As we reach the end of another incredibly busy term, it is great to have the opportunity to reflect upon all that has been achieved across the school over the last few weeks. As you will see from this newsletter, there is much to celebrate and we are incredibly proud of our staff and students who have all worked very hard. In particular well done to our Year 11 and Year 13 students who have just completed their PPEs - and equally well done to their teachers who are now marking all their papers! 

Over the course of the last 15 weeks, amongst many other activities, students from Years 9 and 10 have participated in three language exchanges - to France, Germany and Spain and our Year 8 students have travelled to the Arras and Aachen Christmas markets. We have celebrated tremendous success in a range of sports - most notably our Year 8 girls have become District Basketball Champions and our U14 girls have made it through to the football Kent Cup quarter final. A number of girls took part in the National CyberFirst Competition and one of our teams came third in the South East which was a fantastic achievement. 

There have been several theatre trips - including a trip to the Christmas Pantomime, Antony and Cleopatra, An Inspector Calls and Murder on the Orient Express - drama workshops, talks from visiting speakers and a range of Sixth Form experiences and visits, including a sociology conference and a trip to parliament. 

We have held a number of house events - including photography and essay writing competitions and the ever-popular pumpkin carving competition. Thank you to all of you who have generously supported our fundraising this term - since September we have donated to SANDS, Faversham Foodbank, Catching Lives, Children in Need and The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, with our students organising and running many of the charity events. We have also had a firm focus on our mental health - and as part of this celebrated HelloYellow day and Odd Socks Day. 

Finally this week we held the most fabulous carol service, served Christmas lunch to nearly 700 students, celebrated great achievement at our Senior Prizegiving and somehow managed to squeeze in the end of term assemblies, a lunchtime gig and the traditional showing of the QE panto ads!

Thank you all for your support over the last two terms - we hope that you have a fabulous Christmas! 

Mrs A J McIlroy MA

Headteacher

library news

Book Club

We’ve had a busy term in our weekly book club!

Thanks to our dedicated Sixth Form members for being involved with organising and running the following events: an informative book quiz, a create your own horror character for Halloween, War Poems theme week for Remembrance Day, a focus on non-fiction books and the Dewey system in November and Christmas crafts in December.

Fancy joining in? Come along, we meet every Monday lunch time in C5.

senior student librarians 

It is fantastic to have such enthusiastic support from our Sixth Form volunteer librarians. We have been involved with setting up celebratory book displays in the library, such as Banned Books Week, Black History Month, Non-Fiction November and Winter Reads! Keep a look out for our new displays coming next term!

library updates 

The library now has a new study hub area, with GCSE and ‘A’ level study guides for students to use within the library.

Mrs Haveron, Librarian

AS Creatives Workshop

On Tuesday 17th December, Jackson from As Creatives in Liverpool, visited the school to facilitate an end of term workshop based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. An active celebration of Year 8's study of the play and a fun end to the term. 

The Tempest workshop reviews: 

"The Tempest workshop was a very fun and engaging experience. We learnt a lot about Shakespeare from an actor's point of view."   Charlotte S 

"It was awesome and Jackson was really cool."  Elliot C

"My favourite part was when we worked as teams to make objects and scenery with our bodies alone. My group won the final round and were deemed world champions." Henry H

"I liked how Jackson incorporated games into the storytelling of Shakespeare's playwright life and Prospero's magical life." Hugo H

"I learnt loads of stuff to do with acting and all about Shakespeare and his journey through life." Max P

 
"I really enjoyed the workshop because it was a really fun and interactive way to learn about The Tempest and Shakespeare." Xavi L

"The Tempest workshop we did yesterday was very fun and I think the whole class would agree. Jackson was very enthusiastic and interesting. He included everyone in fun activities and we all had the experience and opportunity to learn more about The Tempest."  Rose G

"I loved the workshop, I learnt lots of new things that I did not know about before. It was a great experience and it was an excellent way to improve teamwork skills." Saffron W

artsmark silver award 

We have recently been accredited with the Artsmark Silver Award. This is the first time we have submitted an application for this National Award from the Arts Council England.

We received the award due to our commitment to embedding arts culture and creativity across the whole school through the curriculum subjects and also through the many and varied opportunities that are on offer to be creative. 

The award lasts for the next two years and during that time we will be developing further ideas in order to go for Gold next time around!

Mr Larter

shakespeare ambassadors

Royal Shakespeare Associated School update

On Thursday 14th November, a select group of Year 12 students undertook training with The Marlowe Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company to become Shakespeare Ambassadors. These students will lead Shakespeare themed ideas across the school year, working with students to raise their engagement and understanding of the Bard. Their training day included working with other schools from Kent, developing their leadership skills and understanding of Shakespeare. Watch this space!

john downton awards 2024 

This was a great evening and exhibition showcasing the very best of Art from schools across Kent! This year QE accounted for 19 of the 108 pieces on display, and we enjoyed further success winning two of the 14 individual awards on offer.

Daniel, Year 13, won best mixed media in the 17-18 category and Esme, Year 12, won overall silver in the 11-16 category.

Well done to all students who took part!

