Headteacher

Mitre article Easter 2018

The spring term has posed challenges for our students in many different waysand it has been great to watch them rise to those challenges and continue todevelop the important qualities that will be vital to their success and wellbeingbeyond school. The adverse weather conditions caused disruption to severalsports fixtures and tested the resilience of our students, though it didn’t hamperthe progress of many of our teams, including the 1st XI football team and theUnder 14 Rugby 7s team. Our site team worked tirelessly during the prolonged periods of snow andice, resulting in us losing just one hour of learning time this term.

The senior footballers produced a sublime second half performance to win the County Cup Final againstBeaumont School at London Colney FC on Monday night. This comes on top them making it as far asthe last 16 of the English Schools FA Cup, so a very successful season for those boys. The Year 9 Rugbyteam made it through to the pool phase of the second day at the prestigious Rosslyn Park 7stournament, only losing narrowly to the eventual finalists, placing them in the top eight teams in Englandand Wales: an incredible feat for a state school. We had another successful House Football competitionat Jobbers Wood on Saturday with hundreds of boys taking part. The boys involved received lots ofencouragement from both staff and parents, which helped to create a lovely atmosphere throughoutthe day.

Away from sport, it was great to have recognition for the excellent contribution our school makes todebating and public speaking, receiving a commendation from the English-Speaking Union in the ESUDebating Culture Award. The judges were “impressed with the school’s initiatives that celebrate awhole-school debating culture”, which is a real credit to the students of all ages involved in debatingand public speaking and to the members of staff, past and present, who give up their time to coachand prepare the students. The teams have gained much success in various competitions, in differentage groups, with some very impressive performances.

This year’s Music Festival provided us with over 200 performers and culminated in a fantastic finalé,which saw Kaiya Kiyosawa crowned champion for his classical guitar performance. We were blessed tohave Gabriele Baldocci, piano professor at the Trinity Laban conservatoire of music and dance, as ouradjudicator throughout the day and evening. He commented “You students are so lucky to go to aschool that takes music this seriously”. Congratulations to all of the category winners at each level, butalso to every student who entered the competition and performed during the eight day festival.

A combination of talent, commitment and superb student leadership, made for two great nights oflively entertainment at Showcase this year. The audience were treated to some great individual andcollective performances, which involved lots of fun and very successful fundraising. Well done to all ofthe acts and to the many students involved with the organisation and smooth running of the wholeevent.

I will be talking to students in our final assembly on Thursday about the harmful effects of theinappropriate use of technology, including social media, and the serious consequences they face inschool for any such misuse. Next term we will welcome back eSafety expert, Karl Hopwood fromChildnet, who will present to students and staff during the day on Tuesday 22ⁿd May. He will also behosting a session for parents in the evening, to help you understand how you can best protect yourchildren from the dangers faced online, so do please look out for the opportunity to book a place forthat event.

The focus for the Senior Leadership Team learning walks this term has again been Responsible Learners,as we monitor whether our students are demonstrating how they are taking greater responsibility fortheir own learning and development. We want the students to be curious and inquisitive in lessons, toask (and answer) challenging questions that deepen their own understanding. We are making goodprogress in this area and have shared with staff some great examples of how this is being achieved.We eagerly await news regarding the decision to remove the land from the greenbelt at the proposedBishop’s Stortford South development site. The announcement is due any day and, if positive, will givethe green light to our relocation plans. At this stage, we still hope to complete the construction andrelocation by autumn 2020, which would be incredible for our school.

This week we say farewell to Mr Halawi, who joined the school in September 2013 and has contributedeffectively to the Computing department throughout his time here. He will be taking on greaterresponsibility in a school in North London and we wish him all the best for the future.

I wish the best of luck to those students spending the Easter holidays preparing for their upcomingexams. At this time of the year, the pressure begins to mount and it is vitally important that thosestudents have a clear revision plan to stick to, but also take a little time to recharge the batteries inadvance of the final push towards the summer exam season.

May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a relaxing and enjoyable Easter break.Kind regards,

Mr Dale ReeveHeadteacher

Mr Dale ReeveHeadteacher

Football

Stop Press - U18 Football team win the County Cup

Winners of the cup for the first time in the School's history

Herts County U18 Football Cup Champions 2018TBSHS are U18 County football champions for the first time in the school’s history with a deserved 3-1victory last night (26th March) against Beaumont School.

TBSHS First XI won their final match yesterday against Beaumont School, to become the hard-earned,but deserving winners of Hertfordshire Schools Football Association County Cup 2018.

The boys started the competition back in October, being one of 64 schools from across the whole ofHertfordshire, entering the event, and were down to the last two teams. Aged between 15-18 yearsold, the team, Captained by Nick Randall have battled through five rounds to reach the semi-final.

The success comes at the end of a very busy season for the team, who were down to the last 16 in thecountry, in the ESFA National Cup, but to win the County Cup for the first time ever, is a brilliant wayfor the team to end their season.

Mr Dave Saddler, Head of Year7 and First Team Coach said, "The boys really stepped up to the plateand were thoroughly good value for the win. This is the first time in the School’s history the Seniorfootball team has won the County Cup, which just goes to show what an excellent achievement it is.The spirit and togetherness of the squad has got better and better as the season has gone on, and toend it as the best team in the county will be a great memory for our departing Year 13 boys. They havebeen a credit to the school, and a pleasure for me to coach."

Goals: Crowther, Miles & Long

Mathematics Department

This term, 70 students from years 9, 10 and 11 took part in the UKMTIntermediate Maths Challenge.

The boys performed extremely well, with a very pleasing number of studentsqualifying for a further competition. Five boys from year 11, one from year 10 and one from year 9 qualifiedfor Kangaroo competitions. This is a further one hour paper of challenging Maths problems that teststudents’ problem solving and analytical skills. The boys are : Harry Gaughan, William Sheldon, JoshuaSchlanker, Boyd Dunster, Luke Miley, Ethan Milne and Elliot Wood.

Special mention must go to James Gor who achieved the best score of those taking part in the schooland who has qualified for the prestigious Mathematics Olympiad.

These events will take place on the 15th March and we wish the boys the best of luck.

Also, congratulations to all those who received Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates, of which there were8, 20 and 22 respectively.

It is really pleasing to see the boys continue to enjoy the competition and we hope that we can maintainour high level of involvement in the future.

In other news, our year 12 Further Mathematics students have been busy taking opportunities to exploreMathematics beyond our curriculum. Joey Xiang attended a course at Oxford University Department ofMathematics entitled ‘Further Mathematics - what’s next?’ and Victoria Adams has been successful inher application for a place on the ‘Women in Maths’ event at Trinity College, Cambridge University. Otherstudents are attending similar courses concerning Engineering and Natural Sciences. I am certain thatthese will be valuable experiences for our students and we hope that these courses nurture theircontinued enthusiasm for the subject.

TBSHS Music Festival 2018 – An Evening of exceptional talent

After eight days of competitions, 188 competitors and 7 visiting adjudicators, the 2018 TBSHS MusicFestival has finally concluded. It has been a truly fantastic, inspiring event, with more students takingpart this year than last year, and a particular increase in students entering the piano and stringscompetitions.New to this year was the online self-registration process, cutting down the administrative workload forstaff, but also allowing students the ability the sign up for the competition from home.

With the Finalé event, we welcomed our guest adjudicator, the critically acclaimed Italian pianist,Gabriele Baldocci. Gabriele opened the evening by performing an original composition, written by afriend of his, before taking his seat to adjudicate the 8 advanced finalists. It was a tremendous eveningof exceptional talent, reminding us all how fortunate we are to have such gifted musicians at TBSHS.The results of the beginners competition recognised Finlay Giffen (violin) as the overall winner of theBeginners Shield. Jonathan Stevens (alto saxophone) and Charles Baile (piano) both received HighlyCommended awards, and Alex Banhidai (classical guitar) received the Commended award.

With the intermediate competition, David Badcock (flute) received the Joyce Shellard Memorial Trophy,with Charlie Haddon (piano) being awarded the Highly Commended award and Matthew Seeley (electricguitar) and Thomas Farrow Tomson (drums) receiving joint Commended awards.

Before we came to the advanced finalists, we celebrated seven remarkable students from years 7-9,who were already grade 6 or above on their instruments and therefore were privileged to enter theadvanced categories, performing against much older students. Thomas Millar (year 8), ThemiyaPanditha (year 9), Jonny Brewer (year 8), Michael Chung (year 7), Joe Lee (year 7), Owen Lee (year 9)and Finn Lihoreau (year 9) all took part in advanced competitions, with Joe, Owen and Finn winningtheir heats to progress to the Finalé. All seven students took to the stage to receive their YoungMusicians medals.

At the end of the evening it was Kaiya Kiyosawa (classical guitar) who was crowned Musician of theYear, with the Highly Commended award going to Finn Lihoreau and the Commended award going toOwen Lee.

Congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you to all staff members, parents and members ofthe Mitre Music Association who gave their support.

Mr CosadinosSubject Leader for Music

Music Mitre Association Spring Term UpdateDear MMA members,

Than you again for supporting the work of the Music Department at TBSHS. We just wantedto take this opportunity for some of our students to update you about some of our recentevents this term, and to inform you about some of the different things we have planned forthe Summer term!

