The aim of the Summer School is to bring some of the most able Year 3 and Year 4 pupils together for an intensive week of challenging science-based activities to extend their learning and thinking. Mike Bolton, the Undermaster at Sevenoaks School, commented, ‘The Summer School has developed a tremendous reputation. Each year the demand for places increases and it clearly meets a real need for some of the most able pupils in the town.’

One group of children spent the week discovering the challenges faced by Charles Darwin on his famous voyage on HMS Beagle. They investigated how sailors preserved their food, suffered from scurvy, classified animals and navigated their way across the oceans. At the same time a group of Year 3 pupils worked in the school’s Design department designing and making their own compressed air and water rockets, followed by a competition to discover which was the most aerodynamic.

One young pupil said, ‘I have enjoyed the Summer School so much and it has been by far the best week in my summer holiday.’

The squad stayed in halls with all facilities on their doorstep. Throughout the four days they trained on some amazing pitches. Each day consisted of a minimum of 3 x 2-hour intense rugby sessions in which the players worked extremely hard and showed great development. The squad experienced a variety of sessions each day, working on individual, unit and team skills (and of course fitness!).

As well as being coached by the school’s 1st XV coaches the squad were also lucky enough to be coached by Dave Hughes, 1st XV flanker for Loughborough University for three years and now playing National League for Wharfdale RFC. This was a great experience for the Sevenoaks players and their knowledge, tactical awareness and overall skill development improved as a result. In terms of rugby and pre-season training it was a fantastic few days and a trip that is definitely going to help the season ahead.

Additionally, it was great to see the country’s top sporting university, the facilities there, the sporting legends it has produced and the future stars for Britain training in all areas of sport. Well done to the squad for their dedicated training!

The evening began with a reception in the Recital Room followed by a short talk by Chris Greenhalgh about the film, for which he wrote the screenplay. The stylish, beautifully filmed piece is based on Dr Greenhalgh's novel about the (supposed) affair between Chanel and Stravinsky which took place following Stravinsky's exile from Russia in the 1920s.

The pupils enjoyed several excursions including zip-wiring in the rain forest, a street party in the Gros Islet, and finally a trip to the volcanic and spectacular south end of the island.

The concert included a recent commission 'Bring us, O Lord God' by James MacMillan. This piece was commissioned by Schola Cantorum in their 50th year as a tribute to the late Lydia Press, who was a much-loved member of Schola Cantorum and also a former Sevenoaks student. To read the full review, click here.

He attended the school from 1971 until 1976 when he went on to read English at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge. After completing his doctorate he was a Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was appointed the King Alfred Professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool in 1990. Since 2003 he has been Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature at the University of Warwick.

Professor Bate is well known as a critic, biographer and broadcaster and has held visiting posts at Harvard, Yale and UCL. In 2006 he was awarded a CBE for his services to higher education.

Unfortunately Sienna Rothery’s horse became unsound at the beginning of the week, so it was decided that she would ride Gabby Hodgkins’ pony, having only jumped it once. Gabby rode her friend’s pony, which she had also only jumped once. With three team members available to ride, and no reserve, they all went to a practice competition at Felbridge Equestrian Centre a few days before the finals. All the ponies went clear with their new riders over a course of approximately 3ft to a metre. The ground was very hard but despite this they all went well.

On the day of the competition we were drawn first to jump following heavy rain on very hard ground. Sadly the awful conditions of the course and the lack of experience of the animals meant that despite giving it everything the girls were eliminated. The ponies were sliding into a number of fences despite two of them being fitted with studs.  

On a high note we finished 4th in the South Eastern Show Jumping League with 21 points, behind Farlington (winners with 29 points) and Mayfield and Cranleigh (joint second with 24 points).

Farlington and Mayfield are big riding schools which field a number of teams at every event and to have come 4th in our first year against this competition is a fantastic result. 

Tracy Hodgkins, Junior team coordinator

Riders: Sienna Rothery, Ellie Rothery, Gabby Hodgkins
Coach: Mandy Roebuck

All students took 3 separate IGCSE sciences. IGCSE is widely seen as a more challenging qualification than traditional GCSEs.

The Head, Mrs Katy Ricks, said, “We are once again thrilled by our students’ achievement. Their outstanding grades are a testimony to their hard work, enthusiasm and talent.”

