THE SKINNERS’ SCHOOLNewsletter – Summer 2010

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In this Issue

2. Headmaster’s Foreword3-4. Les Léopards à La Loire

5. Fresh 2o Swimathon6. News from the Sixth Form7. Kent Schools Race8-9. Cricket News10. New Developments11. Salters Chemistry 12. Stem Pathfinder Trip13. H.E.A.L. news14. Food Masterclasses15-16. Drama17. Charity Walk/Vouchers18. STOP PRESS!19. Dates Ahead

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Welcome to the final, bumper edition of our Newsletter that celebrates another

impressively successful school year. I’m sure that you will agree that each item speakseloquently of the hard work and creative ideas of both boys and staff. However, before youenjoy the diverse achievements of our school, I would like to address a topic that may beraising questions in your mind.

Academies

The Coalition Government is passing legislation to allow outstanding schools to becomeAcademies. There has been a great deal in the press regarding this matter: a variety ofconflicting opinions have been aired. As Skinners’ is an outstanding school, we have takenan interest in the question and are considering the best course of action.

An Academy is essentially an independent state school. Funding is provided directly fromthe Department of Education and the school operates outside the influence or support of theLocal Authority. Those schools which become Academies can therefore expect to enjoyincreased income and greater freedoms. This could mean, for example, that Skinners’ couldset its own term dates to better suit its staff, pupils and parents. On the other hand, theschool would have to take on many of the tasks currently performed by KCC and wouldexperience new and challenging demands. Many other things would remain the same. Theschool’s name would be unchanged; the day-to-day life of the school would continue as it is;selection would remain.

The decision whether to become an Academy is very important. It will be made by theGovernors, with the approval of the Court of the Skinners’ Company. The Governors haveindicated that their decision will be founded upon certain principles. The character andqualities of the school must be maintained. Their decision will be mindful of the financialbenefits a change could bring, but will give primacy to educational concerns: any changemust be for the reason that it improves the experience of pupils at the school. Finally, therecan be no conversion to Academy status, if such a change damages or limits the historicrelationship between Skinners’ School and the Skinners’ Company.

The government has suggested that schools can convert to Academies by September.Skinners’ School will not be one of the first adopters of Academy status. We will take time toconsider all the implications. Many aspects of the process are still to be decided by theGovernment. The School and the Governors will continue to explore the offer made, but willdecide only when everything is clear. If any parent wishes to offer a view, I would be gratefulto receive it through myvoice@skinners-school.org.uk.

Finally, as the year draws to a close I would like to wish the boys, their families and friends ofthe school a restful and relaxing summer break.

Simon Everson

HEADMASTER’S FOREWORD

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Les Léopards à la Loire

MondaySkinners’ School, 5.25am on Monday 27th June.

This was the day that we had all been waiting for. It was the first day of the year 8’s trip to the Loire Valley. The school car park was buzzing with activity. Despite the early hour, an impromptu football match started in the playground, as the parents made a discreet escape!

“With a roar we were off”

The coaches arrived and were soon filled with the excited shouts of boys with their heavy bags. And then with a roar we were off. Up on the deck of the ferry, we felt the fresh sea air and watched the ever closing French coast. Then we were steaming through French hairpin bends, admiring the rolling hills. When we finally walked through the giant gates of what was to be our home for the next week, we were amazed by its grandeur, beautiful swimming pool and Astroturf. It was then that we got our own taste of a French

thunderstorm, which we quickly avoided by entering the Chateau.

Tuesday’Chateau d’Amboise’.

We visited the majestic castle, ’Chateau d’Amboise’. During the tour we learned some very humorous information, such as one French king died by hitting his head on a door frame and rich French boys were known to dress in girls’ clothes. Then there was a brief chance to do a bit of shopping at the traditional French shops. After lunch we visited the Vouvray wine caves and discovered the world’s most boring job, turning each wine bottle a quarter of a turn every day (there are four million bottles)! However the results, as we tasted, were delicious! In the evening we started the intercoach competition with tag capture the flag. This ended in a tie but thanks to a few bribes, coach 1 gained the lead on points!