Year 10 Star Wars screening – Tuesday 16th January

The after-school screening of Star Wars ran specifically for the Year 10 GCSE Music studentsnot only enabled us to gain knowledge of the film but to actually listen to music incorporatedinto it. As one of the set works (film music) for our examinations, we decided to bring popcornand sweets along to the screening, which we shared with our peers, to make the experiencefeel more like a movie night. Watching the film together allowed us to evaluate how the musichelps to support the drama in different scenes, such as increasing the tension in climaticmoments and helping to create humour in others. Overall, this was a great opportunity towatch an unforgettable film, study our set work in a relaxed atmosphere, and it also gave usa chance to bond with our peers outside of the classroom.

Matthew Seeley (Year 10)

Recent ABRSM exam success

A few weeks ago, the school hosted its termly ABRSM exams. This resulted in a full day ofexaminations, several of which were higher level examinations, including a grade 7 examinationand a diploma examination. It was fantastic to see such a wide range of disciplines beingexamined on this day, including piano, guitar, tuba, cornet and saxophone. It was alsoencouraging to see a number of younger students taking their first exams in school. Thestandard of the students’ examinations was confirmed by the fantastic set of results achieved,of which many were merits.

One of the highlights of the day came from Kaiya Kiyosawa who achieved a merit in his Associateof the Royal Schools of Music (ARSM). This is the new performance diploma that ABRSM beganexamining towards the end of last year, comprising of a thirty-minute solo recital. This is afantastic qualification to have gained, especially in year 12, and is a clear reward for his hardwork.

Congratulations to all students who took part in this examination series for such fantasticresults.Mitchell Farquharson (Year 13)

Vocal Workshop with Nick Shaw – Tuesday 13th March

As part of the TBSHS Music Festival in March, a group of students (primarily from Lower SchoolChoir) were selected to participate in a vocal workshop with Nick Shaw, the adjudicator forthe singing heats and best known as a choir director for the local youth choir Cantate. As anexperienced singing teacher and leader of choirs, we worked on a few different pieces of musicin this workshop. The repertoire included a Sea Shanty, where particular groups of studentwere allocated different verses to sing while everyone joined in with the choruses, which wealso attempted in harmony. In addition, we also developed the well-known classic ‘DrunkenSailor’ into a high-quality performance. Overall, this workshop not only helped to develop ourconfidence as a choir, but it also made us listen to each other, which will inevitably help uswhen we go back to our School Choirs. I found the workshop great fun, so thank you to theTBSHS Music Department and to Mr Shaw for organising this opportunity for us.

David Badcock (Year 7)

Saffron Hall Trip – Sunday 18th March 2018

Recently, a group of 20 students visited Saffron Hall (at Saffron Walden County High) for aconcern by renowned professional pianist, Paul Lewis. Sitting on the balcony seats in the centreof the auditorium, we listened to performances of Beethoven’s Eleven Bagatelles Op.119 beforemoving on to Haydn’s Sonata in E-Flat Major Hob.XVI:49. After a short interval, the musiccontinued with another composition by Haydn (Sonata in B minor Hob.XVI:32) before theprogramme was rounded off with Brahm’s Four Pieces Op.119 which was met a large amountof applause once it was finished. We even had the opportunity to hear a short encore ofBeethoven’s Bagatelles to end the afternoon. This was a very enjoyable and interestingexperience, and it has helped me to become more familiar with a wider range of classical pianomusic in preparation for my upcoming GCSE Music examinations.

Joshua Walker (Year 11)

Thorley Hill Primary School Music Workshop – Tuesday 20th March

As a member of Upper School Jazz Band, I was recently selected to perform at Thorley HillPrimary School in a whole-school assembly and workshop led by Mr. Cosadinos.

During the course of the assembly, the jazz band also performed a series of pieces in theassembly which included: Cantaloupe Island, Watermelon Man, Coco and I’m In A DancingMood, each featuring solos by Finn Lihoreau, Harry Collier-Smith, Will Worthy, Luca Santos-Sims, Tom Horton, Teddy Pope and myself.

In addition, Mr. Cosadinos introduced the primary students to a range of different instruments,and encouraged them to play lots of different rhythms on instruments such as the agogos,shakers and cow bells. Students then had the opportunity to play along in our performance ofCantaloupe Island, and it was nice to see younger students getting so involved with music. The

assembly ended with a whole-school performance of ‘I’m In A Dancing Mood’, where weincluded a competition to see which side of the room was loudest! All in all, the band had avery enjoyable time and were pleased to have possibly inspired many primary students to learnan instrument in the near future.

Owen Lee (Year 9)

By the time this newsletter goes to print, the Music department will have also held the following events:

Easter Services at St. Michael’s Church – Monday 26th March and Tuesday 27th March. Featuring a vocalsolo by Leah Bartram, a choral piece performed by Lower School Choir, trumpet descants performedby Joel Williams, and Owen Lee taking the reins on the organ!

Yr.11 and Yr.13 Performance Final Recitals – Monday 26th March and Tuesday 27th March. That timeof the year has swiftly descended on us when our students record their solo/ensemble performancesfor their GCSE and A-Level examinations. We have been fortunate to hear some excellent music-makingthis academic year from many of these students, so fingers crossed that they all get the grades theydeserve!

Soul Lounge - Wednesday 28th March. A highlight of our performance calendar, involving many studentsperforming a wide variety of musical styles!

Easter Final Assembly – Thursday 29th March. Featuring Concert Band, a musical interlude by the 39thwinner of the recent Music Festival Kaiya Kiyosawa, as well as a performance by the Upper School JazzBand.

Dates for your diaries:

ABRSM Spring examinations – Tuesday 17th AprilTrinity Classical and Jazz examinations – Tuesday 24th AprilTrinity Rock and Pop examinations – Wednesday 25th AprilBrass performance/composition masterclass with the local Bishop’s Stortford Brass Band– Thursday 26th April.Holland Music Tour meeting – Tuesday 14th MaySummer Sounds concert – Tuesday 10th JulyChelmsford Arts Festival – Wednesday 11th JulyHolland Music Tour – Saturday 14th July to Tuesday 17th July.

Once again, thank you for all of your support over the previous terms. It’s been incredibly busy, buthopefully very rewarding for all those students (and parents/guardians) involved. One more to go……

Mr. Cosadinos and Mr. Newsome

Easter Services - Rehearsals Gallery

Debating & Public Speaking – Spring Term 2018

This has been our busiest ever term of interschool competitions, with no fewer than 22 differentstudents representing TBSHS in seven different debating or public speaking events. Highlights haveincluded:

• Our debaters reaching the Eastern Region Final of the ESU Schools’ Mace for the fourth yearrunning

• Our Sixth Form public speakers winning the District Final of the Rotary Club’s “Youth Speaks”competition for the second successive year

• Two teams of Year 9 students, all in their first year of interschool debating, qualifying for FinalsDay of the International Competition for Young Debaters at the Oxford Union

• Two Sixth Form students, both in their first debating competition, reaching the SOAS SchoolsNovices Final

• Two TBSHS teams achieving places in the top 10 out of over 40 teams in the regional round ofthe Cambridge Union Schools’ competition

Further details of their achievements, with many more accompanying photographs, can be found byclicking on the following links:

Cambridge Union & Oxford Union Schools

http://www.tbshs.org/NewsArticle.aspx?NewsID=3579

ICYD

http://www.tbshs.org/NewsArticle.aspx?NewsID=3594

Mace Regional Final + UCL Schools

http://www.tbshs.org/NewsArticle.aspx?NewsID=3589

Mace Round 2 + SOAS Schools

http://www.tbshs.org/NewsArticle.aspx?NewsID=3578

Youth Speaks District Finals

http://www.tbshs.org/NewsArticle.aspx?NewsID=3592

Head teacher Dale Reeve commented, “Our teams are always very well supported by their families,fellow students and even school governors. They deserve many congratulations for their efforts, but Iknow that they would be the first to thank their teachers, especially Mr Patterson & Miss Davies, andretired teacher Mr Fraser for giving up their time to coach them and accompany them to so manycompetitions.”

In addition, the Junior Debating Society, run by Miss Morris & Mr Williams, Mr Patterson’s MiddleSchool Debates and Sixth Form Wednesday afternoon debates, overseen by Miss Quinlan & MissWatson, all meet regularly. These activities, which provide opportunities for experienced speakers andbeginners alike, are the bedrock on which our competitive successes are founded.All of this has been recognised by the English Speaking Union.

In a competition open to hundreds of schools all over the country, the London Road school has wona Commendation for its ‘whole-school debating culture’ in the ESU Debating Culture Award.Congratulations to all concerned!

Mr. A.D. Fraser

MIDDLE SCHOOL DEBATING - HOUSE DEBATING COMPETITION

The Middle School Debating Society has continued to flourish this term with over 30 students attendingevery week. A number of the Middle School debaters have started debating in public competitionsand there has been a distinct improvement in the quality of their debating. This bodes extremely wellfor the future, especially those Year 11 students as they move into the Sixth Form.

This term, the House Debating Competition has begun and it has reached the quarter final stage. Sofar there have been debates on gender, education and the police force! All the debates have been verywell attended and the quality of the debates has been extremely high. At the beginning of next term,there will be debates on America, pre-natal screening and tuition fees. The final will take place in earlyMay.