YEAR 7 PANTOMIME TRIP 

Students in Year 7 enjoyed a trip to The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, to watch the Pantomime on Friday 29th November! This year's performance of 'Beauty and the Beast' included engaging comedy acts, colourful costumes and a spectacular special effect rarely seen outside of a London stage.

It has been an exceptionally busy term for the Music department, full of performances and student successes. We start with the Choir’s live performances at the Year 6 Open Evening, providing a live soundtrack to the school promotional film with a brilliant performance of 'Go The Distance from Hercules', as well as then completing a recording of the same song for the soundtrack to the completed film. A great insight for our students into the collaboration of Music and Film, and a fantastic first performance for our new Year 7s alongside seasoned singers. 

The annual Children in Need H Block Gig was extremely successful, with artists performing a great programme to a large audience. Well done and thank you to Half Dozen, Finn R and the Year 12 A level class for your sets!

Year 10 and 11 GCSE Music students enjoyed a trip to Royal Festival Hall to attend the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Brightsparks Concert, which was a brilliant mix of GCSE analysis of set works with fantastic performances of those works by the orchestra. For most, this was their first time seeing and hearing a professional orchestra perform, and have been inspired to want to attend more concerts!

The highlight of the term was our annual Carol Service on Monday 16th December. This year saw a choir of 80 singers and an orchestra of over 30 musicians performing in St Mary of Charity Church, with a varied programme. Chamber Choir’s performance of Forrest’s 'Silent Night' was the notable highlight of the service, and the finale of 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' was met with a standing ovation at the end. Well done and thank you to all musicians who participated and contributed to a wonderful evening of festive music. 

Recordings of all the performances from this year's carol service will be uploaded to YouTube shortly, but the Chamber Choir's performance of 'Carol of the Bells' is now available through this link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-HovlLfo1s .  Please subscribe to the channel to hear the next recordings when they drop!

We rounded off the musical performances for 2024 with the now traditional lunchtime Christmas Gig on Wednesday 18th December, with the Jamming Club, Finn R and Lizopation performing with excellence to a packed school hall.

Thank you to all our incredible QE musicians for your dedication, hard work and enthusiasm to all your performances so far this year. The quality is truly exceptional, but most importantly it’s clear to see just how much you enjoy what you do, and how important the different performances are to you. Thank you for everything you contribute to Music at QE, and the energy and joy you bring every day.

Mr E. Caborn

Christmas Card Design Competition

This year's Christmas card design was created by Emmy K in Year 12 as part of the annual Christmas card design competition in the Art Department. This year was hotly contested and Mrs McIlroy, helped by Mr Thornhill, really had their work cut out to choose from the exceptionally high quality work submitted. In the end, Emmy's submission stood out for the quality of execution and a design concept that really captures the essence of the holiday season, with a nod to our location through the inclusion of the spire on St Mary of Charity Church. Well done Emmy and to all of the Year 12 and 13 students who submitted entries.

Winning design by Emmy K 

Eco Garden Club - Fundraising bake sale

Eco Garden Club held a Christmas bake sale to raise money for plants and bulbs for the garden - we raised £125! Thank you to all of the students who supported this event.

If you are in Years 7-11 and are interested in joining the club, come along and see us in G2 during Wednesday lunch times - please note we meet fortnightly through the winter months.  

history

The Great History Debate 

This term saw both the setting of the sun of last year's competition and the rising of a new dawn with this year's! Emma took on Zoe and Emmeline in the Grand Final and managed to take home the trophy. These excellent debaters wrestled over the reputation of King Richard III and, ultimately, it was the argument that Richard wasn't a foul, scheming and murderous monarch that triumphed (Philippa Langley would've been delighted!). We would like to thank all of the students and staff who attended the event in the Theatre and to the judges who made the final decision slightly more easier to reach than it would've been, had it been left to the Chair alone! The new competition has been launched and therefore any students from Years 7-9 who fancy debating a classic historical question should join the Google Classroom (code dxbgben) and fill in the 'sign me up' Form.

Mr P Buckland

year 8 christmas market trips to aachen, germany

The Aachen Christmas Market trips are always hugely popular with Year 8 pupils. This year, for the first time, two groups went to visit the beautiful historic German city of Aachen in early December, and visited these amazing Christmas markets. The smells and sights were incredible. The visit to the Lindt chocolate outlet was great too. One pupil commented that they had never seen so much chocolate in one place! FROHE WEIHNACHTEN!

year 8 christmas market trip to arras, france

On Friday 6th December, 46 Year 8 students supported by Mr Johnson, Mrs Higbee, Miss Davidson, Dr Dedman and Madame Elders set off for QE’s annual French Christmas market trip to Arras. Arras is a beautiful historic city in the north of France and this year its famous Christmas market celebrated its 35th birthday.

After arriving, we had a spot of lunch in the main square in front of the Town Hall surrounded by the inviting sounds and smells of the Christmas market. Then it was time for some culture! We divided into two groups and spent an hour and a half exploring all the main sights of the city including the main two squares and the Cathedral. We also learnt about the styles of houses in the northern region, why the rat is a city symbol, the role of British soldiers stationed in Arras during the World Wars and why there are numerous 15 foot giants housed inside the Town Hall!

