tango argentino! senior school newsletterfluencycontent-schoolwebsite.netdna-ssl.com/file...senior...
TRANSCRIPT
Se
nio
r S
ch
oo
l N
ew
sle
tte
r
Iss
ue
17
, F
rid
ay
7th
Ma
rc
h 2
014
On Monday 3rd March we had the honour of
welcoming Guillermo Torrens and Maria Maragaki
Torrens to the RGS to conduct a 90 minute tango
argentino class with 18 of our Lower and Upper
Sixth Spanish students. The class for ‘el tango
salón’, or improvised tango, was conducted entirely
in Spanish. Students were a little shy at first but
they really got into the dance and had a lot of fun
listening to Spanish, dancing to great music and
changing partners several times! Some even said they’d like
to continue lessons at their tango school. Guillermo and
Maria were impressed with their Spanish and even their
dancing by the end of the session!
Tango Argentino!
Both Guillermo and Maria have had impressive
dancing careers so far with performances all over the
world. In 2011 they performed with the Midnight
Tango show tour in the UK and at West End theatres
in London. Currently, they both teach at their own
tango school Tangounlimited in the city centre.
- Mme Boucaud
Well, it’s been a busy couple of weeks since half-term! This newsletter gives a flavour, but you’ll have to wait till the next to read even more about our remarkable students’ continuing activities and successes – not least the all-conquering U12 rugby 7s squad who have now won three competitions out of three. Watch this space…
7th March Page 2
This fortnight in news...
Thursday 6th March was World Book Day: a day designated by UNESCO as a worldwide
celebration of books and reading. 2014 is the 17th year that there has been a World Book
Day and the RGS library chose to mark the occasion with some fun and interesting events
this week...
Damian Dibben, author of The History Keepers series, gave a fascinating talk to some Year 7/8 students on Monday 3rd March. James Critchley and Francesca
Southwood introduced Damien, who caught the students’ imagination with his unique blend of adventure and history. He also spoke about his travels around the world, researching the historical origins of the places in his books. The students who attended thoroughly enjoyed the visit and many left looking forward to reading their signed copy of The History Keepers. Watch out for the film version of the book!
Damian Dibben Book Signing
Top Readers!
Since September, 20 of the school’s top library users have borrowed a fantastic 673 books in total, an average of 33 each! These students were invited to help choose some new books for the library on Thursday 6th March during the lunchtime period. A book supplier brought in a selection of fiction and non-fiction. The students chose a wide range of books including titles such as What they don’t tell you about William Shakespeare, Misterium, Rock War, Modern Warships and Submarines, Women Who Change History and Siege. This will definitely be something we do again in the future as the students enthusiasm for books and intelligent choices were impressive!
- Mrs Richardson (Librarian)
Last weekend saw a rather intense weekend for our debaters, with both the Cambridge Schools Finals Day
and the International Competition for Young Debaters (ICYD).
Ed Langley and Jamie Robson did very well at the Cambridge competition, finishing mid-table against top
class opposition. Only 1 in 16 of the teams entering this competition made it to finals day, so this alone is
quite the achievement.
ICYD was also a great success ! After three debates Roisin Kennan and Adam Perros qualified 1st , whilst
Orlando Murphy and Jamie Johnson qualified 3rd
. This means both RGS teams have made it through to the
national final in Oxford on the 3rd
May. What’s more, there was then a final round to settle who ‘won the
day’ and this was won by Orlando and Jamie. An excellent achievement and result! Well done to all the
debaters!
- Mr Shepherd
DEBATING...
Page 3 7th March 2014
On Wednesday
26th February, Year 10 students Guoxuan Xia, Jess
Walker, Sam Trevelyan and Tarn Howorth competed in the regional heat of the Further Maths
Support Programme's Year 10 Maths Challenge. This competition combined mathematical, communication and teamwork skills and challenged students to experience and enjoy Mathematics outside of the GCSE syllabus. Out of the 23 schools present, RGS notably came in 2nd place - a fantastic reward for the hard work that went into preparing for this competition. This places us in the running to compete in the regional final at York Railway Museum in April. Well done to our Maths team! - Miss Pridmore This year's RGS Spring Recital took place
on Wednesday 5th March in the Recital Room. It featured a tightly-packed, but well-paced programme of music covering a wide range of styles.
The 90 minute concert gave the audience of proud parents, fellow students and the public a chance to sample some of the work undertaken over the past months by 28 students from Years 5 to 13.
This was a great “warm up” for our Senior
and Junior Spring Concerts on 19th March
and 4th April which will feature more than
200 performers in various instrumental
ensembles.
- Mr Fazlic
Year 10
Maths Challenge
For more information on anything contained
within this newsletter, or to provide us with
any news updates, please email:
After much preparation, on Monday 3rd March members of
7S dressed up to celebrate Carnival in Germany. They had a
special celebration in their German lesson which included
songs, games, dancing and delicious homemade Kreppel
(courtesy of our German Assistant, Monika)!
7S Carnival!
7th March 2014 Page 4
Dates for the Diary!
Tuesday 11th March
Sport Relief Mile
Non-uniform day
Year 8 Parents’ Conference
Senior Spring Concert at 7pm
(PAC)
Friday 14th March
Year 9 Parents’ Conference at 3.30pm
(PAC/Dining Hall)
Monday 17th March
Wednesday 19th March
Thursday 20th March
Presentation about Oxbridge applications for Lower Sixth parents and students at
6pm
(PAC)
Sunday 23rd March
The Friends of the RGS Spring Walk
(Weardale Way)
Over half-term, 5 students travelled to Spain for a week of climbing
in Sella, near Alicante...
On our first day of climbing we visited a crag called Echo 1.5 and we
got straight into it, applying all the skills we had acquired back at the
indoor walls as well as being introduced to
a few new skills throughout the day. The
weather was very kind to us as we enjoyed
a brilliant day of climbing in the sun.
The next day we started on a big crag (Toix
– a sea cliff right next to the sea: with
amazing views). After stocking up from the
supermarket in the town a few of us made
a very successful dinner, enjoyed by all!
The next day, we got a break from the hot
sun, but it was still perfect for climbing and
we even started lead belaying
and climbing. Later we visited
Guadalest and bought some
souvenirs (and lots of sweets!)
from some of the shops,
enjoying ice creams and drinks
after a long day of climbing.
On the last day we went to a crag
very close to where we were
staying in Sella which is a huge
valley with a series of enormous crags all along its length!
- Elliott Groves and Felix Thomas
The boys were excellent: they climbed well, listened well and learned lots of
new skills. They cooked meals and prepared lunches, which we were all very
impressed with (as well as their fluent Spanglish which they were able to
practice on frequent visits to the local bakery).
The bar is set very high for the next groups to go away in October 2014 and
February 2015.
- Mr Dunn
The Friends of the RGS Book Club
The next Book Club meeting will be on Tuesday
6th May at 7pm.
Chosen book: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Venue: Jesmond Dene House, Jesmond
For more information please contact [email protected]
The Friends of the RGS Spring Walk will take place
along the Weardale Way, from Wolsingham to
Bishop Auckland.
For more information contact
To book a place email