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Wednesday The home of Leonado Da Vinci

There was a nervous atmosphere as we trooped to the hall - everyone knew that this was the day we would be sent out on to the streets of a small village called Bléré, to persuade the local people to answer our questions uttered self-consciously in French. With the aid of a microphone and perseverance (from both sides) we were able to converse for the first time in French, with French people, in France. Our anxiety soon turned to enjoyment to make a memorable experience. Later that day we visited ‘La Maison de Clos Lucé’, the home of Leornado Da Vinci, the famous painter and inventor. We studied some of his amazing inventions, such as the movable bridge and the first tank. His incredible engineering insights and futuristic ideas were outstanding for someone who lived 200 years ago. The day was finished off with a hot and exhausting game of football.

Thursday Futuroscope

An early rise was needed to make the most of our visit to Futuroscope, a theme park with simulators and 3D/4D rides. In my opinion, the most astonishing attraction was Arthur in 4D where there was a 3D film with a simulator that rocked and rolled generating sprays of water and air, which made it feel as if objects were flying past your face at terrific speeds! There were many other simulators too, such as Dancing with Robots, where you were flung around by a robotic arm, and a rollercoaster simulator which was

very realistic. This was an incredibly enjoyable and tiring day. Once again the day finished with intercoach activities, which included basketball, football, touch rugby and water polo.

FridayAutrêche Animal Park & Hypermarché

The final day had come too soon but we were determined to enjoy ourselves to the end. We visited the Autrêche Animal Park where we saw many unusual wild animals such as wild boar, ostriches, antelope and emus. We were able to stroke many of these amazing animals, most of which I had never seen before. In the afternoon, we visited the Hypermarché where we stocked up on supplies for the return journey and bought a few last souvenirs and presents. The day was finished off with the final intercoach event, the penalty shout out in which everyone took part. This was a great laugh and we all really enjoyed ourselves. After this was our compulsory shower for the way home.

SaturdayThe long journey home, watching films on the coach. As we arrived at Dover, an ear-splitting chorus of the Leopard song and the National Anthem struck up.I would like to thank all of the staff, especially Mr Renaudie, for all the effort they put into this fabulous, memorable trip. It was really well-planned, fast moving and fun.

THANK YOU!

Oliver Whitaker 8S4

John Bullen (Teacher)

Daniel IngmanIsaac HooperBenjamin SinclairHarry WoodmanseeRoss ManwaringAnthony SkinnerDavid BalfourDominic Goodchild-James

Toby WrightThomas WestGabriel ThallonJames BrookerCalhan MundyDaniel SladeLuke RichardsonDaniel BrothwoodThomas IversonJamie NewmanJack De CarleOn the 27th March 2010 19 boys from Year 9

and one tutor at The Skinners’ School took part

in a Swimathon and swam an amazing 1602lengths, which is the equivalent to 40km, in

aid of the charity Fresh2o. They raised a

fantastic £1750! Tonbridge School kindly

donated the use of their pool for the event. The boys in Year 9 adopted Fresh2o’s as their chosen charity, to support its mission to improve health globally by the provision of clean drinking water.

The boys set up a stall at the school Christmas Bazaar and were encouraged by the support, interest and donations that they received which further helped them to muster interest for the swim. The money raised will fund the building of a well in Madagascar.

The following took part in a

charity swim on Saturday

27th March 2010 in aid of Fresh2o:

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Charlotte Farrell from Fresh2o was

presented with the cheque at The

Skinners’ School on Tuesday 11th May.

‘NEWS FROM THE SIXTH FORM’As you can imagine this time of year is dominated by public examinations for both our Year 12 and our Year 13 Leavers. On Friday 18th June we said our official goodbyes to our Upper Sixth with a dinner at school. Staff, parents and pupils enjoyed a memorable evening, with a few speeches and a moving final rendition of the Leopard Song. As a year group they have matured enormously in the Sixth Form and their commitment and pride in their school has been a joy to behold. Tears flowed freely during their final assembly – we will miss them.