Next up, students had a few hours of free time to explore the region’s famous Christmas market. They wasted no time at all in not only speaking French (some of our students were practising their pre-prepared phrases with the teachers in advance!) but significantly boosting the local economy by sampling local French cuisine: crêpes, waffles, melted cheese and hot chocolate to name a few, and buying all manner of souvenirs, not to mention all the Arras Christmas hats we seemed to come home with!

We had a great time in Arras! These students will get the opportunity to continue to explore the northern region of France if they choose to take part in the French exchange programme in Year 9, so we hope this trip has been a nice taster of more French experiences to come.

german exchange 

The return leg of our German Exchange took place at the end of November, just in time to visit the Cologne Christmas markets in addition to our usual Exchange activities.

We experienced the German school day (which is a very early start!), learned about the production of chocolate in the Lindt Chocolate Museum (including lots of samples!) and visited an Eiscafé, trying the typical "Spaghettieis". Time spent with our new friends was great and we got to practise our German language and experience new foods.

spanish exchange - uk trip 

During the Spanish exchange, the students were involved in a variety of different activities, showcasing the delights that Kent has to offer. Although the weather was not as warm and sunny, the students enjoyed wrapping up and preparing for the festive season to come.

Friday night

On Friday, after a night in England, the Spanish exchange students had found themselves diving deep into British culture, including digging into the Faversham delicacy that is Papa Bianco. Others had gone along the seafront and played at the arcades. With bonfire night landing in the week, many students had gone to see the fireworks and saw spectacular sights of how British people celebrate their November. As it was coming into the weekend, a few students thought it would be nice to settle down with a film and some English food.

Saturday

On Saturday we visited Gillingham's ice skating rink and it was really good. Then we went to Canterbury for some shopping and food and we bought some massive foot long cookies. 

Sunday

On Sunday, some students ventured to London with their English exchange partners. We went to watch 'Wicked' at the West End which was an extremely new and fun experience - everyone found it incredible. We saw some of London’s famous monuments and travelled through Camden markets. We ate some amazing pizza and bought some memorable gifts that our visitors took back home to Spain. 

Monday

On Monday, the Spanish exchange had their first day at QE taking part in a variety of lessons. Although they were learning about the culture and history of Faversham, they also were able to see what it was like to be in an English school. The students observed a maths lesson and socialised with their exchange peers, both in and outside of school. Miss Davidson then took the Spanish group down to the Technology Faculty to create some printed memories of Faversham.

Tuesday

On Tuesday after a day in school we went on a joint trip (both English and Spanish students) to Rochester, where we explored Rochester Cathedral and the castle and did a hunt where we were in teams and had to follow clues. We also had some free time to explore the town and spend time with our exchange partners on their last full day. 

Wednesday

After a long week of fun-filled activities, the excitement had to come to (what felt like a quick) end as the Spanish students said their final goodbyes. 

As a Year 10 cohort we have maintained contact with our exchange partners and look forward to future visits. Real friendships have been created, along with linguistic and cultural education from both groups of students. We look forward to continuing these friendships into the future. 

By, Alister C, Sophie J-M, Ella K and Hannah C 

French exchange 2024 - festive fun in Hazebrouck!

On Thursday 12th December, 24 QE students from Years 9 and 10 made their way to Hazebrouck to take part in the first leg of this year’s French exchange.

On arrival, our students, feeling excited with a hint of nervousness, were introduced to their exchange partners. We broke the ice by going on a tour of the town with a quiz in both French and English, and students had to work with their exchange partners to get the right answers in the right language.

Students then set off to meet their host families; the following day we heard news of shopping, ice-skating, and a lot of students seemed to spend their evening playing FIFA!

On the Friday, we braved the freezing weather (it was 1 degree!) and visited the nearby city of Lille, where students were treated to an informative tour of the town, followed by free-time for a bit more shopping.

On Monday, the penultimate day, we went to Bruges where we visited the Historium museum. There, we took part in a virtual reality journey through time, discovering the history of this magnificent city.

The final day saw students participating in lessons at school, before a quick France Vs English bowling match at the local bowling alley. Before we knew it, it was time to say a fond farewell to our new French friends, but we absolutely cannot wait to welcome them to Faversham in March and show them the best Kent has to offer!

MFL Culture Club - Martinstag - Lantern making

KS3 students had lots of fun learning about the traditions of Martinstag that was celebrated this year on 11th November in many German speaking countries. They made lanterns, listened to the traditional song that is sung by children and then enjoyed eating "Weckmänner" - very similar to a gingerbread man.

What’s been happening in QuEST?

This term has been yet another busy term for QuEST.

We started the term by hosting a talk by Sir Mark Walport, Vice President and Foreign Secretary of The Royal Society, a prestigious science community. We were very lucky to have him deliver a talk titled 'A Life In Science’ covering a variety of different topics from studying autoantibodies to becoming the Government Chief Scientific Adviser to looking at climate change, extinction and so much more. It really was an insightful talk that covered a range of topics showing the versatility of a life in science. This was a well attended talk with students from Year 7, right the way through to Year 13 in attendance. This was a massive opportunity for us as a school to host such a high profile talk and we are incredibly grateful to Sir Mark for giving us his time to give this inspiring talk.

