David Jones, Headteacher
1976 - 1995
Dear Parents / Carers,
Unfortunately during half-term Mr David Jones, former Headteacher of Bexley Grammar School, passed away.
Mr Jones was the second Headteacher of the school and was in post from 1976-1995.
 Former staff and students speak of his warmth and kindness, and the pastoral nature of his leadership.
Mr Jones returned regularly after retiring and was always keen to share a humorous anecdote from his time at the school.
We pass on our condolences to his family for their loss.
Members of the Old Bexleians Association will be sharing further memories and tributes on their website:
https://www.oldbexleians.com/
Hugh Gilmore
Headteacher
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STEM News February 2024
 House STEM Competition
Teams of Year 9 and 10 students worked hard over four weeks to create marble runs. The challenge was to keep a ping pong ball moving for the longest period of time and include as many cool design features as possible. As always the ingenuity, creativity and hard work of our students was evident throughout. All the designs were completely different and lots of clever strategies were implemented to slow down those ping pong balls such as; speed bumps, spiralling journeys, spinning gates and bottle top stepping stones. Have a look at some of the winning designs. Well done to Prothero for coming first place!
Ms Lusted, Stem Coordinator
Winner Prothero!
(left to right)
Kirkman, Prothero, Wellman, Mabbs
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Collins
Mabbs
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Kirkman
Final Results:
1st - Prothero
2nd - Mabbs
3rd - Wellman & Kirkman
4th - Collins
5th - Johnson
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Creative Writing Club Crowns Victors of “The Glitch!”
This week at KS3 Creative Writing Club, the English Prefects and Mr Griffin had the proud opportunity to award our following members with their certificates for “The Glitch” writing competition. They are all now published writers!
 (Left to right) Andrei Mocanu, Lily Okoh, Caitlin Gorman, Mohammed Kayani, Aarohi Joglekar
As well as the following three (who didn’t attend this week, but still won nonetheless!):
Aarush Upadhye
Isobel Grime
Arthur Loeff Freitas
The extracts submitted were truly exceptional, made even more impressive that they were all written during the club, across multiple weeks! A tremendous congratulations to all those who entered!
Year 12, English Prefects Team
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MFL News
On Thursday 8th February, 16 BGS students from Year 10 and 2 students from Year 9 took part in the UK Linguistics Olympiad 2024, a language-analysis competition for secondary schools in which pupils solve language puzzles. The aim of this initiative is to encourage a lifelong interest in the world’s languages.
The language puzzles were presented in the following languages for the Intermediate level, which was sat by 4 teams:
- Xhosa, or isiXhosa: one of the eleven official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 10 million people as their first language, and by 11 million people as an additional language mostly in South Africa, making it the second most widely spoken language in South Africa after Zulu.
- Tariana: an endangered language spoken in the Vaupés river area in Brazil, close to the border with Columbia. There are about 100 speakers left of Tariana, while there are a further 1,500 Tariana people, who no longer speak the language.
- The Adinkra symbols: these are symbols that represent concepts, originally created by the Bono people (Ghana). They represent various concepts or proverbs and can be used to convey various morals or beliefs.
- Kannada: a Dravidian language spoken by around 60 million people, primarily in the Karnataka state in south-west India. It is written in the Kannada script, and has a literary tradition dating back over 1000 years.
In order to solve these puzzles, students have to use a range of skills: pattern-recognition, analysis, lateral thinking and problem solving. What’s most impressive is that competitors have to not only make these analyses mentally, but also put them into words in an explicit explanation of how the underlying system works in order to solve the challenge.
 We are very proud to have such brilliant, talented linguists in our school and we wish them the best of luck while we wait for their results. Last but not least, well done to Ashna Adhikari for coordinating all teams!
Ms Giglione
MFL Department
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Below you can find some of the challenges from the Intermediate paper.
Culture Day 2024
Friday 15th March 2024 will be a day of cultural celebration in our school community. Students and staff are invited to wear either traditional attire or an item of clothing with their normal school uniform which represents their cultural heritage. Students will receive further information through their form tutors, including details of activities run by our student-led societies the ACS and SEAS on this day.