• 56.4% of all examinations were graded A*
• 87.9% of all examinations were graded A or A*
• 17 students gained 10 or more A* grades

10 students achieved 45 points. 16 students obtained 44 points and 116 students achieved 40 points or above. The average diploma score was 39.4. No student achieved below 30 points. The world average is around 29.8 points. The average points score on the UCAS tariff was 637 points. 97.4% of Higher Level subjects were graded 7/6/5 and 81.6% of Higher Level subjects were graded 7 or 6.

• 10 students gained the maximum 45 points for the IB Diploma
• 16 students gained 44 points
• 116 students gained diplomas with 40 or more points
• The average points score per student was 39.4 (out of 45).

Team:
• Alice Pearce
• Alessandra Poblador
• Lizzie May
• Angelica Hicks
• Tanis Chalopin
• Yasmine Gagne 

Sevenoaks had a lot to live up to having finished first and second in 2009. Day one was slightly frustrating with the wind not filling in properly until 2.00pm, but Sevenoaks had a successful day with our A team going undefeated and Sevenoaks B team only dropping one race in an encounter with Sevenoaks A.

Day 2 saw much better conditions with a good south-westerly wind allowing for plenty of quality racing. The league stage was completed with Sevenoaks A remaining undefeated and coming out on top, Schull from Ireland 2nd with Sevenoaks B 3rd and Kings College 4th.

In the first semi-final Sevenoaks A continued their good form, dispatching Kings 2-0 after some very slick racing. Unfortunately Sevenoaks B lost 2-0 to Schull after a very hard-fought battle. This meant that Sevenoaks A, as the only British team in the final, were national champions. This is the 18th time Sevenoaks has won the national schools title in the competition’s 22-year history.

All that was left was the showdown for the schools international title between Sevenoaks A and Schull. Sevenoaks took the first race comfortably but the Irish bounced back well to win the next two and take the international title 2-1.

Sevenoaks will certainly be hungry to win the nationals again next year and win back the international title, but can reflect on another successful year and can be proud to have the top two sailing teams in the country.

Sevenoaks A: National Schools Champions and International runner up:
Georgia Trapp (Capt)
Camilla Pudney
Nick Ashton
Sophie Shall
Laurence Gibbons
Emily McEachern

Sevenoaks B: National Schools Runners Up
Henry Forward (Capt)
Victoria Moynes
Harrison Hodgkins
Ben Moverley-Smith
Jacob Rainbow
Imogen Palmer

Click here for the full review.

Click here for the full review.

Click here for the full review.

The second edition of Verve, the Sevenoaks School creative writing magazine, is now out. The magazine was put together by a team of Lower Sixth editors and it represents all year groups in the school.

Containing poetry, prose fiction, travel writing and even song lyrics, it celebrates the talent and creativity of all our young writers. Happy Reading!

To a large audience of parents, friends, boarders and members of the local community was presented an eclectic and exciting programme of solos and small ensembles showcasing some of the school’s finest performers. Singers featured particularly, many trained by the inspiring head of singing Anthony Dawson, and it was fantastic to see several of these performing solo for the first time.

Click here for the full review.

It seemed the musical talent of the Sevenoaks common room knew no bounds. A masterclass in professionalism and guitar wizardry by the grandfathers of rock, Tony Stuart and Nigel Connell, was perfectly matched by the serene and melodious partnership of Ian Campbell and Caroline Dyer. Athleticism and sporting prowess were demonstrated by Kris Lewis and family; Phil de May and Peter Anderson just about kept up. Moments of real class were leant to the evening by Penny Hargreaves’ stunning singing and Jon Drury’s absolutely remarkable ‘Leave the Songs to the Songwriters’. Other moments of sublime music were provided by a solo from Alex Smith that held the audience in total thrall, and the full splendour of the staff big band.

For the full report click here.

In the evenings there were lessons in Geography, History, Poetry, Biology and Chemistry. Each group delivered a presentation in French on an original item they had purchased in Bayeux market. The winning group were duly rewarded for performing their work in rap form, accompanied by the beats of a djembe!

Click here for photographs and more information

Ruth Bourne was crowned Kent 1500m champion in the inter girls category by quite a margin and in a time of 4.52.69 minutes
Lily Elliott won her javelin event in the inter girls, throwing 30.87m
Hanro Rossouw came 3rd in the junior boys 800m in an extremely fast race
Daniel Adeline came 3rd in the inter boys high jump jumping 1.80m

These pupils have therefore been selected to represent Kent at the Inter Counties match on Saturday 19 June and also the English Schools (Nationals) on 9/10 July. Other athletes did very well but those were the particular highlights.