Next term on 10th January we have Nathan Williams, an ex-student and an ex-QuEST President, delivering a talk on plants and their importance. This is a great opportunity for those studying biology or hoping to go into a career in biology, or for anyone who just has a curiosity for plants, to come along.

As us Year 13s have had mocks this term we’ve been taking a step back and preparing for the Year 12s to take over. Our annual QuEST dinner will be on 10th of January where we will hear the speeches from those competing to become QuEST President as well as announcing the new QuEST Committee. This is a very exciting evening where we will have much of the QuEST Alumni there as well to celebrate QuEST as a society with us.

This now means that I am writing my last ever newsletter as QuEST President. I feel very lucky to have had this opportunity and very grateful for being voted into this position in the first place. Being QuEST President has been a very active job but also very rewarding as it has helped me with my management skills as well as confidence. QuEST has achieved a lot this year with some highlights being SpaceQuEST launching their weather balloon in Belgium, we attended the IRIS, Tonbridge and Big STEM Challenge conferences and we’ve seen a few new QuEST groups emerge. I look forward to the QuEST dinner and seeing who our next QuEST President will be…

Sophia F. QuEST President

To review Eco’s year: we’ve had fascinating speakers come in to visit, from Kent Wildlife, to a former student now pursuing a degree in marine biology; there’s been lots to learn about potential careers surrounding ecology. The projects have made plenty of progress, adding another year of stream monitoring to our data, and contributing new data from our aquatic invertebrate surveys! As well as this, the project to implement plants into classrooms has been successful, with propagations for the next generation of plants currently being cared for (this project has also been presented at multiple conferences). Excitingly, we now have permission and adequate resources to pass on to the wildflower project and we hope to quite literally see this bloom next year.

Personally, my most memorable moment over the past year was from the Big STEM challenge, in which I had to confront one of my lesser skills - public speaking. . . in front of judges. And yet, the day went brilliantly and I made some valuable connections, such as meeting the founder of IRIS and Project Earth! I thoroughly enjoyed all the educational aspects, but mostly the sense of community in science which is undoubtedly felt within QE itself as well. I often found myself equally intrigued by the research run by other subquests as I did my own and felt reciprocal interest in return. If I’ve learnt one thing most poignantly from the whole experience, it’s that science is something to be shared and explored collectively.

Emma S. Co-head of EcoQuEST

This term in Junior STEM the Year 7s have continued to work on their practical skills with a luminescent powder practical, making shampoo, slime and snow globes. They also attended the talk by Sir Mark Walport which many of them said they enjoyed thoroughly. Whilst experimenting with creating shampoos, the Year 7s got to use the microscopes and learnt how to set them up and handle them properly as well as developing their safe Bunsen burner skills in the luminescent powder experiment. To end the term, the Year 7s will be joined by the Year 8s to celebrate QuESTmas. During this they will participate in a range of different activities from lolly stick sleds to Christmas origami, all run by us Sixth Formers to fill them with QuESTmas cheer.

As my time as Head of Junior STEM comes to an end, I would like to say that I am so grateful to have been Head of Junior STEM as well as QuEST President. Junior STEM is such a wonderful club for the younger students and it is supported by a dedicated team of teachers who give their time on a Tuesday afternoon to give the Year 7s and 8s the chance to take part in extra practicals. I look forward to handing this responsibility over to the Year 12s.

Sophia F. Head of Junior STEM

Recently in BioQuEST, we have been continuing with our research on the effects of cigarettes and vape smoke on bacteria reproduction. Our first set of results showed us that they do contribute to an increase in bacterial growth, especially the vape smoke but we need to take repeats to confirm this.

We are very excited to pass on BioQuEST to a new Head! BioQuEST has been an amazing experience. We have worked together in a team for the past year and had so much fun, creating loads of great memories at both conferences and each week within school. Leading BioQuEST, I have gained a lot of valuable skills, such as leadership, communication and organisation, that have made me a lot more confident in other areas of my life, such as interviews and public speaking. QuEST is a fantastic community and we hope that the new Head of BioQuEST will have just as much fun as we did.

Jemima E. Head of BioQuEST

In RoboQuEST, we have been working on the arduino and the motors and have finally been able to get the motors moving. A new ball release system has been modelled by parts of our team, which we hope to 3D print next term and add to the ramp. We have also finished the wooden base to the robot and are preparing to attach it to the tower. We plan to continue this project into the new year, with our significant progress this term being important to our overall outcome.

Wynn H. Head of RoboQuEST

A busy year has flown by in SpaceQuEST, and as we hand over our roles to next year's committee, it's nice to reflect on all that we have achieved and learnt in the past year. As Head of SpaceQuEST, I have been able to develop myself as an individual, gaining new responsibilities, getting to know new people while working as a team, and taking on a leadership role for the first time in my life. This role was, despite being outside of my comfort zone, something I'll never forget and a real first step towards independence and building my confidence. From my first public speech running for QuEST president, to attending my first STEM conferences and travelling to Belgium for the launch of our very own solar photometry project, it's been a wild ride! This past year has given me many amazing opportunities that I'll always be grateful for. These experiences would never have been possible if I didn't follow my passions and I hope that the Year 12s, if nothing else, take on board the same advice. I can't wait to see how next year's committee grasps every opportunity on offer to grow not only themselves, but QuEST as a whole.