Mr Patterson

History

Berlin and Battlefields Trip 2018

In the February half term, the History Department ran its annual trip to Berlin for 38 Year 11 GCSEstudents. This year the expedition was extended to include two days in Belgium focusing on the medicaladvances in the British sector of the Western Front during World War One.

The week began on Friday morning with an early 4:45 start. We boarded our coach and soon set off toYpres to meet with our knowledgeable tour guide Pol. Many of us were caught off guard by the snowyconditions and began to get a real sense of what it might have been like for the many soldiers whofought on the Western Front - we were equally surprised to hear that some of them would not havebeen much older than ourselves.

After a good few snowball fights at Ypres town centre, the following two days were spent tracking thechain of evacuation that an injured soldier might have taken, bringing to life what we had been learningover the past few months. As well as the sheer number of cemeteries and individual gravestones dottedaround the countryside that create the feeling of an inescapable shadow of the area's past, we alsoheard of some of the lesser known victims of the war at the Poperinge death cells where 346 Britishsoldiers were executed for desertion, murder and cowardice.

As our time in Ypres came to an end, we bade a sad farewell to Pol before our final stop at the Meningate for last post ceremony remembering the 55,000 British and commonwealth soldiers whose bodieswere never found. Three of us were handed the honour of participating in the ceremony and laying awreath on behalf of the school - a moment that will certainly stick with us for the rest of our lives. Withthe conclusion of the ceremony we headed back to our hotel to collect our luggage and board our coachfor the overnight journey to Berlin.

After a long and for many, restless night; a full continental breakfast greeting us upon arrival on Sundaymorning was certainly welcome, and perhaps needed for what would be another long day ahead. Muchof this first day was spent seeing some of the many sights Berlin has to offer. Highlights included:Checkpoint Charlie, walking along Unter den Linden and a guided tour of one of the nuclear bunkersbuilt during the Cold War. With all of us exhausted from plenty of walking, we made our way back tothe hotel for dinner and some much-needed sleep.

This, however, was interrupted with a text from Ajos calmly informing us that there was a fire and weshould leave the building in an orderly fashion. Fortunately, this was a false alarm and we were soonallowed back to our rooms, as I'm not sure how long some of us would have lasted in the cold with thevery minimal clothing we were wearing.

The next three days were spent exploring Berlin and its surrounding areas in greater depth, broadeningour understandings of Weimar and Nazi Germany and getting to know the city that was the back-dropto so many key events during the Cold War.

On Monday we visited heart of German politics in the spectacular Reichstag dome as well as thePlotzensee prison and the historic Berlin Olympic Stadium - the stage of Hitler's 1936 Olympicsremembered for Jesse Owens' triumphs. The evening was spent with a moving tour of the Jewish districton which we paid our respects to the Jews persecuted in Nazi Germany.

Tuesday focused on the Cold War aspects of the trip and started with a visit to Schloss Cecilienhof - thesite of the 1945 Postdam conference. We also visited the Headquarters of the Stasi, where we were

shocked to see the levels of surveillance that the organisation had on ordinary people in East Germany.After a fun and tiring evening of bowling, we headed back to our hotel to prepare ourselves for thefinal and perhaps most challenging day.

This began with an early start, before a lengthy coach journey out to the Sachsenhausen concentrationcamp. As we followed the track into the camp and through the gates inscribed with the famous words:"Arbeit Macht Frei", we thought of the 30,000 so-called 'prisoners' who would have never made thatwalk back out. This sombre feeling followed us around as we began to get a picture of how their finaldays and moments might have been spent, in a place where you could be beaten, or indeed shot, forjust stepping onto the grass. But perhaps the most moving details were in the remains of the gaschambers built because the camp leaders decided that the prisoners weren't being killed quickly enough.As we left the camp through the same way we came in, I think we all felt glad that we didn't have tostay there any longer.

After a traditional German lunch of schnitzel, we headed back to Berlin and to our final stop - the JewishMuseum, where we experienced an alternative, but equally affecting exhibition recounting German-Jewish history, encouraging us to learn what we can from the past to build a better future.

As we prepare for our upcoming exams, I'm sure the knowledge and understanding gained on the tripwill prove invaluable. And so, on behalf of all the students who went on the trip, I would like to thankthe office staff for all their work in organising it and special thanks Mr O'Sullivan, Miss Quinlan, MissTorry and Mr Dickens for giving up their half term to put on a truly unforgettable experience.

George Crimes (Year 11)

Gallery Photographs are at the end of the publication

Gallery

History - Berlin and Battlefields Trip 2018

POLAND TRIP REPORT 2018

Arriving at school at 3am for the trip to Poland was only one of the hard parts of the trip, with 2 flightsto get with a connection in Copenhagen it was going to be an interesting morning of flying arriving inKrakow early afternoon. With a quick stop off at the hotel to drop of bags, we were straight out intothe freezing air of -12 degrees to explore the streets of Krakow. First stop the district of Kazimierz,where before World War 2 the Jewish population of the city lived, with its numerous synagogues leftin ruins or used for alternative purposes today the evidence that this was once a thriving communityis everywhere, all destroyed in a matter of days when the population were forced to move over theriver into the Jewish Ghetto of Krakow. From this area we saw some of the key historical sites of thecity along the Vistula river, up high on the only hill sits the castle, burial place of the Kings of Polandand a point which marks where the whole of Poland was once ruled from as capital of the country forhundreds of years before Warsaw took over. Walking into the city centre you enter a huge centralsquare, with the grand market cloth hall in its centre. We were given some time to explore and thento eat at the Hard Rock Café overlooking the square. Evening activity was ice skating outside the centralshopping centre, even though it was now colder it was thoroughly enjoyed by all, but the likelihood ofmaking the winter Olympic squad for many is a distant prospect, Bambi on ice springs to mind.

Tuesday was going to be the start of the emotional journey that we were to take, having had a brief liein to recover from the very long day before, we were taken to the Galicia Jewish Museum and takenthrough a picture gallery of events in the Jewish communities life in Poland through generations,culminating with a talk from a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau, she was taken to the camp as a 5 yearold girl in late 1943 and she was “fortunate” to be selected to live, for the purposes of medicalexperimentation by numerous doctors including the infamous Dr Joseph Mengele. She managed tosurvive the harsh climate and conditions to be liberated at the end of the war, where she was adoptedby a Polish family despite originally being from modern-day Belarus. Her story was harrowing and madeus realise how lucky we are with everything we have. Following this we walked 1 hour to reach the siteof Plazsow work camp, where over 20,000 people died from random shootings and beatings as well asthe harsh weather and lack of suitable attire. We were escorted around by Mr Neesam who talked atthe various monuments about the lives of the prisoners and told us some of the interesting stories oftheir lives and sacrifice. It was a fascinating site and a strange sense of death lingers at the site. Theday was finished with a nice meal at a local Polish restaurant and then competitive ten pin bowling intothe evening, a nice light way to finish a thought provoking day.

The following day was a little more adventurous as we would be spending almost the whole dayunderground, out of the winter weather. Firstly we were taken down into the world famous salt minesto see the carved features that have been made over hundreds of years of salt mining in this region.Some of the rooms were stunning with an underground cathedral equipped with altar and chandeliersmade from carved salt stone. Later on the visit we would don the miners uniform and equipment andbe taken off the beaten track into the dark depths of some of the 50km of mining tunnels to carry outmining techniques, we were put to work cutting wood for building the supports, breaking up the saltrock, digging up to load trucks as well as crawling through small spaces in pitch black except for ourtrusty helmet mounted lights. It was really enjoyable and entertaining and a different experience. Theevening was spent relaxing and catching up with sleep, making use of the hotel pool and sauna to workoff the sweat of the 20 miles already walked on the trip.

Thursday was the most important and harrowing of days, a visit to Auschwitz concentration camp andAuschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Nothing prepares you for the scale of the camp system and theconditions that they must have coped with, it was a cold day and snow covered the site making it eerilybeautiful. Trying to imagine prisoners in just camp pyjamas and wooden shoes surviving and workingin these conditions as we stood in modern coats and thermals was impossible to comprehend, it became

clear as to why so many of those selected to live died due to the conditions in the camp. Within thefirst camp at Auschwitz we saw the artefacts that were recovered at the end of the war from thepossessions of people killed to the human hair that was found in bundles. The 8000 pairs of baby shoesreally hit home and clearly Mrs Williams and Mr Neesam were visibly upset upon seeing them. Auschwitzmain camp was a large construct of brick buildings, upon arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau we suddenlyrealised a whole new scale, the camp was massive extending into the distance even from the view givenfrom the main observation tower, nothing can really get the scale of the camp across. We toured aroundquite a bit of the camp but not all of it and this took 4 hours. We saw the site of mass extermination,the ruins of the gas chambers to the fields where bodies were burnt in continuous fires. No matterwhat is written here the only way to fully appreciate and understand what happened in this place is tovisit and see for yourself.

After this emotional visit spirits needed to be lifted and a great evening was had at the largest waterpark in Poland

Exhausted and emotionally drained we made the trip back to the UK via Copenhagen, the weatherdelivering up one more exciting aspect of the trip. Delaying our flight out of Krakow we were now goingto land as our connecting flight to London from Copenhagen was due to take off, luckily the airline heldthe flight on one condition, we ran through the airport, there followed an exciting run throughCopenhagen’s large airport terminal from gate B3 to D103 but everyone made it with encouragement.It was a truly fantastic trip and experience and many thanks go to Mr Reeve, Mrs Williams, MrFellowes-Prynne and Mr Neesam for taking us, and to Mr Neesam for organising and leading the toursaround the city and sites.