The Lower Sixth Form, though busy with a lot of examinations, has also been involved in a lot of school activities. Our Prefects have helped to run events for new and prospective, parents and pupils, enjoyed helping with Drama and Music Performances, as well as activities with our HEAL scheme. On top of this, the vast majority have been out visiting universities and have made a good start on their UCAS applications. In May we had our annual University Admissions talk from Mr Bob Hall – very well attended with over 250 in attendance – and on 23rd June we hosted a workshop from the Life Skills Company on personal statements. More recently, many have been participating in annual camp with the CCF and a lucky few have now disappeared on their World Challenge Expedition to Mongolia.

We are greatly looking forward to Skinners’ Got Talent, organized by our Charities Committee, and congratulations to our Senior Cricketers who won the Kent Senior 20/20 cup.

Toby Richards was selected to compete at GB trials for rowing and has recently been taking part in the Henley Regatta with the Leander Club. Max Richardson has continued with his sailing success and has been in Spain competing for Great Britain.

The students are looking forward to their summer break, but they are fully aware the need for continued dedication next year.

Craig Fleming, Head of Sixth Form

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Rank Bib No

NameSchool

YrCategory

Time Run 1

Time Run 2

Combined Time

22 76 Jack HILLIARD 8 MID 12.76 12.11 24.87

69 77Oliver

WHITAKER8 MID 18.18 16.14 34.32

104 78 Daniel COLBRAN 8 MID 19.62 18.77 38.39

115 80 James READ 7 MID 20.35 19.57 39.93

The Skinners' team came fourth in the main race out of 6 teams in the mids category (years 7,8 & 9)

For the team duel slalom all the racers are put into a team of 5 racers. Each team of 5 has a combined timefrom the main race roughly equal to all the other teams of 5. In this race Daniel Colbran's team camesecond and won silver medals and Jack Hilliard's team came third and won bronze medals.

Congratulations to all our boys who took part in the competition.

Tim WattsPE Department

KENT SCHOOLS RACE 2010The Kent Schools Ski Race was held at Bromleydry ski slope on the 13th June, the race was aslalom course consisting of approximately 14gates over a 150m course, followed by a team duelslalom. There were 219 competitors; the boyswho represented Skinners' were:

Jack Hilliard 8S

Oliver Whitaker 8S

Daniel Colbran 8S

James Read 7S

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Wickets Tumble as Skinners’ Reach Four

Finals

It’s not just Rugby where Skinners’ grab the headlines - their cricket teams have dominated the county scene this year with four out of the five teams reaching the Kent Finals. The under 12’s, under 13’s, under 14’s and the 1st XI have all beaten tough opposition on their way to the county finals.

The under 12’s, who had never played before as a team, have had a fine all round season with a squad packed full of talent. Notable performances from Tom Burgess, the side’s leading wicket taker and vice captain; Peter Tillotson with the bat and wicket keeper; Hamish McCrae, opening the bowling with genuine pace with the side led brilliantly by Reece Kingham.

After losing out to Kent College in the semi final in 2009, the under 13’s reached the final this year, beating a strong St Olaves side in a closely fought game. The squad has developed over the past twelve months and has developed into a side with variety and balance. Jonny Midgley has scored a hat full of runs opening the batting, ensuring the team get off to the all-important solid start. Building on the solid foundation, the middle order has been powerful with Max Douch, Bertie Boast and Will Corrie adding real firepower to the team. Skipper, Joe Banks, has been an impressive leader amongst the pick of the bowlers along with Ben and Nathan Fawcitt , Piers Robinson and Jack Hutchings.

The under 14s have achieved a county treble this year after winning the 15 a-side and 7 a-side rugby tournaments.