Helena H. Head of SpaceQuEST

The PE Department has had another very busy term and we are amazed at how many students are turning up regularly to our participation clubs. This term these have included Table Tennis, Badminton, Basketball and Dance, as well as all the competitive representative fixtures we have been involved in.  Watch out for next term’s timetable and come along and get involved.

Girls' Football

Both our U14 & U15 Girls’ Football teams have been in action again this term, playing in the Kent Cup and progressing through to the quarter final stages. The U14s have played two fixtures this term, a third round game against Canterbury Academy was their first match, drawn at home. Playing against some familiar faces from weekend club football, we went into the game knowing that they would be a good side and tough to beat. Our girls definitely had the upper hand throughout the first half, but the Canterbury Academy goalkeeper was putting in some amazing saves. QE took the lead in the first half, when a brilliant corner kick from Erin B was deflected in by Canterbury on their post. Heading into the second half 1-0 up, but knowing we still had a lot of work to do, we thought Emma S had sealed victory with an amazing shot at goal, finding the top right hand corner from the left side of the pitch.  This was quickly followed by an amazing goal from Canterbury and a very tense last 10 minutes to be played. Our girls hung on and finished 2-1 victors, only really with an own goal separating the two sides.  

Their quarter final clash was also played at home against Ursuline College from Thanet. With injuries plaguing the Year 9s at this stage, we drew upon our talented Year 8 students. Maddie H stepped into the squad - thank goodness she did as she opened the scoring for QE. Once again heading into the second half 1-0 up, Ursuline kept pushing us all the way until the final whistle. Unfortunately we gave away a penalty 10 minutes into the second half and we all stood and watched, holding our breath. Isla S in goal made an incredible save to keep us very much in the game and Ursuline’s feathers were definitely ruffled at this point. Our dynamic team captain then sealed our fate by scoring a cracking goal from outside the penalty area, blasting it into the top corner, sending the team through to the semi-final stages with a 2-0 final score. This team will be facing Bullers Wood Girls’ School in Chislehurst for the semi-final clash in January.  They are such an incredibly talented group of players, who I admire for their skill, tenacity and passion for football.  We wish them the very best of luck and hope we reach a second successive Kent Cup Final.

Unfortunately, the fortunes were not quite the same for the U15 team. Lots of the Year 9 girls are playing across both squads, with the U15 team led by 5 Year 10 students. Having been awarded a walkover in the third round, we travelled up to Sidcup to play Cleeve Park School in the quarter finals of the competition. We really were (once again) the driving force in this game and holding on to most control. With endless corner kicks, we just could not see a way through their defence. Eventually we did, with Maddie finding the back of the net. Going into the second half 1-1, it was all to play for.  Sadly, it was not meant to be for us that day and we came home having finished in second place, with 4-2 the final score.

Sophie has ably led this team for the past 2 seasons, along with Miou, Adrianna, Elif and Tiff alongside her. They are an incredibly talented bunch of young footballers who I am sure will continue to enjoy the sport. Fingers crossed for this bunch of girls next year when we hope to enter an U16 team. I would also like to say a HUGE personal thank you to Luca in Year 12 who has very ably refereed each of our home games. He is a fully qualified FA Referee and is both fair and firm. His time with the team has been invaluable to me.  

U13 Girls’ Basketball

Our Year 8 girls have been flying the flag for the school in the district basketball matches this term and have remained unbeaten! We have played weekly matches against Barton Court, Herne Bay High School, The Abbey and Barton Manor School, culminating in a district Championship tournament last Tuesday.  A group of girls from 8Q have been the main driving force behind this, joined by Agnes in 8K. At the district tournament, the team remained unbeaten, managing to score a total of 70 points and conceding only 8. This whole squad is very talented, but Bethany S has led the way in terms of point scoring. For this reason she won the ‘Player of the Season’ award, with Millie E taking home the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award for her improvements. We look forward to seeing what these girls can achieve next year in the U15 competition.

5-a-side Football

The 5-a-side Friday football tournament has once again proved a very popular competition, both for players and fans alike. The Year 9 teams performed with great pride and dedication against the Year 10s and caused several upsets throughout the league to help set up a dramatic finals day when 3 teams were playing for the title. The Ipswich Plantains put pressure on the chasing pack by winning their final game against Tiki Taka, leading the table by 3 points. As a result, Brentford FC required a win in the grand final to clinch the title on goal difference. Tom M slotted early in the first half for Brentford, but Logan H spoiled the party by equalising in the final seconds of the game causing jubilant scenes in the crowd from the Ipswich Plantains players. Congratulations to Malachi O, Taylor P, Louis H, Owen C and Archie O.