Gallery

Poland Trip 2018

Film Studies

BFI Trip – January 2018

In January, year 12 and year 13 Film Studies students went to the British Film Institute on London’sSouthbank, to learn more about critical theory. The students listened to Matthew Daintrey-Hall givean introduction to critical theory which covered a broad range of theorists, both old and new. Duringthe talk, student were encouraged to analyse the work of theorists who discuss gender (Van Zoonen,Bulter and bell hooks, the latter’s capitalisation being part of her theoretical approach), semiotics(Barthes) and postmodernism (Lyotard, Hall and Baudrillard). Students looked at different clips todeconstruct them and apply these theorists in discussion. Clips included the feminisation of men in‘Fight Club’ and different readings of semiotics and postmodernism in the TV show ‘How I Met YourMother’. The students will be taking what they have learnt and applying it to the films they are studying– ranging from a feminist reading of ‘La La Land’ and the intertextuality in ‘Pulp Fiction’, to discussingthe semiotics in ‘Titanic’ producing very different reactions in the audience.

A special mention should go to Mr Joe Turone, our AV chief and member of the IT staff. He was givena round of applause by the all those present in the 500 seater auditorium for fixing the technicaldifficulties the presenter had in the afternoon. His run from the back of the auditorium to the stagewas a great memory and proves he is a dedicated specialist the School is lucky to have!

Van Zoonen – feminism and patriarchy

Stuart Hall

Religious Studies and Citizenship Department

It has been another very enjoyable and edifying term in the Religious Studies and CitizenshipDepartment. Thank you so much for all your support.For examination classes, this term marks the beginning of the final push. Moving term before the finalround.

Year 13 and Year 11 have conducted themselves impressively and their Mock examinations were verypleasing. We are in a good position to push on. The key now is for students to actively revise. Studentsshould have their own revision process where they do things. This could involve making notes, creatingmind maps or power points or writing on cue cards. Such revision builds confidence as well as knowledgeand understanding. The more students hand write revision materials the better for they will have towrite in their exams. I have put key revision resources, including past papers, on a specially createdwebsite entitled www.letsgoteamrs.weebly.com. In the holidays, I will be on e-mail in week 1 and, inweek 2, will be available in school for revision classes which I will advertise via school e-mail.

Examinations are, of course, pressurised but so long as students stick to their process and do their best,that is all anyone can ask. Sleep and good diet are very important.

Year 10 and Year 12 are both being prepared for their final years now. Both groups are making promising progress in this regard and the summer will be key to ensure the last year is not overly stressful. Finalyears go fast.

Education is more than examinations, though they are one vital side of the coin. Hopefully, studentsenjoy this subject for its own take as we tackle the big questions of philosophy, ethics, religion andCitizenship. Year 7. 8 and 9 are both demonstrating this zest and flair for learning about the big questionsof life.

Encouraging global citizenship is a key part of our work at TBSHS.Around School, we have raisedawareness of Martin Luther King Day, Holocaust Memorial Day, World Cancer Day, InternationalWomen's Day (and the Me Too and Times'a Up Movement) and Zero Discrimination Day. We also havedevoted time to exploring our former student Greg James' epic "Pedal to the Peaks"challenge wherehe raised over a million pounds for Sport Relief charities connected to mental health and, moreimportantly, created so much awareness of, and inspiration for, those suffering their own challengesin life.

We have been delighted continue welcoming excellent guest speakers who talked with the SixthForm.

Scarlett Stock is a remarkable and brilliant formerstudent. Head Girl and Interact Leader in 2012-13,Scarlett now works for a charity where she goesin to prisons and helps prisoners reform andrehabilitate. She has to demonstrate muchcompassion and fearlessness in this role. Scarlettwas so inspirational with her personal philosophyof positivity or "Say It Now" as she calls it. Scarlettis an absolute star and future national leader inthe causes she espouses.

Scarlett Stock with Sixthform Students

Josh Ward is another former student who is also very inspiring. A former Deputy Head Boy, Josh wasoutstanding in the extra curricular fields of Sport and Drama and was very much a fine all-rounder. Nowan innovative and insightful rugby coach at Saracens, he shared insights into the Saracens Way andgave a wonderful warm, witty and wise presentation to students which inspired us all. Josh was sogenuine, humble and honest and his attitude was infectious.

Hannah Lewis is a survivor of the Holocaust. Hannah saw her mother shot by Nazi soldiers. Her mothersacrificed her life for her. Hannah's presentation was so moving and inspirational and is the mostimportant the students will ever hear for it is vital we never forget. Hannah is the kindest and mostgentle of people who has shown so much resilience in her life. She was awarded an MBE recently forservices to Holocaust Education. We found out after her visit Hannah had been on television a few daysbeforehand https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0fFxWKFHpdM.

Hannah Lewis with Sixthform StudentsOf course, Interact continues to be a fine example of RS in action and student leadership.

Earlier in the term, on World Cancer Day, we raised over £2000 for Cancer Research, The TeenageCancer Trust and St. Clare's Hospice. We also raised awareness over cancer care. Thank you for all yourgenerosity. We keep in mind those who who are suffering or who have suffered because of cancer.

In February, Interact assisted with a fundraising event, Amie's Fundraiser, in aid of Mind, a mentalhealth charity. We provided three key acts in the brilliant Finn Aylott, Finn Lihoreau and James Knudsenas well as many volunteers. Julius Field was absolutely vital to the operation with his, technicalexpertise. Many guests were impressed by the Black and Gold spirit.

Julius was again key at a superb Showcase last week. The Show was a wonderful example of studentleadership and team work. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and the businesses who providedraffle prizes. We raised over £3000 for the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance (on the Thursday) and SportRelief (on the Friday). Special mentions must go to the truly outstanding student leaders Julius Field,Poppy Laurens, Max Hunt, Tom Woods, Charlotte Brown, Emma Flodman and Yvette Agyirimarti. Alsobrilliant were Elle Cook , Julia Sokol, Ella Monk, Laura Skinner, all the acts and Mr Turone for all theydid for the show. Every year supplied Acts/ Volunteers. It was wonderful to see Marie Quinlan andNick Taffs from last year's Year 13 who came to support . Thank you to Elliot Sanfillippo, Jay Williams,Mitchell Farquharson and James Knudsen for giving their time in a busy exam term. It was Jay's fifthShowcase.

I must pay tribute to James Nash who was the rock ofShowcase with his work on tickets. raffle and refreshments.His work on tickets, the raffle and refreshments was trulyoutstanding. He is a truly excellent student leader.

Other students too can show student leadership and globalcitizenship . Come to our meetings to get your ideaapproved! After Final Assembly year 9 students begin a tenhour cycling marathon on the exercise bikes for Sport Relief.Yesytyn Cook, in Year 7, cycled 6 miles for HTC and SportRelief last week (raising around £500) and was still here 40minutes before registration. Faithfully, every single Friday,Year 8's Dan Jordan, Brody Knight and Matthew Ericksensell food for charity. They make around £20 every week butit all mounts up. Since the last edition of the Mitre , 107students packed bags for charity in Christmas holidaysraising a massive £1300.

Our term closed with the Easter Services. We reflected on Jesus' message, God's love and key citizenshipthemes above through words, music and quietness.

We look forward to the rest of the academic and calendar year. If any parent or student has an ideasfor exploration, always feel free to e-mail. Let's keep spreading the positive Black and Gold spirit.

Thank you to Mr. Reeve and Mr. Noble for their continued support. Thank you to Mrs. Miles for hercontinued and tireless excellent and truly outstanding work, particularly with examination classes.Thank you also to Mr. Ngwenya who has been a wonderful support and help to the Department andto Mrs. Mills for her continued fine leadership. We also give a warm congratulations to Mrs. Taylor onthe birth of her son.

Mr. Etheridge

CERN Trip

Rather than ending on a bombshell, the trip began with one. The day before the scheduled departure,London City Airport was shut due to the discovery of an unexploded WW2 bomb. However, we dideventually arrive in Geneva, having an opportunity to go down into the main town and see a few sightsaround the city before heading for dinner at the Edelweiss Restaurant. After dinner, a few of us werelucky enough to have a go at playing the Alpine Horn, a rather tricky instrument!

Wednesday’s activities were the main purpose of the trip. This began with a short lecture from aphysicist that had worked at CERN for many years, which proved to be both challenging but interestingfor all. We were then given a tour of two locations within CERN, the first being a data analysis andcontrol centre, where we were introduced to the various techniques used for accelerating particles inthe collider. The second site we saw was the SM-18 Test Facility. This is where the many magnets usedthroughout the colliders are tested at extremely low temperatures (around -270°C) and high currents.This provided the perfect opportunity to ask questions to a number of the physicists and engineersworking at CERN. We then had an opportunity to look around the various exhibitions of discoveriesand some of the technology that CERN has used.

On the Thursday we went to visit the United Nations, being given a tour around and the opportunityto find out more about the history of the UN. We also visited a science museum to see various piecesof equipment used in experiments centuries ago, as well as some more modern apparatus.

