566/2818381/3505230/3542183

Black School Trouser (adjustable waist) Prices start at £6.50
In store product code 319/3181/0874/200 + 4 digit code depending upon size

Mens’ Slim Fit Trousers (various waist and leg measurements) Priced at £12.00
In store product code 848/133/1143/200 + 4 digit code depending upon size

M&S - Outstanding Value Boys’ Trouser (adjustable waist) Priced at £7.00 - £19.00 for a
pair. Online and in-store product code T76/3615

Outstanding Value Boys’ Trousers (various leg lengths). Priced at £9.00 – 14.00 for a
pair. Online and in store product code T76/4622

Mens’ Machine Washable Flat Front Trousers Prices start at £12.00. Online and in
store product code T18/3130N

Page 19

19

Grove School Uniform

Look for Learning - Boys (continued)

Smart Uniform or Sport United - Black School Trouser by David Luke. Hard-wearing
and long-lasting, available in different sizes. Priced at £9.95 - £17.95

Black school shoes
Only leather or leather look school shoes are acceptable

Look for Learning - Girls

Grove School Blazer
White school shirt
KS3 or KS4 tie
Black school skirt

Smart Uniform - Knee-length black A-Line School Skirt. Available in different
sizes. Prices start from £13.95. This is the only school skirt that is acceptable.

Black school trousers or school skirt

The following trousers are acceptable

Asda – Girls’ Black school woven trousers. Priced at £5.50 - £6.50. Online
product code 2097644/2097646/2865109/3542184

Ladies’ Bi-Stretch trousers. Priced at £6.00. Online product code
3281060/3290882/3650600

Ladies’ Work Wear Trousers (various waist and leg measurements.) Priced at
£6.00. In store product code 226/1087/8399/200 + 4 digit code depending upon
size

Ladies’ Work Wear Trousers (various waist and leg measurements). Priced at
£6.00. In store product code 226/1087/8366/200 + 4 digit code depending upon
size 3281060 / 3290882 / 36506003281060 / 3290882 / 36506003281060 /
3290882 / 3650600

M&S - Outstanding Value Girls’ Crease Resistant Trousers. Priced at £12- £18
for a pair. Online and in store product code T761220

Smart Uniform or Sport United - David Luke black tailored school trousers Hard-
wearing and long-lasting, available in different sizes. Priced at £14.95 - £18.95.

Black school shoes
Only leather or leather look school shoes are acceptable.

Page 20

The Birks 2012

This has been another successful season of Year 8 visits to The Birks.
Six groups of students accompanied by two members of staff and two
sixth formers have spent five days at our Field Centre in the beautiful
Duddon Valley. Like most of the country, the Lake District has been
affected by the dismal summer weather. However the valley does

have a mind of it’s own and most groups en-
joyed some fine weather alongside the rain!
As well as walking, groups have taken part in
various activities including
bake-offs, egg challenges, night walks,
mini-Olympics, tournaments and all manner of
games. It’s amazing what you can do
without the aid of
a telly or comput-
er! Each student
has

returned
with the
memory of

Page 21

21

Birks Visits Year 8 have been taking a walk on the

simpler side of life at our residential field centre in the beautiful Duddon
Valley. One year 8 student offers her thoughts on her time away from
home.

Diary of the Birks

This year, as usual, Year eight was offered the chance to visit ‘The
Birks’. I’d been looking forward to the trip all year, and couldn’t wait to
go, so hurriedly got my parents to sign everything, then handed it in
the next day. I later found out that I’d been placed in Group 2 with
about 20 other people whom I hardly knew. I would be spending the
majority of my week with my friend. We weren’t usually seen apart
from each other, and so earned the nickname ‘Brain Trust’. We would
be going with Miss Saunders and Mr Kinnersley, and would be leaving
on Sunday 17th June. I wasn’t really looking forward to that part; I can
get up on a school day, but Sundays are what’s known as rest day.
When we arrived at The Birks, we had to endure the most horrible
walk ever. I swear that by the time we made it to the actual building,
my legs felt like they were going to fall off. It wasn’t the most enjoya-
ble part of my journey, especially due to the fact that I was
trying to haul a massive suitcase as well. After all having survived the
walk, we girls were told that we would be sleeping in the barn – with
‘Doris’, a ghost who I think died when she fell down the stairs. The
boys, because there were less of them, would be sleeping in the
house. Reluctantly, we made our way up the stairs, and started to
unpack. That day, much to our annoyance, we had to go on a walk. It
turned out to be quite fun though.
You go to the Birks, after all, to
walk. Over the course of four
days, we were blessed with sunny
weather, and by the time it started
to rain, we’d already done all four
walks. It may sound a bit weird,
but I actually really enjoyed
Hardknott.

Page 22

It was tough, but enjoyable. Once you
get to the top of the hill, you feel loads
better. I ran the last bit of hill. Sir said I
would regret it later, which I did. I
loved all the walks, but my
favourite was the Pub walk. I liked it the
most because we got to stay there long-
er and play football. Even though I can’t
kick a ball to save my life, I still joined in and had loads of
fun. Of course, we did other stuff as well as walking. We played
quite a variety of games, including table tennis, which, whilst at the
Birks, I discovered I was completely useless at. My favourite was
Mafia, but that’s way too complicated. You have to play it in order to
get it. The other types of games we played were the chocolate game,
the
cardboard box game and this
one game called ‘Hi Harry’,
which was also really
confusing. On the Thursday,
when it chucked it down with
rain, we had a ‘Great Birks
Bake Off’, and watched two movies. Our team came second. The
nights we spent sleeping in the barn were what I’d call interesting,.
Apparently, a ‘wild dog’, which is what the teachers said, started
scratching on the girl’s downstairs toilet door. I slept through the en-
tire thing, and then finally woke up to find the barn empty, which is
slightly unnerving. I really enjoyed going to The Birks. There weren’t
any moments, I think, when I wasn’t joining in and taking part. The
fact that I hardly knew anyone made it
even better. I was able to get to know
new people and make new friends. It was
interesting to see what teachers are like
when they’re not in school too. Id like to
say a huge thank you to everyone. With-
out you, it wouldn’t have been the same.

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23

Term Dates 2012 / 2013

Tuesday 4th September —Return to school Year 7 and Year
12 only

Wednesday 5th September — Return to school ALL years
Friday 26th October — Half Term

Monday 5th November — Return to school
Friday 30th November - PD Day (no students in school)

Friday 21st December — End of Term
Monday 7th January 2013 — PD Day
Tuesday 8th January 2013 — Return to school

The school office will be open
throughout the summer holiday.
The phones will be manned until

midday each day.

Wishing you a safe and
happy Summer!

From all at Grove School.

provides http://moodle.groveschool.eu
confidential
information,
advice and support to young people aged
13 to 19 years. www.connexions-direct.com

SHY Clinic offers Confidential Health Advice &
Support every Monday from 1.30—4.30 p.m. at
Festival Drayton. Everybody between 11 and
25 years of age welcome.

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