Year 10 Boys' Football

The Year 10 football team has really started to become a formidable team. Hayden B has commanded the back line with great authority despite being asked to play out of position on several occasions. Our pacey attack has been led by a very effective front 3 who were very dangerous against The Whitstable School (TWS). After Logan H neatly scored 2 goals quickly in the opening 15 minutes, TWS clawed back 2 goals in the second half setting up a nervy finish. However it was Leyton B who finished sharply - after a great build up he played down the left flank to put QE into the District semi-final with 2 minutes left to play. Everyone put in a hearty performance against Simon Langton in the last 16 of the Kent Cup. Logan H added 2 more to his tally of 16 goals in 9 games. His first was the best team move I have seen in a long time, with one touch passing from our own penalty box finished with some excellent creative play from Harry S. His second was an individual moment of brilliance, with a 25 yard strike from a tight angle into the top right hand corner. With Langton leading 3-2, Harry S flicked the ball over several players, volleyed the ball goalwards, but was denied a fantastic solo effort by a fingertip save with 2 minutes left. We are looking forward to getting our own back in the semi-final of the district cup.

District Cross Country

On a very cold Thursday, we took a team of keen runners to Simon Langton Boys’ School for the district cross country competition. All students were given an opportunity for selection during their Games lessons and we came away with some fantastic results. It was a very tough field with students from 12 schools across our sporting district. Team results were as follows, with many individuals being selected to represent the district at the county event in January.

A special mention must go to Jess P who finished 3rd in her race - our highest individual finisher.  Good luck to all those representing Canterbury at the County Championships next year.

Year 11 GCSE PE

The Year 11 GCSE classes took part in a workshop titled, ‘First Aid on the Sports Field’ led by our School Receptionist, Mrs Harris. They learnt how to apply bandages and slings to an injury. They even had a race to see who was the most efficient with applying bandages and a sling. Thank you to Mrs Harris for delivering a fun and informative workshop to our students.

Model United Nations Conference 

At the very end of term 1 we hosted our third annual Model United Nations Conference, which once again proved to be a great success, with everyone getting involved in many different debates over the two days. The 170 students who took part prepared resolutions on varying topics, from tackling the issue of political corruption to assessing the tensions between China and Taiwan. This year’s conference saw the largest number of sign ups we’ve had so far, and it was lovely to see so many people engaging with the resolutions. 

Our keynote speaker on day two was Wayne Ives from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, who is Head of UK Relations with the UN. Wayne highlighted the fascinating work done both in and around the Foreign Office, and showed that our skills can be used in the future to help governments and international organisations. He discussed his five years based in China, his time in Myanmar and his role with the UN, as well as his upcoming posting to Taiwan. Many delegates have said they found him really insightful, and it has helped them understand how they can take MUN further into the world. 

The conference concluded with delegates winning a varying range of awards, with some winning outstanding delegate awards for their committee. The competition was very high this year and we were impressed with the level of debate happening both in the lobbying and resolution discussions. 

Our outstanding delegation prize went to the delegation of Libya, which consisted of Isaac R, Freddie W, James R, and James M. Our honourable mention for the outstanding delegation prize was the delegation of USA, which included Charlie T, Ryan B, Riley C, and Phoebe G-R. Winners of our outstanding delegate prize included Joe S, Stanley G-L, Riley C, as well as some well-deserving external delegates. Honourable mentions went to Frank H, Phoebe G-R, Isaac R, Kayla D-V, Ryan B, Maki T, Jack D, Charlie T, and Evie C. Finally, our junior prize went to Harry T, with our honourable junior delegate being Lila-Rose R. 

We thank everyone who got involved, including the staff and Year 13s who put their time and effort into planning and helping us run the conference. It was a smooth running two days and it couldn’t have been done without their support. 

Libby C & James D (Secretary Generals)

December has been a busy month for the SEND department! The therapy dog Lottie has been in school again and she has been helping to support KS4 students with wellbeing and mental health. We have also purchased 3 new ‘Relief Koalas’ to help reduce stress and anxiety. 

It has been lovely having Lottie back in the building this term. Having a dog around naturally makes people feel happy and provides comfort for those that need it. Therapy dogs can also help support interaction and the effect of having them around helps to reduce stress and anxiety and they can help students to improve their self esteem. The students have loved seeing Lottie at break time on a Thursday. They have been taking her for walks and playing games!

To help our students to reduce their anxiety and stress, we purchased three ‘Relief Koalas’ to support with their wellbeing and to also help them to learn how to self regulate. The ‘Relief Koala’ is a soft plush toy with a light up stomach and a soothing rhythmic breathing motion which helps with relaxation. The koala has heartbeat technology that mimics little heart beats. The idea behind this, is that the rhythmic breathing has a soothing effect on the nervous system. When a student holds the animal close, their breathing falls in time with the koala as it instinctively begins to match it. This tool helps to calm a child when they are in distress. It can also help to decrease a heart rate and promote a sense of relaxation. This can also help to prevent/manage panic attacks.

The three koalas are currently being used in intervention sessions, supporting our two counsellors with their work and helping students to overcome anxiety when they are entering the school building everyday.

Here is the link to the website where you can find more information: Breathing Technology

Year 9 Wellbeing Ambassador Update

The Year 9 Wellbeing Ambassadors have been busy this term organising Odd Sock Day and assisting with Anti-Bullying Week. Mrs Longhurst provided some informative assemblies during the week of 11th November, while Year 7 created their own odd sock designs to celebrate their uniqueness. 