The trip was a fantastic opportunity to appreciate the magnitude of CERN and its work. It also allowedus to see a number of ideas in application from the A-Level course. The trip was a once-in-a-lifetimeexperience.

Mitchell FarquharsonYear 13

DramaIt was another busy term in the Drama Department rich with extra-curricular clubs, rehearsals, theatretrips and performance evening. I would like to thank my colleagues Matthew Comiskey, Joe Castagna,Joe Turone, Sophie Antony and Claire Jonas for all their hard work and dedication to the students, thedepartment and the extra-curricular activities that we run. A big thank you to those students who havehelped us with clubs, events and productions.

Extra-Curricular Clubs Report

Drama Club

(Year 7-8) Monday lunchtimes. Studio 26 This term drama club has explored different types oftheatre techniques including characterisation, emotions, movement, mime, and improvisation. Wehave started off with different warm-ups that include how to make the most of ‘space’ and using musicor just movement but no sound. I have been really impressed with how much effort and enthusiasmthe boys bring with them to every session especially when devising their own mini performances whichwe share and evaluate the end. There is often lots of comical value and sometimes more serious themesthat we develop upon. Using the lights in the studio the boys really get into character when performingand take a lot from the constructive criticism and compliments that their peers give them when devising.This has shown me throughout term that their drama skills and plots to their story lines are constantlyimproving. I look forward to see what next term brings!

Miss Antony

Technical Theatre Crew

This term we have been re-rigging all of the theatre lights around the school and this has given studentsthe opportunity to see how the lights are taken apart and repaired as well as how to safely put lightsup and customise them depending on the needs of the show/event. We have also lightly touched uponSound stuff and how we set up for a professional show, and put this into practice by incorporating thepreparation extra-curricular events into our TTC timetable. It has been great working with thesestudents as they are all so enthusiastic, a particular example would be with the recent Musical Festivaland Soul Lounge, I have actually had students running the lights and sounds using what I have taughtthem and I am merely there to oversee and support.

Mr. Turone

Middle School Drama Club

(Year 9 & 10) Drama club is attended by a small group of very committed and talented students whorelish the chance to be creative. This term they have been practising the GCSE component 2 using aplay-text that lends itself to extreme characterisation and humour. This scripted work will culminatein an after-school performance to family and friends.

Bouncers! Coming soon...watch this space. "If your name's not down you're not coming in."

Mr. Comiskey

Production Report

This term we have had been lucky enough to see a lot of talent. Year 11 have performed twice oncefor their devised performance exam and the other where they had to perform a set text all studentsdid very well and should be proud of all they have achieved. Year 12s have worked hard to produce areinterpretation of a play and performed this only a few weeks ago showcasing some amazing skillwhen it comes to physical theatre and finally year 13 created some excellent work which was performedonly this week. Below you can read a little more about the work they produced or the play texts theychose.

GCSE Performance Evening Component 1

13%

Performed by Hashir Mohammad, Nick O’Connor, Sonny Tancock, Jack Wilson & Callum Mose13% is about young individuals aged 16 who battle it out to go to the rebirth. Individuals must partakein a series of trials in order to join a neighbouring society of privilege known as rebirth – a mythical landof supposed opportunity, peace and riches. In the hopes of being chosen, candidates undergo varioustests of mental and physical agility in order to prove their worth. Candidates who do not pass geteliminated and only one will stand at the end.

Creating, producing and performing my devised piece was a very amazing and a magical experience! Ienjoyed every bit of it from the creating process to performing it on stage in front of an audience, itwas just incredible. It benefited me in lots of ways as it gave me a lot of confidence and experience. Iput a lot of hard work and effort into this my devised performance and I am very happy of the outcomeof it. I will truly miss every part of it.

Hashir Mohammad(Year 11)

Mind Of Murderer

Performed by Harry Bennett, Lewis Randall, Bastian Kelling-Reis, Ben Chater & Joe Woods.

Mind of a Murderer: Mind of a Murderer invites you into a mental asylum along with four convictedmurderers, each suffering from a different mental health issue. The play revolves around thesecharacters past crimes, and how mental health has affected their lives. Each character demonstrateshow their murder took place in a flashback incorporating physical theatre, taking elements fromcompanies such as Frantic Assembly and DV8. The play asks the audience to question if the issue ofmental health is closer to them than previously thought, as the play demonstrates that anyone cansuffer from mental health, and that it can come in so many forms.

Harry Bennet

24 Hours To LivePerformed by Elliot Sanfilippo, Ben Mayhew, Logan Simons, Kier Day and Joe Bruce.

24 hours to live takes the audience on an adventure through the male psyche. We created a piece ofphysical theatre using movement to show what words sometimes cant. We created a performancearound five young men who have all been told they only have 24 hours to live. Each character has apast that they have not delt with until today. The performance ends with the following quote “Liveeach day as your last, as one day you will be right”.

GCSE Performance Evening Component 2

An evening of three performances all directed by the students themselves. This unit has required thestudents perform a section of a play and perform in a contrasting style to their previous works. Theyhave had to adapt the plays to ensure they meet the timeframe and of course are suitable for an all-malecast. The boys did an outstanding job which was down to all their hard work and extra rehearsals. Belowyou will find a synopsis and more information on what the boys chose for their exam piece.

Burnout

Performed by Joe Wood, Elliot Sanfilippo, Harry Bennett, Joe Bruce.Lighting Design: Hashir Mohammed

The build up to a major fight and all the boxers want in however, the main event here is not the story,in which Ajay overreaches himself, Neil's future is snatched away and Cameron makes it into the ring,because to be honest it's a pretty familiar one. It's the way this story is told – some astonishinglychoreographed training sequences and their use of physical theatre is what makes it so compelling.They should be able to turn something aggressive and male into something beautiful and painfullytender as they trace the exquisite thrill and exquisite pain that occurs when you push your body andreach out for the stars. An exploration of what makes boxers box and what happens when a shootingstar shimmers, shines brightly and falls to earth.

The Pillowman

Performed By Kier Day, Ben Mayhew, Logan Simons and Bastian Kelling-Reis

The Pillowman is a 2003 play by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. It received its first public readingin an early version at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995. It tells the tale of Katurian, a fictionwriter living in a police state who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories, andtheir similarities to a number of bizarre child murders occurring in his town.

Katurian, a writer of short stories which often depict violence against children, has been arrested bytwo detectives, Ariel and Tupolski, because some of his stories resemble recent child murders. Whenhe hears that his brother Michal has confessed to the murders and implicated Katurian, he resignshimself to his execution but attempts to save his stories from destruction. The play includes bothnarrations and reenactments of several of Katurian's stories, most notably the autobiographical "TheWriter and the Writer's Brother", which tells how Katurian developed his disturbed imagination byhearing the sounds of Michal being tortured by their parents.

Hymns

Performed By Nick O’Connor, Ben Chater, Sonny Tancock, Jack Wilson

Hymns originates from a late nineties collaboration between writer Chris O’Connell, and renownedphysical theatre companies Frantic Assembly and DV8. Frantic Assembly initiated the devising processin response to the startling statistics surrounding the number of young men committing suicide. Thefour male characters in Hymns come together in the aftermath of the suicide of a friend, living out theirgrief and testing the limits of their friendships; all while confined by a framework of masculinity whichshapes their every response. As they struggle to find the words to express their suffering, physicalitytakes over as the means to communicate the cauldron of emotions and feelings triggered by the suicide– sorrow, anger, guilt and accusations of blame all coming bubbling to the surface as they throwthemselves around the stage.

1984Performed by Callum Mose and Lewis Randall

In George Orwell's 1984, Winston Smith wrestles with oppression in Oceania, a place where the Partyscrutinizes human actions with ever-watchful Big Brother. Defying a ban on individuality, Winston daresto express his thoughts in a diary and pursues a relationship with Julia. These criminal deeds bringWinston into the eye of the opposition, who then must reform the nonconformist. George Orwell's1984 introduced the watchwords for life without freedom: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.

Year 12 Performance Evening

An exciting evening for both staff, parents the students have been working hard to create twoperformances of a very high standard where they were examined on their acting ability. Students hadthe task of taking a text and reinterpreting it in a different style to the original performance conditions.They had to pick a practitioner and apply their methods which resulted in a night of exciting and highlycreative theatre.

The Ash Girl By Timberlake Wertenbaker

When an invitation to The Ball arrives at the Ash girl's house, from Prince Amir, she can't bring herselfto believe that she, like her sisters, can go. With her mother dead and her father away, she must learnto fight the monsters that have slithered and insinuated their way into her heart and mind. In thiswondrous drama Timberlake Wertenbaker explores the beauty and terror inherent in growing up.

Group 1:

As Year 12 students, we were given the task of reinterpreting a provided stimulus in the performancestyle of Frantic Assembly, a renowned theatre company established in 1994. The given stimulus was‘The Ashgirl’, written by Timberlake Wertenbaker in 2000; this is an adaption of the well-known fairytaleCinderella, with a sinister twist. Each group identified the seemingly dark themes of this play – includingmental health, incest and the Seven Deadly Sins – and used these themes to reinterpret the script,producing two mature and high-quality performances.