This side had never reached the cricket finals before and, after some hard pre-season work, several individuals made significant development and had fine seasons. The side has been led by Dom May, superbly supported by Harry Woodmansee and Sam Carter. Harry has bowled with great control and pace this year. Sam has kept wicket solidly this year and has also opened the batting with Tom Corner, giving the side the crucial strong start. The middle order of Ross Jefferies and Paul Young has added great fire power adding vital, quick runs when needed. The bowling of Tom West, Will Edwards and Josh Moor has really tied teams down and has won matches on numerous occasions.

The 1st XI has performed superbly in this year’s Lemon Cup competition, clinching the enormous trophy with an extraordinary performance against the odds and St. Edmunds, Canterbury, last year’s winners. Emmerson Wood has finally had the season he has promised in flashes throughout his time at Skinners’ and been the leading player with bat and ball. He has scored over 450 runs, including a superb 102 not out against St Olaves in the first round, and was the leading wicket taker in the side. Patrick Fyson has captained the side thoughtfully, and has taken important wickets at key times. Seb Goodhewhas been the most improved player this year, adding vital runs in the middle order with some destructive batting and injecting crucial energy and nous to an otherwise quiet and reserved team. The fact that all these three were absent for the Lemon Cup final indicates the level of the achievement of the whole team.

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In the absence of Wood, Fyson and Goodhew who were at CCF camp, Dan McInerney took over the captaincy and led the team superbly. Teetering on the brink at 23-3 with no recognised batsmen to follow, Barney Shaw and Harry Bryant put together the match-winning partnership of 89 on a lively wicket against kent academy bowling. Shaw put his body and skill into his 65 (worth a hundred on any other day) and Bryant produced an excellent all-round performance, scoring 34 and taking 2-35.

With 158 on the board, Skinners’ bowled with aggression and thought, ably supported by a focussed fielding display. Matthew Green set the opposition rocking, ripping two key batsmen out in two balls. The pressure intensified as David Green bowled a miserly spell (6 overs for 19 runs) in the middle . Taylor-Dennehy and Ruthven, with three wickets each, held their nerve as wickets fell regularly and the run rate rose.

Skinners’ ran out winners by 16 runs with one over remaining and the challenge of transporting the enormous trophy back to Tunbridge Wells.

Skinners’ has long been regarded as a talented rugby school within the county, but with the successes on the cricket pitch it can now be regarded as one of the best sporting schools in the county. With a large sponsorship deal confirmed with ‘New Lives New Skills’ in association with West Kent College and interest in Cricket at an all time high , the future for Skinners’ sport certainly looks bright.

Nick OldhamHead of PE

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Following our successful attempt to (finally!) secure planning permission for the new Sports Hall, I am delighted to announce that we will be embarking on the next phase to develop more

detailed architects’ plans over the coming months.

Currently, we already have provision for four indoor badminton courts, a dance studio, weights room and new classroom space. We also hope to include a climbing wall and of course, there is ample room for showering and changing.

Outside, there will be an all weather practice pitch suitable for a variety of games, ranging from hockey, rugby and tennis or a good old kick-about at break time.

However, this is just the first phase in a number of developments planned for the school over the coming years – enabling us not only to improve our facilities–but broaden the curriculum we currently offer.

We will shortly be inviting you to a series of open evenings in the Autumn where you will have the opportunity to learn more about the development plans for school and input your own ideas and suggestions.

I look forward to seeing you there. However, in the interim, if you would like to know more, please contact Camilla Nichols, our new Development Manager at

camilla.nichols@skinners-school.org.uk.10

SALTERS’S CHEMISTRY COMPETITION

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This was the second year we have taken students to a

Festival of Chemistry organised by the Salters’ Institute. This is a company with a similar history to the Skinners’ who take a big interest in providing opportunities to promote education in chemistry. We took a team of four hand picked year 8 students to compete against other schools in various challenges. The competitors have to use a basic knowledge of chemistry and logic to solve various puzzles.