Jingles, the Christmas Elf, has also made his annual appearance this month around the school with the Wellbeing Ambassadors ensuring he is well hidden. 

ks3 charity day for children in need

 
Key Stage 3 students put on a brilliant day of fundraising for Children in Need. There were over 40 stalls all selling amazing cakes, baked goods, jewellery, books and plenty more. There were a few stalls offering games to win prizes, including Bingo! Other students decided to get themselves sponsored by doing things like being tied together, speaking Polish and Spanish for the day and sponsored silence. Staff also helped by dressing up and buying students' wares. We were impressed with Mr Harvey, eating his way through 12 cakes during break time and hugely impressed with Miss Davidson and her Crochet Club, raising a whopping £200! We are all so proud of the amazing effort students put into this amazing day, which raised a total of £2660.87 - well done KS3!  

30 Minute Snapshot Career Talks - Art Foundation Course, BBC Apprenticeships and Landscape Architecture

These optional talks are for students in KS4 & 5 to learn about career options.

Foundation Courses

This term we've had information from Canterbury College's new one year foundation course for Art and Design. Foundation courses are an excellent resource for students who are interested in the creative industries. They should offer an immersive experience of the visual arts and provide a chance for students to work out a little more about where they want to go next. Furthermore, if a student is 18 on 31st August in the year they start, it is free. 

BBC Apprenticeships 

A former student who now works as an apprentice at the BBC shared her expertise and knowledge with students recently about how to apply for a BBC apprenticeship. Further information can be found here: https://careers.bbc.co.uk/content/EC_Home/?locale=en_GB

The Landscape Architecture

This talk, from a representative from the University of Greenwich, explored design projects for a range of landscapes, green roofs, living walls, courtyards, public spaces, parks, squares, waterfronts, urban master plans and regional strategies. Charis in Year 10 commented that she enjoyed the landscape architecture talk and this is a career path that she wants to explore.

Next term, we already have plans for a talk on Actuarial Science. 

University Application Support Programme

On Wednesday 8th January, Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School is taking part in a programme led by WISE, STEM Learning and researchers at MIT which provides Year 12 students with resources to navigate university applications. 

Any Year 12 student at Queen Elizabeth’s interested in university can take part in this programme. There is no financial cost associated with this programme and students may withdraw at any time. 

As part of the programme, students will:

• Attend a one hour university workshop at school during school hours led by STEM Ambassadors
• Receive one-on-one mentoring
• Be matched with university student mentors to help them with their applications
• Visit a university
• Eligible students will receive up to £75 to cover the cost of transportation to visit a university of their choice
• Provide feedback to help evaluate programme success in supporting university applications. 

ideaworks trip to london

Because we chose Ideaworks for our enrichment periods on a Wednesday afternoon, to be a part of the Ideaworks Schools Academy, we were given the opportunity to take a trip to London to visit the Ideaworks Experience Centre. It is home to a £1m private cinema, in which we got to sit in and eat cake whilst watching Dune!. We also got the chance to see their window shading room, to learn about a window designed by an Italian physicist that mimics the way that the atmosphere scatters light.

We learnt all about the technology they have at Ideaworks including giant LED screens, and surround sound systems. The staff played music for us and tested all of the different speaker systems - one surround sound system cost £500K! We got to hear from all of the Ideaworks team, including Sam, a service engineer, and he told us all about engineering and gave us the opportunity to ask questions about the service industry. We also learned all about computer design and were shown different design applications as well as seeing Ideaworks designs. Their cinema room could be controlled by an Ipad which could open curtains, spin sofas, and even had a light that came out of the ceiling at the tap of a button! We all absolutely loved the trip, we got to see London, as well as learning all about technology, design, engineering and business in a fun way. We learnt lots about the science and business behind Ideaworks, and had the opportunity to ask the team any questions we had, from applications, to which university courses to take and different careers within Ideaworks. We all had lots of fun and it really opened our minds to the variety of job opportunities within business. 

 Jodie Q, Year 12

Water Polo Team Qualifies for the Plate Final

We travelled to Alleyn’s School to take part in the first round of the English Schools’ Water Polo Competition. Each member of the U15 boys' team put in an impressive show of teamwork for us to be able to challenge some very strong teams in some close games - a great win over Churchers College and a narrow loss against an experienced Colfe’s team. The younger players in Year 7 and Year 8 also did really well, even though they were against some big opponents.

Our players' exceptional performances at the competition advanced the whole team into the plate final - well done! As Team Captain, I am really looking forward to leading us to the next round of this middle tier competition. 

By Ollie BB (Team Captain)

Sailing to Success

Year 9 student, Ralph Hadley, first started sailing at Tankerton Bay Sailing Club because it was located close to his residence and his friend invited him to join Cadet Club. It wasn't long before Ralph was hooked on the sport, this led him to complete Royal Yachting Association courses and enter sailing competitions. Ralph is aiming to continue participating in competitions (in full sail size which he has recently progressed up to) with the goal to be in the top of the fleet in the Worlds and Nationals 2025. Ralph dreams of becoming an Olympic dinghy sailor and after reading the summary of Ralph's impressive sailing accomplishments listed below, we firmly believe that he will one day win an Olympic gold medal!  