In group one, we focussed our piece on themes largely revolved around the consequences of mentalhealth, depicting Sadness and Lust as human embodiments. This represented the control that mentalillness can have over individuals, and how people can grow to depend on these demons. Ourperformance tells the tale of the doomed love of Ashgirl and Amir, after Amir succumbs to his innerdemon of Lust. After reluctantly attending a party under the weight of Sadness, Ashgirl finally feelsliberated from her depression when she becomes acquainted with Amir. Their love seems to blossom,but it isn’t long before Amir is overcome by the insufferable pressure of Lust, consequently forcinghimself upon Ashgirl. These leaves Ashgirl scarred and distraught, having no-one to turn to but herlooming depression. Identically, both Ashgirl and Amir have lost the battle to their inner demons.

Leah Bartram(Year 12)

Group 2:For our A Level drama piece, we were given the play ‘The Ash Girl’ by Timberlake Wertenbaker. Wewere given the task of using a chosen scene from the script and adapting it into our own rendition. Weas a group decided to change the script from its original plot, to more of a twisted and dark piece, whichis more suited to an audience of our own age. We are using the theatrical style of Physical Theatre andhave been inspired by the theatre company Frantic Assembly. Although Frantic Assembly have statedthat they are not a physical theatre company, they do include many of the attributes of the style,including building blocks such as ‘chair duets’ and ‘round-by-though’, which have helped us with gettingour story across to the audience as these building blocks have allowed us to showcase that ourcharacters are together as one (Ash Girl and Sadness and Lust and Amir). We also showed that ourcharacters were together as one by giving the same costume to Ash Girl and Sadness, and then addingblue powder paint to Ash Girl and Sadness, and red powder paint to Amir and Lust. Overall, ourperformance went extremely well and I am very proud of myself and my group and how hard the dramadepartment as a whole has worked this year.

Year 13 Performance Evening

Performance 1: Beyond the Bank

Directed By James Knudsen, William Price, Owen Ding and Cameron NelsonBeyond the bank is a piece intended to explore the impacts of extensive wealth and economic freedomon the rich. It shows the journey that a banker may take: from inexperienced, lowly apprentice, toseasoned, egotistical millionaire, while showing all the additional 'perks' of the profession. This piecedemonstrates the saturation of capital within the top percent of the United Kingdom, expressing howthis may not only be a caviat for the majority population, but also the rich themselves. Can they reallyhandle all the responsibility that is placed in their hands by their positions in society? Or will theysquander their wealth, acting irresponsibly, irrationally, and often... Illegally?

My personal experience

This piece gave me the opportunity to express the serious issue of the Great British economy in acomical, yet impact-full manner. Creating exaggerated caricatures based on real people made theprocess engaging and rewarding, as the humorous and vulgar nature of the piece helped it resonatewith the audience. Consequently, I was able to communicate my thoughts on a very real and pressingmatter through an entertaining medium, engaging people in an issue which can often seem dull andfar removed.

James Knudsen(Year 13)

Performance2: Pull it Together

Directed by: Evie Stables, Dulcie Robinson, Tiegan Meadows and Caitlin Sparrow

Group one’s devised piece, “Pull it together” was a Brechtian style piece, on the topic of mental health,which consisted of several episodic scenes focusing on mental disorders: depression, obsessivecompulsive disorder, anxiety and bulimia. The piece begins with a movement sequence to set the toneof self-consciousness and feeling alone whilst being surrounded by people. Following this thepresentation style of our piece began, addressing the audience directly and giving facts aboutdepression; throughout this scene and other presentation style scenes gestures are being used to staycoherent with the Brechtian style. As a serotonin deficiency is one possible cause for all of theaforementioned disorders this is what was used to link depression to the next scene, focusing on OCD.In this second scene Evie embodied a case study with obsessive compulsive disorder who feared thatshe would hurt her child, Caitlin then continued embodying a separate case study with a morestereotypical and therefore recognisable symptom of OCD which is fearing germs. A repeat of themovement transitioned into the next scene, a second presentation scene about anxiety, which furtherlead onto a case study performed by Tom (filling in for Dulcie) and Tiegan. This scene abruptly stopped,one example of how the verfremdungseffekt is used, and our final scene commences where facts aboutmental illness are presented and then each character looks into the audience with a smile, which fadesand they walk off to demonstrate how you cannot see mental illness. From devising this piece we haveall learnt so much more about Brecht as a practitioner, exploring and experimenting with a range ofhis techniques which are evident in the final piece. It is noteworthy that the techniques explored didnot only apply to acting, but structure and set design, in turn giving us a more rounded view of Brechtiantheatre. As a group we also gained a better understanding of mental illness, each member of the grouphad been effected by mental illness in their life at some point being it personally or through a familymember, motivating us even more to devise a piece which could simultaneously educate and captivatean audience as very often mental illness is spoken about but its effects are not fully understood. Thiswas one of our motives as to why we chose to perform in the style of Brecht as he used socio-politicalissues within his theatre.

Evie Stables(Year 13)

Duologue Performances

Pupils also had to perform a section of a set text, they each performed a duologue in a style depictedby them. I have to say this was some of the most talent works I have seen during my time at TBSHS andthey should all be very proud. The plays they chose are listed below.

● Chapel Street by Luke Barns Love Song By Abbie Morgan● Wet House By Paddy Campbell● Stockholm By Bryony Lavery

Trips

Things I know By Frantic Assembly

‘Things I know to be true’

In February, years 11-13 drama students went to The Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, London to watchthe fantastic performance of ‘Things I know to be true’, by the brilliant theatre company FranticAssembly. They use physical theatre which consists of using movement, dialogue and music, as well asdance to showcase a story in a unique way. This has been extremely useful for our GCSE and A-Levelperformances as we have all been studying Frantic Assembly as our practitioner and have been lookinginto the style of physical theatre by using the building blocks such as ‘Hymns hands’, ‘Chair duets’,‘Digits’, ‘Round-by,-through’, as well as a lifting technique, ‘Learning to fly’, which many of us used inour performance after witnessing it in ‘Things I know to be true’. Overall, our visit to the play was ahuge success for many reasons. It has helped us all to understand the style of Frantic Assembly byseeing it in real life, which has hugely helped us in our written work. We were also privileged enoughto watch a question and answer session at the end of the performance which again was very beneficialto us as we are now able to use their answers in our written work.

Esra Savill(Year 12)

The Wedding by Gecko

‘The Wedding’

In February, the sixth form drama students had the opportunity to visit the Palace Theatre in Watfordto watch the exquisite and thrilling performance of ‘The Wedding’, by the theatre company Gecko. Theperformance, led by Amit Lahav, surrounds the idea that we are all married to society. It features arange of different languages which shocked us students, in a positive way, as we were able to see adifferent side of theatre that we had not yes come across. The performance itself was able to help uswith our studies into the style of physical theatre as Gecko use the style of physical theatre strongly in‘The Wedding’, by showcasing different physical theatre techniques such as lifts. The performance alsohelped us to think about lighting and sound in more depth than usual as lighting and sound were a hugepart of the performance, helping the audience to understand the story. Once we had watched theperformance, we were each given a certain area (e.g. costume, lighting/sound, proxemics, etc) to lookinto, and were given the task of writing an essay on why the company decided to use these elementsand what impact they had on the audience. This was extremely beneficial to us as it helped us to developour writing technique. Overall, the trip was hugely successful as we were able to see a side of physicaltheatre that we had not yet come across before. Also, we were able to be inspired by another theatrecompany other than Frantic Assembly, who we are also studying.

Esra Savill(Year 12)

It has been a joy working with all students in the drama department. Their passion for the subject andsheer talent we have at TBSHS is outstanding and I am looking forward to what the next term brings.

Please do not hesitate to contact the drama department for further informationhayley.bartwilliams@tbshs.org

Thank you and have a nice Easter.Hayley Bart-WilliamsHead of Drama

STORTMUN

The Model United Nations is a renowned way for the next generation to get involved and learn abouthow the real United Nations works along with the complexities of diplomacy. On the 3rd of FebruaryTBSHS organised our 8th STORTMUN conference, where four schools got together to discuss, debateand attempt to solve many issues faced by UN member countries.

Each pupil was designated a country and acted as a delegate, representing that countries point of viewand political standpoint. To start off the conference Miss Rachel Dewald eloquently spoke about theconferences we, as a school, have attended in the past, the trips to Holland and the contributions ofMr Darren Solomons. The morning of the conference was split into two sessions whereby the delegateslobbied and began to put together resolutions to combat the issue their committee was faced with.

For example, The Security Council was tasked with finding a peaceful resolution to the escalating missilecrisis in North Korea, a headline frequently seen in the newspapers as an outcome of the appointmentof President Trump in 2017. For the end of the day, all committees got together for a plenary sessionand presented their resolutions to the rest of the delegates. This gave the Security General a chanceto choose best resolution and best overall delegate and present them in front of everyone.

All pupils that attended contributed what they already knew about international relations and learntso much more about the wider world. Overall, it was a successful day and each pupil took away anincreased knowledge of how the United Nations is run and how the different countries interact topropose motions for sophisticated issues. The entire conference wouldn’t have taken place if it weren’tfor the hard work and dedication of Miss Antony, on behalf of all the students involved we would liketo thank her for her commitment and congratulate her on the success of the day.

