Over the past couple of months, Year 8 have been involved in the First Give project and each form has chosen a charity to support. Below you can read about what 8ML and 8LC have been doing for their projects.

Mrs Paige, Senior Academic Mentor, Year 8

8ML

Wednesday 18th December saw the BGS EX Hide & Seek event hosted by Wellman 8ML. The event was a fundraiser for Bexley Foodbank, a charity which aids local people in crisis, offering three-day emergency food supplies. On that day, so many people were so eager to attend, excited about the opportunity and wanted to donate as they knew it was going to a good cause.

BGS EX Hide & Seek was a thrilling, fast-paced game of hide and seek, spanning across the vast school campus. Taking place for an hour after school, the game was competitive, exceeding 100 students participating from Years 7-9. The event was split into two 30-minute segments, commencing with 11 seekers from 8ML, whilst others were chosen to be hiders, and vice versa.

Alongside the main hide-and-seek event, a selection of seven students volunteered to showcase their proficient, high-level expertise in baking through a bake sale. During the bake sale, a variety of baked goods were sold, ranging from banana bread and brownies to cookies.

We are pleased to announce that with the efforts of all those who participated, we were able to raise a grand total of £158 for the Bexley Foodbank. The event not only provided a fun and engaging way for the community to come together, but also showcased the creativity and dedication of those involved in planning and executing the game. The funds raised will go towards supporting various charitable initiatives, having a positive impact on the lives of those in need. We are very grateful and appreciative of the many students who donated to the charity.

Joshua and Jake, Year 8

8LC

8LC’s social action for the First Give programme started in early December and all the money we raise from our events will go towards the amazing charity Bexley Snap, which supports disabled children and their carers.

So far, we have launched a raffle and a quiz night, and we are hoping to host two more events in early 2025. Thank you to all participants and well done to the winners of the raffle and quiz night! 

Our next event will be a movie night held on the 10th January, and the movie is voted for from the three choices on our poster. We hope to see as many people there as possible!

Thank you again to everyone who has already taken part in our events to support the worthwhile charity Bexley Snap.

Aysu, Year 8

On the afternoon of 14th July, a team of seven Year 7 boys took on seven girls from Newstead Wood School, brought over by Dr Beaven, who recently taught some maths at BGS. This was the first inter-school chess competition that has happened at the school in more than eighteen years. It was initiated by Dr Beaven for our students to compete for the Asker-Beaven Cup (sadly more notional than real). Across four hard-fought rounds, the boys had to deal with the ebb and flow of emotions that come with sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but they ended the day as champions, with captain Enzo undefeated in all his games.

The players were: Enzo, Chaitanya and Rantimi (7JR), Rassim, Matty and William (7TMR), and Soham (7LC).

The team did brilliantly to keep themselves calm and focused as they faced strangers across the boards. At the halfway stage, it was neck-and-neck, before the BGS team stretched ahead. Credit to every player, each of whom won at least one of their games, contributing to a final score of 17-11.

My thanks to Dr Beaven for giving us the opportunity to venture into the brutal world of competitive chess! Here's to many more matches in the future.

Mr Asker, Chess Club Coordinator

For their Maths Diploma, Year 8 students were tasked with a statistical investigation of data which they had researched and/or collected themselves. Our hardworking students came up with some intriguing ideas - from asking their friends to identify their favourite food, to looking at the numbers associated with their favourite sports team or video game, to measuring how many kick-ups students of different ages can perform on the football pitch!

 They then used the statistical techniques they’ve been learning in lessons - including pie charts, bar charts, stem and leaf diagrams, box plots, cumulative frequency graphs, scatter graphs, linear correlation and regression, statistical summary calculations, and more - to study their data and to produce a report or poster of their analysis. Some of their excellent work can be seen below.

Good job, Year 8!

Mr Male, KS3 Maths Coordinator

Click on the link here to view the Maths Diploma Photo Gallery

As you'll know, BGS students recently worked with End2End TV and 3 other local schools to research the history of our schools. Their work has continued to gain publicity, such as featuring on the BBC London news. Now they are also featured in the children's newspaper, First News. Well done to Mr Husbands, Mrs Goddard and our Year 9 students who took part.

Mr Gilmore, Headteacher

Rocket Science

Science has always been amazing but on Wednesday last week we had an extremely amazing show: The rocket show that we’re writing about today. The show consisted of multiple experiments and a lot of fire. But don’t worry, it was very safe.

Charlotte’s favourite part of the show was when the balloon exploded due to the mixture of helium and a type of acid.

Lakshi’s favourite part of the show was when we lit plastic bottles on fire, and they flung them in different directions.

Another good part of the show was when Nathan demonstrated that, in fact, jetpacks will not be invented until a scientist can figure out how to balance human weight and the fuel used to fly.

In conclusion, the show was a blast, and it was very entertaining, and we enjoyed it so much. We are so glad Nathan had time to show us the wonders of science, because with science, humans can achieve anything.

Lakshi & Charlotte, Year 7 Correspondents

Last Wednesday, KS3 had the pleasure of watching a live show of 'Wonderstruck' that was all about rocket science. It had absolutely everything, from jumping Rice Krispies to mind-blowing demolitions (amongst so much more). The show was interesting, exciting and really funny - it even had the participation of staff and peers.

My favourite part, by far, was when we put together our very own homemade rocket engine. This was 2 litres, which we later found out was enough to propel a student (shout out to Jeeya) in a 'car' all the way across the hall. I thought this was especially cool because something so important to the field of science was right in front of us, so simple and easy to put together.

Something else that confused me was when we set fire to a cotton wool ball and, while alight, could be picked up and tossed from one hand to the other. This proved how heat rises, so by bouncing it on a flat palm, you could avoid a nasty burn.

The last thing I would like to talk about is one of those mind-blowing demolitions I mentioned previously. To do this, a huge balloon was filled with nitrogen, which I learnt at room temperature is a gas. Then finally, we set light to the balloon engulfing itself and the space around it in flames. To top it all off, it created a mighty bang that, even with my ears covered, was immensely loud.

Overall, I really enjoyed this show. I learnt so much without even realising it; what an opportunity to watch first hand. Oh and, of course, I will not forget, as they kept telling us: do not try this at home!

Ayla, Year 7 Correspondent

As you'll know, BGS students recently worked with End2End TV and 3 other local schools to research the history of our schools. Their work has continued to gain publicity, such as featuring on the BBC London news. Now they are also featured in the children's newspaper, First News. Well done to Mr Husbands, Mrs Goddard and our Year 9 students who took part.

Mr Gilmore, Headteacher