Borden Grammar School Parent Portal

Dear Parent/Carer

It is no secret in my family that my favourite Christmas movie is ‘Groundhog Day’ where the character played by Bill Murray wakes every day, forced to relive the same day, and it seems to me to be an apt place to start. I can barely believe it is a year ago where we were all in a very similar position; Covid on the rise, students and staff isolating, contingency plans for exams, virtual assemblies, virtual staff meetings, masks in corridors and a general sense of the unknown following our Christmas break. At times this feels much like ‘Groundhog Day’.

Certainly the news of a new variant has reinforced our need to be vigilant, but I hope it is reassuring that we have tended to be ‘ahead of the curve’ in every national decision made. We will start next year testing again, but only once this time, so there is a much reduced ‘stagger’ of only one day to the start of term. We will plan for the worst, because it is better to be prepared, but we are certainly aiming to keep things as normal as possible in the new year.

That said, there is so much that is different this year. The school has been back to normal in terms of lessons and being out of bubbles. We have continued with our various school events, even expanding the Remembrance service this year.

Numerous sports fixtures have taken place, we now have music and drama clubs every night of the week, we have had numerous primary schools visit us this term both as part of Aim Higher but also to experience secondary science lessons, the 6th form team have planned numerous charity and Christmas events at the end of term and I can hear the joint Borden and Highsted school orchestra rehearsing ‘Skyfall’ as I write this newsletter.

We are now also in the process of planning to introduce the Duke of Edinburgh scheme next year and to reinforce the existing work of our amazing student ambassadors at each key stage. All of this, and a visit from Ofsted inspectors in the middle of the term. So maybe this isn’t really Groundhog day after all?...or is it? A spoiler alert; the key message behind ‘Groundhog Day’ is that we should use every day as an opportunity to make ourselves a better person and to make the world a better place. Thinking about the way the community of students, staff and parents have managed to pull together, keep everything going and develop the above positive experiences for students in the midst of the pandemic, I would say that Borden now feels more like we are at the very end of the movie than at the start.

Please enjoy the rest of this newsletter and have a very safe, restful and happy Christmas.

Ashley Tomlin
Headteacher

Heads of Years updates

A busy but incredibly successful term saw students in Year 7 receive their first ever set of audit grades at Borden. I myself pay special attention to the attitude to learning grades and was hugely impressed by the fabulous effort the boys had clearly put in - they really have been making the most of the opportunity this fabulous school provides. In November, I had the pleasure of training up our new Anti-bullying ambassadors and their presence and impact is already being felt about the school which is wonderful to see (more information below). Finally, our term ended with the form party (a prize awarded to the Year 7 form with the highest points total relating to achievement points, organisation, punctuality with the fewest behaviour points). I am delighted to tell you that 7RWW were our Term 2 winners. Congratulations to them and I hope all boys return in January ready to push themselves to make progress in these areas as we reset the points and start the Term 3 competition!

Mrs Frost Head of Year 7

Year 8 have spent Term 2 considering wider issues in society such as Remembrance Day and Movember. Our first charity effort, the Reverse Advent calendar, was to support Swale Foodbank and I would like to thank Year 8 for the amazing contributions received - I've got an office full of food! Our second form assembly from 8JCW/KC took place on the topic of Movember and men's health. There has been a strong focus on students being organised for school and Mrs. Edwards would like to thank all students for regularly coming to school smartly dressed, equipped for lessons and with homework completed punctually. The interform competition is currently being led by 8CH but the overall winner for Term 2 will be announced on Friday 17th December. Best wishes for a restful Christmas holiday to all Year 8 students and parents.

Mrs Edwards Head of Year 8

The majority of Year 9 students have now successfully completed their GCSE Options subject exams - congratulations to those students. I am aware that there are a small number of students who have yet to complete all of their exams due to unavoidable absence, but we will work with those students in January to get them up to date.

Next term will be busy and important for Year 9 in the lead up to the final GCSE Options Choices. On the 26th January, there will be an Options Evening to provide more information to Parents and students about the options process. This will be followed up by the Parents’ Evening on the 3rd February, which will provide an opportunity to speak to subject teachers and confirm that your son has made suitable options choices.

On the 7th February, students will be asked to complete and submit their final GCSE Options choices via google form. Throughout the term, we will hold informal meetings with some students to guide them through the options process and manage any difficulties that may arise.

In addition to the GCSE Options process, students (and their parents) have also been very generous with their donations through Reverse Advent to the Swale Foodbank. More on this below.

Miss Phillips Head of Year 9