Sixth Form Post-18 Support and News

Year 13 Post-18 Successes

As in previous years, the Year 13s who applied to university are sitting on an excellent clutch of offersfrom their chosen courses with an 85% positive response rate to all applications made (and with somedecisions still awaited). Over 80% of the course applications made to Russell Group universities havebeen successful and of particular note are the Oxbridge offers to our Head Girl, one of our Deputy HeadGirls and a leaver from last summer for Architecture, History and Psychological and Behavioural Sciencesrespectively (full details are in the News section of the school website). We have three medicalapplicants and one veterinarian who are currently holding a total of 7 offers between them includingones from prestigious Imperial College, UCL and Royal Veterinary College (there will be a news articlewith full details once the remaining medicine decisions have been made). We also have a group ofstudents with equally competitive offers from the likes of Imperial, Durham, Bristol and Exeter for arange of humanities and STEM subjects. Over half of the students have the luxury of choosing from alltheir five choices so will need to use the Easter holidays to think hard about sensible and realistic Firmand Insurance choices while completing Student Finance and accommodation applications.

A number of students are also busy pursuing a range of School Leaver and Apprenticeship Programmes(up to Degree level) reaching interview and assessment centre stages and even offers in a range ofindustry sectors including Investment Banking, Accounting and Finance, Human Resources and PropertyConstruction.

Year 12 Post-18 Planning

The Spring Term saw the start of the Year 12 formal Post-18 Support programme coinciding perfectlywith National Apprenticeship and National Careers Week in early March. Preparatory work has includeda whole range of activities:

●Parent and student Post-18 Information Evening

●Introduction to Post-18 Planning tool Unifrog (which, despite the name, covers apprenticeshipsas well as universities)

●An Oxbridge Information Evening with Dr Mike Sewell, retired Director of Admissions forCambridge and Senior Tutor at Selwyn College

●Apprenticeship speakers including ex-TBSHS pupil Safwan Chowdhury who shared his ownpersonal experience of joining leading professional services company EY as an apprentice 4 yearsago

●An on-line Lloyds Banking Group Workshop where a group of 14 students were able to chaton-line with apprentices in different Lloyds roles

●A drop-in Q&A session with a project manager from global defence and cybersecurity companyRaytheon

●Successful applications to a variety of Oxbridge Subject Masterclasses and summer residentialcourses such as Headstart courses at top universities

●Yr 13s sharing their experience of Post-18 decision making with the Year 12s in their tutor groups

●CV Writing Guidance and Preparation

●Arranging placements for Work Experience week 25th June.

Next term will be no less busy with:

●A Year 12 visit to the UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) Exhibition at LondonExCel featuring hundreds of universities and employers

●Visiting Student Life speakers from Leeds and Edinburgh Universities

●Practice business interviews with external business professionals from the Rotary Club

●A start on UCAS applications and Personal Statements.

These events are all in addition to the many subject-specific enrichment activities that departmentsorganise beyond the curriculum that help students prepare themselves for life beyond TBSHS.

Students are also encouraged to broaden their study and career horizons through open days, widerreading, workshops, taster events, and exhibitions, which are advertised through the regular Post-18Bulletin issued electronically to all Sixth Form students and their parents.

Fiona PriceAssistant Head of Sixth Form (Post-18 Guidance)

House Report Spring Term 2018

This term has seen the houses really starting to compete for those all-important house points. Moststudents have now gained a good number of points from homework to classwork activities to takingpart in events. An impressive number of points have already been earned this academic year to date,surpassing the total amount for the last entire academic year.

Whilst it may look like a largedifference between 1st and 6thsporting events points are yet to beadded and this can change theentire result so far. It has been agood start for Waytemore, andwith Dane doing well in the musicfestival it has really boosted theirpoint’s total. I am sure with manymore events to go and with plentyof school weeks left until thesummer, this graph will changemany times, who at the end of theacademic year will lift the housecup and claim the reward.

This year there will be a reward for those students in year 7 -10 at the end of the academic year in thehouse that wins the house cup. The PTFA have kindly agreed to fund a £10 Empire cinema voucher. Iam sure that students will relish the opportunity to try and win one as part of their house to see thebiggest summer blockbusters.

Each house in each year group also has the opportunity to win the year house shield, this is awardedper year group to the house with the highest points score at the end of the academic year.

Per year group these are the current scores, there is still plenty of time for these to change.

This term we have seen the music festival contribute a great deal of points to students totals, well doneto all those that took part and to those that gained an achievement in their respective area. We willsoon be having the Interhouse football competition and next term sees the return of house drama,debating, quiz, cricket, spelling bee and Sport Day. So lots of events that can alter the scores, it is allabout participation, and participation earns points. I look forward to seeing as many students as possibleat these events.

Mr. Neesam

I/C House System

Year 8 Ski Trip 2018

Eben, Austria

50 students and 7 staff arrived in the resort of Eben in the Austrian Alps on Saturday 10th February. Thefirst and most important job was to try on our skis, boots and helmets so we would be ready for thefirst of six days of skiing on Sunday. After that, we explored the excellent facilities at JugendhotelLindenhof - http://www.youngaustria.com/en/adventure-guesthouses/details/hotel/Jugendhotel-Lindenhof/

The first day of skiing is always a challenge as the complete beginners have to get used to thesnowplough position and those who have skied before line up nervously for the ski ability test. Thisyear we were able to have three beginner groups, two intermediate groups and one more advancedgroup. Being based in Eben allowed us to ski in three different resorts over six days: Eben,Altenmarkt and Forstau. Over the week the weather conditions varied from extreme cold with clearskies to heavy snow with limited visibility. This allowed the students to develop a range of skiingskills in order to cope with the conditions. The intermediate and advanced groups spent some time inthe powder snow and the beginners had to sometimes negotiate the mounds of snow on the pistes.The students also spent some time in the fun park at Altenmarkt with jumps and rails to test theircoordination.

In the evenings we enjoyed the thrills of the Lucky Flitzer alpine toboggan and the traditional alpinesport of curling. The bingo night kept both students and staff alert! On several nights we were able toplay football in the superb sports hall. It continues to amaze me how much energy the boys have,even after five hours of skiing during the day! On the last night at the hotel we enjoyed apresentation evening during which prizes were awarded by the ski instructors to the giant slalomwinner in each group. In addition, four students received awards which fitted in with TBSHS values:

• For acts of kindness shown during the week – George Kelly• For using German frequently – Logan Nathan• For showing great resilience – Louis Peters• For making lots of progress in his skiing – Max Lavergne

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing almost 30 students learn a new skill and the rest of the students improvetheir skiing due to good teaching and a positive attitude. Thank you to Mr Munro, Miss Mertz, MrLoney, Mr Newsome and Miss Davies for being great company and helping the students to have areally enjoyable week.

In 2019 I will be leading the current Y8-12 ski trip to Obertauern, Austria. The trip is currently full butthe reserve list is short so it would be worth declaring an interest via Mrs Kitching, the trips and visitscoordinator alexia.kitching@tbshs.org I will be advertising the 2020 trip (for those students in Y7and 8 in the 2018-19 academic year) in September.

Mr. Griffiths

Year 8 Ski Trip Gallery

Year 9 Ski Trip Report 2018 – Obertauern, Austria

The students of Year Nine left school on the 9th of February at 2:45pm with a mindset prepared for thelong journey ahead and the snowy climates of Austria. The first stop was in Kent before the ferry fromDover to Calais, after which we began to make our way to our first European stop in Luxemburg, thenanother near the Austrian border for breakfast. We finally arrived in Obertauern after an extensive 25hours on the coach and we had seen so much already!

By now we had already seen snowy mountain peaks and sites we planned to visit later that week. Aftergetting to know the hotel and showering, we made our way down to the valley floor where we did ourski fitting at the Intersport shop. Afterwards, we returned to the hotel for dinner which was finishedoff with a short quiz followed by the Ski way code and then finally, much needed sleep.

The next day we took the coach down to the nursery slope where we were sorted into groups: 3beginner groups, intermediate, and advanced. The beginner groups stayed at the nursery slope whilstthe others headed up the mountains on the chairlifts after a quick refresher. Once we had finished ourfirst day of skiing we went to a piste bar for our après ski drink, after which we returned to the hotelfor showers and dinner before heading to the ‘Lucky Flitzer alpine roller coaster’.

Lots of people went for seconds but others caused some hold-ups on the tracks, Mr Alexander beingone of the most cautious. We soon went back to the hotel and got a good night’s sleep in preparationfor the next day. This routine carried on throughout the week with each group improving every dayand trying new slopes and techniques on the slope and the fun didn’t end there.

Other evening activities included swimming at Therme Amade Spa, where we managed to break oneof the slides, bum boarding, a freezing cold ski show, watching the UEFA champions league fixture andlots of other fun activities which we were all thankful for but that’s not the only activities and surprisesthat happened that week for one of the students.

On Wednesday the 14th we were honoured with the birthday of Matthew Clarke who from that dayonwards became known as ‘Clarkey the Sharkey’. Mr Wheatley came up with a wide range of birthdaysurprises for him plus the added gifts from his roommates, one of which was to start the day byintroducing him to his shark onesied alter-ego, he was forced to wear this onesie for the rest of the dayincluding his time skiing and after all of that, we think almost everyone was ready to leave.