Mrs Savage, MFL Department
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PE News
Year 9 Kent Cup Final
Support Team BGS at Maidstone United's Gallagher stadium on Saturday 2nd March - book your Cup Final tickets today!
Book your tickets here!
Mr Skinner, PE Department
 Year 7 Basketball
The Year 7 basketball team saw their first competitive action on Thursday against our friends from Beths. After a slow start, the boys picked up well in the second half of a 33-16 defeat.
Mr Lines, Head of PE
Free Tennis Open Day ~ Sunday 3rd March
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 Updates on the BGS Young Enterprise Team!
Our candles are now for sale! Tell your friends and family!
Check out our 5 fantastic candles: Joy, Calm, Nostalgia, Energise and Focus.
Please see the photo below to see the colour, scents and codes for each mood to figure out which one you like the most!
With Mother’s Day coming up, this is the perfect gift to give to your loved ones!
To place orders, please use this google form:
https://illuminacandles.co.uk/orders
Once you have placed your order, your elegant candle will be ready to pick up from the school reception the next day!
To see our team in action, how about you visit our sale at:
Old Spitalfields Market on Tuesday 27th February
Greenwich Market on Wednesday 13th March
BGS Young Enterprise Marketing Team
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The Year 9 Options Booklet
The booklet can be viewed on the school website under the header Teaching and Learning/ Year 9 or by clicking on the link here.
Thank you
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 A Message from the Examinations Office
GCSE Examination Timetable Summer 2024
The GCSE timetable for examinations to be taken in 2024 is now available on the school website or by clicking on the link here.
GCSE Contingency Days Summer 2024
Please note, contingency days are timetabled for the afternoons of 6th and 13th June, as well as Wednesday 26th June 2024. These contingency days are designed to be used in the event of national or significant local disruption to examinations.
This means that all exam candidates must be available to sit exams from the date of their first exam until Wednesday 26 June 2024.
This decision is not a school decision and does apply to all candidates in all schools.
Mrs Bono, Examinations Office
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Year 11 Preparing for Revision
The booklet can be viewed on the school website under the header Teaching and Learning/ Year 11 or by clicking on the link here.
Thank you
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 Please click on the link here to access all our Safeguarding Updates
Removal of Wizz App
 There has been considerable concern in relation to abuse and extortion around this app. After being contacted by the NCMEC (National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children), both Apple and Google have removed Wizz from their app download stores.
It is now no longer available, however the app is still operating so users who previously downloaded it can still use it; we would urge parents and carers to check devices to make sure it has been removed.
Best wishes,
Mr S Auckland
Deputy Head and Designated Safeguarding Lead
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News items you may have missed
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Greenwich
If your child attends a school in another borough, you will need to apply to the relevant council or school directly. APPLY TO BEXLEY.
Tower Hamlets
Children whose parents live in the borough but who attend schools outside the borough. Parents should apply to the authority where the school is located. APPLY TO BEXLEY.
Medway
Does not specify the location of the school and just has a link to applications.
https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200164/school_information/354/free_school_meals. You may need to go via Bexley after this process.
Bromley
If your child attends a non-Bromley school, you must apply to the local authority where the school is situated. APPLY TO BEXLEY.
Dartford
If your child attends a non-Dartford school, you must apply to the local authority where the school is situated. APPLY TO BEXLEY.
When these applications are completed, a notification should be sent to the school for us to update records accordingly, but it may be worth the parents sending in the email confirmation to us too.
Bexley Application Link
https://www.bexley.gov.uk/services/schools-and-education/free-school-meals/how-apply-free-school-meals/free-school-meals-form
Don't delay, apply today!
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Lost Property
We kindly remind parents/carers to please write your child's name wherever possible on their items so that the Reception Team can return property to the correct student.
Please click on the link here to report lost property or email us directly via
reception@bexleygs.co.uk.
Reception Team
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GCSE Advance Notice (Summer 2024) | |
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