The chemistry department of the University College of London (UCL) introduced the first challenge: John Salter had been found dead with some ink found on his skin and some metal was found in his hair. Our team split up into pairs to share the workload and began experiments using chromatography to see which ink could be matched to the evidence to suggest suspects from people who were close to John Salter. Trying to put the paper in the water equally was harder than they expected and it took a few attempts but they eventually managed to do it. The second part was testing for which metal was found in the hair and tracing it to his colleagues. This took longer than the chromatography because you had to do different tests for some non-reactive metals as well as the ones for the reactive metals. After both tests, we concluded that the Cook had committed the crime.

The second task followed lunch - the chemistry mastermind. In this test, the teachers were not with us so it was all down to the team. In front of us were four test tubes, two blue and two clear, and we were told the names of the chemicals. However, we were not told which ones were which, so we had to work it out for ourselves. We tried several different methods and eventually drew a reactivity table of which chemicals should react with which. With the six test tubes, we made every possible reaction and wrote down our conclusion.

The day ended with a presentation from Dr Andrea Seller who has presented experiments on television and worked with Heston Blumenthal. He talked about gasses and states of mass as well as demonstrating some amazing experiments; solid carbon dioxide was put into a rubber glove and we were able to see the difference in the volume as it sublimed into gas as the solid carbon dioxide pellets were put into a rubber glove. We also got a chance to make ice cream using liquid nitrogen.

Although Skinners’ did not win the tasks it was good opportunity for the boys to extend their learning from school and put into practice the skills in new situations.

Ruth Howard

On Tuesday 20th April, a group of eight Skinners’ boys were privileged to be taken to a wind farm off the coast at Ramsgate, which, when opened in September 2010, will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world. When the turbines are ready to produce electricity in October, they will produce enough clean, green energy to power about 240 000 homes. Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, to give it its proper title, will cost about £800 million when completed and will increase the UK’s wind energy production by 30%.

However, to fully appreciate the size of the wind array, and of the one hundred 115m tall turbines (which to put it in real terms is about 2.5 times the size of Nelson’s column), one has to actually go out to the array, and that is exactly what Skinners’ boys were able to do. Taken out 12km from the coast on a boat, accompanied by the head of communications for the project and the editor of a local newspaper, we were all absolutely stunned at the sheer scale of the wind farm.

When written down on paper, 100 wind turbines doesn’t seem so impressive, but when we were taken into the middle of the array, we couldn’t see where the turbines stopped - all 100 are spaced 500m from each other along the rows and 800m between- that’s quite big!

When we first arrived, we were given a talk about the wind farm, where we learnt that this was one of numerous projects going on around the country. Indeed, in a few years’ time, work will start on an offshore wind farm 90 times the size of Thanet Offshore array in the North Sea, which will produce 9 gigawatts of energy. In terms of job opportunities, this will create thousands of jobs for nearly every type of engineer.

Before the trip, I knew very little about wind power, other than it provided green energy. Since then however, I have realised how important it is in keeping with the government’s target to be carbon neutral by 2050. To be the only school to have visited the Thanet Offshore wind array was a real privilege, and I sure the other boys who went would agree that it was both a fascinating and very informative trip. We are hoping that this could be the first of a number of trips focussing upon sustainable energy production and the engineering that underpins it.

STEM PATHFINDER TRIP TO THANET OFFSHORE WIND ARRAY

With ThanksI would particularly like to thank Vattenfall UK for allowing us the opportunity to visit the Thanet Offshore Wind array.

Sam Patterson L6S8

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H.E.A.L. NEWS

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SCHOOL GARDENA lot of time has been spent revamping the school garden this summer. Grateful thanks to a small crack team of parents and dedicated sixth formers who have taken up the reins and replanted a beautiful array of fruits, vegetables and trees. Some of the garden produce has already been used this year in the year 8 Food Masterclasses.

With special thanks to Tanja Conway-Grim and Heather Roberts who have been a tremendous help and put in a great deal of effort in developing the garden. We will be continuing the development of the garden during the Autumn term at which time any donations for the Autumn planting season will be gratefully received.