On Friday we had a presentation congratulating our skiing achievements throughout the week. Soonafter, we returned to the hotel for the last time to pick up our luggage and depart for our melancholyjourney home. Once we were on the road we only stopped in Luxemburg, Dunkirk and then again toboard the ferry. After 21 hours we were back at the school, being re-united with our families, whetherthey wanted it or not.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank those who made our trip so memorable and enjoyable: MrWheatley and Mr Hale, who have demonstrated their talent for gravity driven rollercoasters, as wellas Mr Conquest, Mr Stark, Mr Alexander, Mr Hobbs and all the amazing instructors that taught us, formaking our trip the best it could’ve been.

Teddy Pope, Ben Hepworth, Elliot WoodYear 9

Year 09 Ski Trip Gallery

Work Experience

Industrial Cadet Success for Four High School Students

Joey, Kaiya, Eilidh, isaac

Four year 12 students spent their half-term week as one of GSK’s (GlaxoSmithKline) Work ExperienceIndustrial Cadets.

Selected from hundreds of applicants, Kaiya Kiyosawa, Isaac Mendel, Eilidh Malcom and Joey Xiangspent a week at GSK’s Ware location.

The students applied for the scheme, competing against hundreds of applicants from all over the region,which meant they had to give up their half-term holiday, because they hope to go on to pursue a sciencecareer.

Isaac is interested in Physics or Engineering and Kaiya is interested in engineering, as is Joey, and Eilidhin Biochemistry or Pharmacology, so the experience was invaluable.

Eilidh says - I decided to apply for the GSK work experience week because I knew that GSK is an excellentglobal pharmaceutical company and I really wanted to gain a further insight into the industry. At themoment, I’m still considering a variety of options to study at university and having the opportunity togo to GSK gave me more of an idea on what I might like to do in the future. During the week I mainlystayed at the R&D (research and development) site as I was on the Chemistry programme. I went on alot of tours, seeing different labs. This was interesting because we got to see all the high-tech machines,such as a mass spectrometer, which we don’t normally see in school. We also saw the production oftheir new asthma pumps, where we first saw it as a chemical and finished seeing the final product. Ithink this was good to see, as it’s an actual product in the market today. Furthermore, in the labs, wedid experiments such as looking at the growth of some bacteria and we also looked at how muchcaffeine was in different drinks - it was interesting to see that weak coffee contained only a tiny bitmore than decaffeinated coffee. Also, we had a careers carousel, where we found out a lot aboutdifferent kind of jobs and this was enjoyable as you got to hear first-hand from professionals at thecompany, as well as hearing about industrial placements or apprenticeship options. Personally, I enjoyeddoing the different experiments as we got to use lab equipment such as Gilson pipettes which is a lotdifferent from the standard pipettes used at school. It was also good to get an insight to the day to day

role of people working at GSK. I also feel it was good to meet new people, especially as they had similarinterests to me! After having spent the week at GSK, I am definitely much more interested inBio-chemistry and Pharmacology and would love to work in a laboratory environment after school.

Isaac says - I have always been interested in the sciences, specifically physics and chemistry, and sobelieved the GSK week doing engineering would be highly beneficial to enhancing my knowledge inthese areas and give me a further understanding into science within industry. During the week we hadmultiple practical and academic sessions, these included: designing processes for the manufacture ofchemicals, electrical engineering, a careers fair and other multiple talks about paths of study. My mostenjoyable experience from the week was a tour of the machinery used around the site including thelarge coolers and heaters needed on the site which we went on the roof to see. When I leave school,I hope to study natural sciences at preferably Cambridge, or engineering at university

Kaiya commented "I initially chose to apply for the GSK work experience week after it was recommendedto me by someone with a mutual interest in engineering. Since I intend to apply to university for anengineering course, it also seemed like a logical decision to get involved in seeing what future careersare available after university, particularly in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Throughoutmy week at GSK Ware, I was mainly located in the GMS (Global Manufacturing & Supply) site where Iwas introduced to various types of engineering options available at GSK through a series of sessions.As a group, we were given two tours of the GMS site – one which showed us the production processof the drugs and the other which gave us a detailed description of how the boilers and coolersfunctioned. I enjoyed not only meeting people with the same interest as me, but also being able to talkto the experts and ask them for their valuable guidance and advice during the Careers Fair. I found theelectrical engineering session especially engaging because we were tasked to construct an electricalcircuit based of some instructions, and we learnt how to draw circuit diagrams in a different way fromhow we usually draw them at school. Also, the GSK engineer taught us the importance of consideringall possible situations, when designing an electrical system, to maximise the safety."

Joey says - "My week at GSK was a short term introduction to the work of GSK, pharmaceuticalmanufacturing and research and development. We had tours around GSK’s at one of its biggest basein Ware. It was explained to us what makes the site really productive in terms of both R&D andmanufacturing is that the sites are located together which is not normal by the area standard but hasits advantages. I rented a house near the workplace for the week as I needed to be self-dependent.During the week my social skills were put to work, as I have always considered myself an introvertedperson, but the workplace favours team players more than loners, so in order to cope with a morecompetitive work environment, I did all I could to chat to people around me, who turned out to be veryinteresting and I gained brand new and interesting insights. At the end of the week, I was also askedto do a presentation to a group in front of all the people who attended this work experience. At first Iwas overwhelmed but after lots of practices I managed to reduce my part of the speech to the requiredtime. This experience really pushed me out of my comfort zone and I grew a lot as a result."

All the students are taking Science A Levels across a combination of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathsand Further Maths, whilst Eilidh also studies History.

Mrs Claire Jonas, Careers Year 7-11 commented "It’s fantastic that Isaac, Joe, Kaiya and Eilidh haveenjoyed this wonderful opportunity provided by GSK. We’re very fortunate that a company such asGSK is in our locality and that it offers such an excellent programme for sixth formers. Our studentshad the perfect window for seeing what careers might be on offer post-University and we weredelighted to support this extra-curricular activity. Gaining a place on such a prestigious programme isdown to the motivation and pro-activeness of the students, for which they must be congratulated.”

Parent Teacher and Friends Association

The last few months have been very busy for the PTFA and we have achieved so many great things.

We had a fun family night in October with Bingo and fish and chips, in December we held our annualCandlelit Supper, which was a sell-out success. In March we filled the school hall with over 20 teamscompeting in the Black and Gold Quiz, and we also hosted a Disco for our Year 7, 8 and 9 students withgirls from Hertfordshire & Essex High School.

The profits raised at all these events will be put towards enriching the lives of our students here atTBSHS. We have recently announced that we will be funding the prize for the students in years 7 -10who are in the House which wins the House Cup at the end of the academic year in July. We shallpurchase a gift card for Empire Cinemas to the value of £10 for each boy in the winning house!

The PTFA is a small group of people who welcome new members. In September we will have vacantpositions for a Treasurer and Secretary. The Treasurer role includes keeping the PTFA accounts, bankingfunds and bank reconciliations, annual return to Charities Commission and presenting the Treasurersreport at the PTFA meetings. The Secretary is responsible for taking minutes and circulating agendasfor meetings. We have about 8 meetings a year.

We would like to fill the posts ASAP in order for there to be a changeover period. If anyone is interestedor would like more information please contact Caroline Harding – PTFA Chair at hardingcj@aol.com

A huge thank you to all of you who so generously put the time and effort in to make every event asuccess.

Have a great Easter,

Debbie Landers.Committee member.

Rugby

Year 9 Rosslyn Park 7s Team TOP 8 in the country!!

Please congratulate the following boys on a monumental achievement of getting into the last 8 teamsin the country at what is the largest 7s tournament in the country.

They narrowly lost out on a place in the semi-finals. They were 2 points ahead against Taunton untilthey lost 2 key players to injury and conceded in the last minutes of the game. The stand outperformance came in the first knock out game on day two against Cheltenham College who they beat10-0. Cheltenham went on to win the plate and TBSHS are the only team to beat them at 7s this year.

The boys were praised by numerous staff and referees for the way they conducted themselves andplayed an exciting attacking game with fierce defence.

● Morgan M

● Charlie W

● Archie R

● Dom R

● Ben F

● Luke W

● Rob C

● George E

● Josh F

● Ryan C

● Freddie P

Mr D. Paine

Head of Rugby

TBSHS Karting Team Win

TBSHS Karting Team through to the Regional Final

On the 13th March 2018, six teams of three students competed in the district round of the BritishSchools Karting Championship (BSKC).

There was tough racing with a total of 20 teams and seven schools competing for six places in the SouthEast and London regional round on 21st April 2018.

The TBSHS A team, made up of Thomas Lukies, Luke Wharton and Sunny Neal had a tough time andstruggled with various spins and crashes that impeded their progress, but this opened the door for theB team made up of Thomas Wharton, Jacob Tofts and Joshua Fox, who through some great racing anddefending of positions, secured a placein the regional finals.

They now have a shot of qualifying from the region to the National Final later in the year.

Science teacher and Team Coach, Mr Darren Neesam said "It was a tough day at the races for the Ateam who just could not find the form they have had in previous years against tough opposition, theB team had all the luck and made use of it to secure their qualification to the regional round in April.Congratulations to all those that took part and to the B team where Joshua Fox and Jacob Tofts havehad their first competitive experience of racing"

TBSHS Karting Team B with Mr Neesam