 
Ralph’s Sailing Summary 

• Straight after finishing the GBR 4.2 Squad training through last winter, Ralph hit the Topper race circuit, starting with the National Series events across the UK from Weymouth, Grafham, Poole, Newcastle - achieving overall 4th place Nationally.
• Ralph travelled to Mar Menor, Spain to compete at the ITCA Topper World Championships 2024 against 39 sailors in the 4.2 class coming from as far as China to race. Ralph had a strong start with 5th, 6th and 5th places in the first 3 races, before the wind really kicked up and tactics needed adjustment. 15 races were run over the 5-day event and huge credit to Ralph for consistently maintaining top 10 results throughout. He achieved 5th place overall at the event with 72 points! To highlight the closeness in the competition, 3rd placed Irish sailor finished with 68 points!
• After a 5 day break from the Worlds, Ralph ­spent six days competing at the ITCA (GBR) Topper Nationals at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. The week started with steady winds and rapidly increased to recordings peaking at over 25 knots during the rest of the week, with one day of racing called off.  A breezy final day of sailing left the leaders fighting for victory with all three podium places up for grabs.  As all the sailors battled with the tricky conditions Ralph remained highly competitive, and his perseverance paid off.  He took 3rd overall at the Nationals with 19 races run and had the accolade of holding the blue bib to mark being second place overall on day 2. The top three were in close competition, with World Champion 44 points, second with 47 points and Ralph representing Tankerton Bay Sailing Club third with 49.5 points.  Right down to the last race, it was all to play for!
• The first Topper National Series race of the 2024-2025 season was held at Carsington Sailing Club, with Ralph fully race ready after his busy summer on the water. Competing in the 4.2 fleet against thirteen top sailors from across the UK, the competition was tough. In each of the six races run Ralph came in 2nd overall, which is his best result to date.
• The last race of the season at Wembley wrapped up the ITCA Autumn Championships on a full 5.3 rig. Ralph managed to get a 4th at the event to give an overall series position of 3rd. Unfortunately, on returning from Wembley, there was an accident where Ralph's boat was written off, which meant it was time to replace his 22 year old trusty boat with a new grey hull.  Ralph is currently winter training, to be race ready for the start of the National series next March.
• Ralph was delighted to win the MonoHull Series (main adult race) at his local sailing club, Tankerton Bay Sailing Club, and was over the moon with being awarded the Helmsman of the year! Both these trophies date back to 1963.
• Ralph is looking forward to heading to Medemblik, The Netherlands, for the Topper Worlds 2025.

Ralph acknowledges that the support he has received has been invaluable to his development in his sailing career. Ralph would like to thank Barton Marine for their sponsorship and the ITCA and RYA coaches for their encouragement and guidance. A huge thank you also goes to Topper International for dropping everything to get the new boat ready in 3 days, allowing Ralph to attend his first RTG GBR Youth Squad training session.  

If you would like to follow Ralph on his journey, please visit the Yachts and Yachting Website for updates:  https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/      

Fond Farewells & Warm Welcomes

We say "Auf Wiedersehen" to Mr Sydorenko, who has been working in the German department over the last two terms. We would like to thank him for all his hard work with his classes and wish him well in his next job! We would also like to extend a warm welcome to Ms Chittenden who will be joining the MFL department in January as Teacher of German.   

We are delighted to announce that Mrs Nottage (Head of Humanities Faculty) welcomed a little baby girl - congratulations! Miss Jackson joined the Humanities Faculty in November as Teacher of RE and will be with us until Mrs Nottage returns. She has already learned the ropes of a new school environment with commendable swiftness and has thoroughly enjoyed getting to know so many new faces. We welcome her heartily to QE and look forward to working with her whilst she is a part of the furniture here.  

Finally, Miss Jones is leaving the school after almost 16 years of service as a Cleaner. Miss Jones has been a loyal and committed member of staff throughout her time at QE and she will be sorely missed. We wish her well as she leaves to spend more time with her family. 

Christmas Festivities

We certainly 'stepped into Christmas' this week which began with our annual carol services. On Wednesday, our Music Department and talented students treated us all to a gig in the hall where they performed Christmas themed hits. The school community wore their favourite Christmas themed items on Thursday and enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch - thank you to our fabulous restaurant team, Cucina.  We think you can see for yourself how much everyone enjoyed themselves!

Catching Lives Collection

A huge thank you to the school community for all of the donations for the charity Catching Lives. We delivered the collection to the charity on Thursday and they could not have been more pleased with your generous donations!

Coming Soon: Cyber Club

Cyber Club is a brand new club for students in Years 7, 8, and 9, where you can dive into the world of cybersecurity! You’ll learn cool skills like ethical hacking, cryptography, digital forensics and more. Get hands on in fun lab sessions, take part in challenges, watch live demos and explore everything that makes cybersecurity so exciting. Whether you're just starting out or already know a bit, Cyber Club is the perfect place to discover new skills and have fun with technology!

Students who are interested in participating in the club must attend the first session on Thursday 9th January at 15:00 in B3. 

Cyber Club will be delivered by Mr Everitt and Mrs Phillips. 

Additional Information