Maryce Moss-Montoya

Sushi Making Classes

We were very fortunate to have Ruby from Kitsu in Tunbridge Wells, to visit the school and demonstrate the art of sushi making. Two separate workshops were held and 60 members of the school community including parents, teachers and pupils attended..

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Every year 8 boy spent 2 hours in the dining hall preparing food and being given an introduction to food technology. They had all clearly spent a long time preparing and thinking carefully about what they were going to create and how they were going to do it. Some meals were far healthier than others and some were just down right crazy (strawberry, jelly baby and pepperoni cheesy pizza anyone? Or fruit salad with a sprinkle of sweetcorn?).

Those who had tried really hard and had produced a creative, healthy and attractive 3 course meal won a cookery book written by the teenage chef Sam Stern. It was wonderful to see so many fruits and vegetables prepared in so many ways and I think the boys really enjoyed getting involved and making a meal of their own choice. We also had the opportunity to do taste

testing and to visit the school garden and see where some of the ingredients we used came from, such as the onions and garlic.

Maryce Moss-MontoyaHEAL Co-ordinator

Quotes:

“It was fun and the food tasted nice”

“Really good fun and a great experience; very enjoyable”

“I liked it because I got to cook what I wanted and I really enjoyed sitting to eat to with my friends afterwards!”

“I felt very proud of my dish especially when all my mates kept trying to eat it afterwards! I think I’ll have a go at cooking when I get home”.

March was a very exciting month for the Drama department as it involved the practical exam performances for both the AS and the A2 Drama and Theatre Studies students.

AS Students

On the 23rd March the AS students performed three pieces from:

• David Mamet’s America Buffalo

• Frank McGuinness’ Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me

• Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman.

The performances were exciting and hard-hitting and extremely successful in that they challenged the performer and the members of the audience.

A2 Students

The following week it was the turn of the A2 students and on March 29th

they performed a creative adaptation of Book 1 of Homer’s The Iliad entitled Genesis of A King.

Staged on the traverse - the performance was set in present day Afghanistan and was mesmerising to watch. The students’ had choreographed some intensely powerful physical theatre scenes.

Mrs Fiona Lennon 15

‘Bouncers’ is a carefully constructed play intended to highlight the flaws in society by use of satirical humour. As a class we thoroughly enjoyed acting as the four well-defined bouncers as well as changing into the ‘lads’ and the ‘girls’. Our first impressions were that it was an interesting play which appealed to our sense of humour and if contemporized could be really engaging to watch and amusing on many levels. We believe that John Godber created a well struck balance between serious social comments and comedy. We began by reading the script through to get a feel for the stereotypes we would later develop and the characterization of each character. We then moved on to learn some vital skills for this particular genre of non naturalistic drama including minimalism (no set used and no costume changes). We therefore needed to effectively mark our transitions through our physicalization, facial expression, voice tone, tempo rhythm and accent. In

this sense ‘Bouncers’ was definitely a good choice as a play to do as it allowed us to display fully our acting skills with limited help from the set or costume. One of the skills we learnt was how to sculpt a character; we also did a physical theatre workshop run by Frantic Assembly, which was incredibly useful as well as enjoyable.

Soon we were split in to the groups in which we would perform. From this point onwards we began our controlled assessment . Due to our limited rehearsal time, every member in every group really worked intensely to try and learn, improve, polish and perfect their section of the performance. In our groups we worked on contemporizing the play and script, adding adlibs to personalize and improve the piece, as well as rehearsing over and over to polish each moment. At the day of the performance, much of that day was spent making sure all of the technical aspects were up and running. We went through a physical warm-up to try and fill us will energy, to settle our nerves and to prepare us for hopefully our best performance yet.

The actual performance was amazing. Every actor was pleased with the audience and their response to each group as they fully engaged and found many places humorous. We also all felt that we performed to the best of our ability and were congratulated by each other, by our teacher and by the audience at the end. I personally thought that each stage of the preparation, including the rehearsal period, was incredibly fun and that the performance went extremely well. Despite my worries and theintensity of the rehearsal it was most certainly worth it and was definitely enjoyable.