Our first full day was spent in and around Pompeii. We saw the amphitheatre before a spin around the town under the guidance of none other than Mr. Carr, managing to lose our way a few times in the process! As we were in southern Italy, things didn’t quite go according to plan with meeting our guide, but we all managed to take a bike around Pompeii in the afternoon, resulting in two rather spectacular injuries!

Read more...

Nearly 30 Year 7 students from six partnership schools, Bradbourne, Hextable, Sevenoaks, SwanleyTechnology College, Wildernesse School and Wilmington Grammar School for Boys took part in a Science Day which, this time, focussed on Chemistry.

Simon Ross from the University of Keele set the young scientists the task of extracting the salt and oil from a packet of crisps. Working in teams of new friends from different schools, the students came up with some novel and interesting ideas and tested their methods in the lab. Some applied existing skills to a new scientific challenge, others shared ideas and everyone contributed to the successful outcome of their team’s project.

After a lunch break, the students studied chemistry using their senses and saw how the bright colours of fireworks are made, how chemicals create different smells as well as seeing how contact with water can set certain chemicals ablaze. As one student wrote, ‘Great interactive lessons, I learned twice as much today!’

In the Modern Languages department 30 Year 9 students from five partnership schools were treated to a Russian Language and Culture Discovery Day. Led by Russian teachers Mr Jon Drury and Mrs Elena Kelly, the students found that after less than half an hour they were asking each other simple questions in Russian! They learned about the country and people of Russian using newspapers, posters, toys and games. By the end of the day the students, none of whom knew any Russian beforehand, had mastered some of the letters of the Russian alphabet and were able to complete word searches and play Simon Says. One student commented, ‘The hardest part was the alphabet – it was hard but fun!’

We hope you will take the opportunity to view and enjoy the exhibition which will be on our campus until early July.

Please click for images and more information on Art.

Oliver Barratt is represented by The Beardsmore Gallery in London. You can see some of his work at: www.beardsmoregallery.com

Adding to the art experience was the environmental music provided in the background. A group of musicians comprising Samir Yep-Manzano, Tabea Haas-Heger, Yunha Hwang and Charlotte Shieh braved the task of improvising with their flutes and violin. With the guidance of Mr Wey and guest musician Jonathan Styles, they added profound effect to the normally still and intimate experience of appreciating art. Mr Styles, a performer and composer, specialises in improvisation, and it is one of his aims to show the inextricable link between Music and Art.

The starting point of the musical improvisation was that all sounds, including what we normally hear as noises, can be heard as a kind of music. The soundscape per se is to be appreciated and illuminated as a dimension of human experience.

To this end, the musicians improvised whilst walking around and looking at the art exhibits, creating eerie sounds from their instruments through using traditional as well as extended techniques of producing sound. While the visual art of the exhibit remained the primary focus for the visitors, allowing them to experience art through the dimensions of sight, touch and space, the music opened up the dimension of sound and time, giving the visitors an artistic experience through all the senses.

The Art and Music departments are looking forward to more collaborative events in the future.

For eight years, Frith worked with William Tyndale in producing the Authorised Version of the Bible. Frith’s writings laid the foundation for the English Reformation and formed the substance of many of Thomas Cranmer’s subsequent 39 Articles of Religion.

This lecture is being given under the umbrella of the Tyndale Society.

On Tuesday 11 May 2010, a group of Sevenoaks Music Scholars performed at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, London, in one of the regular lunchtime concerts. St Bride’s, often referred to as ‘the Cathedral of Fleet Street’, is steeped in rich history, attracting visiting artists daily to perform in this prime concert venue.

Despite the chilly weather, the audience were treated to a heartwarming repertoire: the concert opened with an expressive performance of Dvorak’s Piano Trio no 1 in B flat major by Claire Macfadyen, Elspeth Newey and Natalie Chau. Charlotte Shieh and Nina del Ser performed Debussy’s Jardin sous la pluie and Smetana’s Touha respectively, both taxing piano pieces. Celebrating Chopin’s 200th birthday this year, Oliver Blackwell and Tabea Haas-Heger, along with Mr Wey, impressed the audience with Chopin’s Piano Trio in G minor op 8, which drew the 30-minute long concert to a gratifying close.

The trip was most rewarding: lucky for the Scholars, we were allowed an exclusive glimpse into the astonishing 220 boxes of skeletal remains that root back to the 18th century which are still stored in the Roman undercroft of the church – though we ran out of time to get through all of them! Thanks must go to Mr Wey for organising, and St Bride’s Church for their kind invitation. We look forward to many more concerts to come.

Click for more information and images