17/09/15

In this week’s issue we feature more results and our students off to Oxbridge. The sports timetable and calendar info are included & welcome to 7ADear Parents, Guardians and Students,

Given our exceptional results of the summer it is not surprising that this issue of the Briefing also focuses on these achievements. As with most of our sixth form students, Rufin and Kiera embraced both the academic and broader developmental opportunities at BGS and developed the resilience and wider skills necessary to embrace challenge and determine their futures. What both students had in common was:

• An understanding of the importance of hard work and an unshakable belief that they would improve if they put the effort in• The resilience and organisational skills to work hard and make the most of their time inside and outside of the school day• The courage to focus their efforts on their own areas of comparative weakness to ensure that they left no stone unturned to gain the best A level grades that they could.• The courage to risk failure and apply to world class universities when they could not be sure they would even be offered a place• A forensic focus on and understanding of the specific requirements of each of their courses• Embracing the wider opportunities at BGS, such as sports, performing arts and Young Enterprise to provide a balance and develop the softer skills that are so important to succeed in the world of work and at interviews for university places.

We are extremely proud of all of the class of 2015 and the above applies to the approach taken by many other students. It is essential that all of our students adopt these approaches from day one as the step up from GCSE to A level is huge and it is much easier to develop good study skills and attitudes to learning in Year 7 than to change embedded habits in Year 12. Dr Gillespie

Burnham Grammar’s Star Oxbridge studentsWe are celebrating the success of two students who are off to Oxford and Cambridge universities.Kiera Adams and her family are over the moon with Kiera’s success. She is off to Homerton College Cambridge to study Psychology. It is a dream come true as Kiera is the first in her family to go to a university, and to be accepted into Cambridge is just amazing; she says her dad is so proud he mentions it in nearly every conversation he has! She was understandably nervous about applying but says “Over my time at Burnham Grammar School I can’t think of a single teacher who hasn’t gone above and beyond to support me and get the best out of me!” Rufin Nowers is off to St Catherine’s Oxford to study Geography. Rufin is the first in his family to go to Oxford University. Rufin moved for a short time to another school for 6th form, but he soon returned and says: “More than any other school, the teachers at Burnham Grammar are working with you, caring and getting the best out of you.” Both have praised their tutors and Dr Foster for giving them the confidence and self-belief to apply. Also Rufin thanked the teachers for the help he received with their applications and mock interview practice. Headteacher Dr Gillespie is delighted: “I am very proud of the success and achievements of all of our students as we work tirelessly to ensure that we raise their aspirations to fulfil their potential. Like all of our sixth form students, Rufin and Kiera have embraced the academic and broader developmental opportunities at BGS and developed the resilience and wider skills necessary to embrace challenge and determine their futures. I wish them every success.”

Geography starsGCSE Achievement = Zoe Taylor Excellence = Emma Burnham

AS Achievement = Aaronvir Dharni Excellence = Conor McCaugherty

A2 Achievement = Amardeep Sandhu & Harriet Messenger Excellence = Rufin Nowers

Other students to celebrate:

GCSE - Megan Samrai - full marks on the 2 exam papers. - Sarah Henderson - Sustained effort - Holly Whittaker - Excellent achievement

AS - Ethan Bennett Grant/Shereen Kang/Tom Martin - For surpassing their target by more than 1 grade!A2 - Arbind Hehar and Bilawal Firdaus worked consistently well all year.

James Monger ex Y13 returned to school to say thank you. He has been successful in joining a software development company which he puts down to his Computer Science studies here plus his work experience at a software house, whose employer gave him a part-time job afterwards, which he found made all the difference when he came to applying for jobs. With Mrs Clarke, Head of Computer Science

Slough Library Eid Fair 26th Sept 12-3pm Families welcome

Well done to Mrs Pang and Mr Bover for running the Bucks Secondary Transfer Tests – we had 360 primary school students taking the exam here last week

Art & Design Stars: GCSE A* achievement:Catherine Bilbrough Kate Cunnington Caitlin Feerick Rupreena Mann* achievement Adele Payne Megan Samrai Annabel Taylor* excellence Laura Taylor ASHelena Tutin

A2Avneet Jheeta

Modern Language StarsGCSE SpanishMegan Samrai and Kasun De Silva, both for achieving the highest number of UMS points (296/300), and Ali Chaudhury for achieving an A –above his target grade.

French: Dakshesh Kologi (284) and Hannah Deacon (282) for getting the highest scores in French, with a special mention for Dakshesh who gained A* in both French and Spanish.AS Katherine Varatharajah for achieving an A in both French and SpanishA2Serena Rashid for an A in Spanish – we wish her well at Royal Holloway where she will be studying French and Spanish.

Lunchtime (1.40-2.15pm) Staff Venue After School (3.30-4.45pm) Staff Venue Mon Year 7 Rugby ALW Tiger Turf Year 7, 8, 9, 10 Rugby DG, MDU, ALW, Tiger Turf/main pitch

Year 8-Rugby MDU Tiger Turf Street dance (Joey) Joey Dance Studio Girls Football MG Tiger Turf Netball – Year 9 AKN Hard Courts Netball – Year 8 AKN Hard courts Girls Football MG Tiger Turf/Gym

Tues 1st XV +2nd XV team run (Plus Tour) DG/ALW Tiger Turf Rugby Fixtures MDU/ALW Netball – Year 12/13 KD Hard Courts Netball – Year 8 AKN Hard courts

1st XV + 2nd XVRugby (plus tour) JCT

AIKIDO (starting 22nd Sept) Colin Gym

Wed Netball – Year 7 KI Hard courts Netball – Year 10 KI Hard courts Hockey – Year 10/11 KD Tiger Turf Tour Netball (compulsory) KD Hard courts Insanity fitness All years and staff! MDU Dance studio 1XV Rugby ALW, DG,JCT Tiger Turf Table Tennis – all years (16 places) ALW Gym Kickboxing (cost –ask for letter) Steve £ Gym

Yoga Phillipa Dance Studio

Thur Year 9 Rugby ALW Tiger Turf Rugby Fixtures MDU/ALW Tiger Turf Year 10 Rugby MDU Tiger Turf Netball – Year 7 KI Hard courts Gymnastics – All years AKN

Netball – Year 11 KD Hard courts

Rowing Fitness RAL Gym

Fri Detentions KD WK1/MDU WK2 CO4 Social Football (yr8-12) TB Field Badminton Club 12 places TBC GYM Tour Fitness (compulsory) AKN Gym

GCSE PE revision club (after OCT) C04

Sports Clubs Timetable 2015 (Autumn Term 1)

Friday 25th Sept Tog Day & Cakes – fundraising organised by BGS Interact – bring money please! Tog = £1

Need dates? The Parents' quick reference calendar is now on the BGS website under Calendar www.bgs.bucks.sch.uk

Welcome to 7A, Miss McMorrine’s class. We will be featuring our new Y7 forms and 8F over the next few weeks. Miss McMorrine is now teaching Geography & History following the retirement of Dr Foster.