Ross Bennett

Year 10

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A group of Skinners’ staff and their families [not forgetting their dogs] undertook an eight mile sponsored circular walk around Penshurst Place. While obviously benefitting from physical exercise in the great outdoors, they also managed to raise more than £600 pounds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Thank you to all the boys who supported us!

The grounds and countryside around Penshurst Place were looking wonderful, with carpets of

Bluebells and panoramic vistas at the top of every testing gradient. It was felt by all to be a really worthwhile event and most participants were keen to have another go next year.

A walk good for body and soul!

Sainsburys

Active Kids

Thank you to everyone who kindly donated their vouchers to the school – these

have enabled us to order 50 cricket balls and over 100 rugby balls for the PE

Department together with some Orienteering Clippers for the CCF.

We are still collecting Nestle Cereal

Box Tops for Books vouchers – this year we received a cheque for £18 for new

books for the library – please send any vouchers into the School Office.

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Rory Buttle won the Guess the Goals

competition run by Independent Catering – congratulations from Helen and the ladies in

the Dining Hall.

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STOP PRESS!

Adam Fox Exhibition 2010

The school is delighted that one of our Upper Sixth students,Tom Rutland, has been awarded the 2010 Adam Foxexhibition prize for academic performance. Canon Adam Foxwas Dean of Divinity at Magdalen College, Oxford and one ofthe first members of the Inklings literary group headed by C.SLewis. Between 1938 and 1942 he was Professor of Poetryat Magdalen before becoming Canon of Westminster Abbey.He is buried in Poet’s Corner. He was also Master of theSkinners’ Company in 1947-48 and a strong champion of theCompany’s trinity of beliefs: fellowship, education andcharity. The exhibition was founded in 1979 tocommemorate Canon Fox’s outstanding contribution to theCompany and its commitment to learning. Tom has a firmoffer from Jesus College, Oxford for September 2010 and wehave no doubt he is a well-deserved recipient of thisprestigious prize. Tom Rutland

Feedback on the newsletter is always welcome. Do let us know what you think. Please feel free to email any comments or suggestions to: yourvoice@skinners-school.org.uk

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the latest edition. Whilst it is designed to be read on the

screen, there is a printer-friendly version accessible by clicking here if you prefer a paper copy.

Susan PhyallAssistant Headteacher

September

2 Staff Development Day3 Induction Day Yr 7, Yr 12 6 TERM 1 STARTS7 Parents’ Association Committee Meeting 8 Year 7 tutor groups and individual photos (plus other new boys)9 Year 13 RE Conference – ‘Ethics in an Age of Science’14 Year 10/11 Art Trip to Kew Gardens15 Year 7 CATS exams at School16 Year 11 Morrisby Feedback 16 Morocco Trip meeting 6 – 7pm at School21 Year 9 Welcome Evening 7.30pm in Dining Hall22 Wing Commander Wynn from RAF in School23 Year 12 Independent Learning conference in School Hall24 CCF Shooting Competition at Pirbright until Saturday24 PA Wine and Cheese Evening for New Parents25 Debating team to Royal Grammar School Newcastle25 Old Skinners’ Annual Dinner26 Trip to Ypres28 Year 12 RE Conference29 Whole School Photograph29 Year 10 English Trip to ‘All My Souls’

October

1 PA Junior Disco2 CCF Weekend Exercise at Pippingford Park5 Year 7 Norfolk Trip meeting 7.30pm7 School Open Evening 4pm – 8pm8 Staff Development Day – no pupils10 PA Fun Run at Southfields13 Year 11 Art ‘Life Drawing’ in School Hall14 Year 6 Open Morning 10.30am – 12.00pm15 CCF Field Day15 Oxbridge Deadline20 Year 7 Norfolk Trip (until 22nd October)22 TERM 1 ENDS25 Geography Trip to Iceland until 29th Oct30 PA Jumble Sale

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DATES AHEAD………….