麻豆官网

West Side Story

As the clear up comes to an end and the Centenary Hall is back to normal, it is hard to believe that only a few weeks ago it transported us to the streets of New York for this year鈥檚 whole school musical, West Side Story.

Trying to pick something to match the success of Les Mis茅rables last year, was a tall order, and the production team knew West Side Story was going to be tricky, being full of dance, the hardest musical score of the genre, and the emotional turmoil of the story. However, the over 120 students involved in this huge production rose to the challenge, and the school staged an incredible, sell-out immersive performance week at the beginning of March, so much so that some of the audience even came to all four nights.

To house such a big cast, and huge dance numbers, this year鈥檚 musical was performed in-the-round, with set pieces and even street lighting all around the hall, allowing the two rival gangs of 鈥楢mericans鈥� and 鈥楶uerto Rican鈥� immigrants to play out Bernstein, Sondheim and Laurents鈥� take on Shakespeare鈥檚 beloved Romeo and Juliet. The audience enjoyed sitting around the action, and being able to get a close–up view of the energetic and complex iconic dances from the show.

This was a real show-case of talents both on and off stage. The orchestra was noted to be the best-sounding ever, the stage crew worked hard to bring New York to reality in the space, and all the cast showed huge commitment rehearsing multiple times each week from September to develop their skills acting in different directions, and of course memorising all the dance moves! There was even a marching brass band in the midst of one of the whole-cast dance numbers.

The leads were particularly exceptional this year, and the quality of singing and stage presence brought by Tony (Charlie Epps) and Maria (Avalon Vowles), along with Anita (Matilda Nicholls) and Riff (Robert Harrison) was incredible, being full of emotion and character. It is worth noting all the lead Jets too (Nathan Gribbin, Rupert Hill, James Gibbs, George Menter, Oscar Garbett, David Cooper, Guy Lewis and Josh Escott) who, opposite the Sharks (Jonathan Chant-Stevens, Austin Incles, Hugo Hedges, Arthur Sloggett, Sophie Chamberlain and Jasmine Smale) all worked hard to develop a gritty presentation of 1950s鈥� street-gang life.

Despite the achievement of such an inspiring performance, the end of the show brings a sadness for many involved. After nearly two-terms鈥� work, participation requires such a commitment of time and emotion that there can be a sense of loss when it is over. However, what is left behind is perhaps even more inspiring than the show itself: the memories and friendships, along with the skills, resilience and team-spirit of all involved will last a lifetime. And, of course, it won鈥檛 be long before we start planning next year鈥檚 spectacle!

Just before February half term, 110 students from across all year groups joined 30 Science Club (CREST award) and 32 year-12 IB students, to put on probably the largest and most successful Science Fair yet!

The huge variety of science demonstrations and projects was staggering, and the quality of the presentations outstanding. One of the objectives of the fair is to allow students to work independently on science outside of the normal curriculum, thereby gaining an invaluable learning experience; they did so to an impressive level!

In the morning, 80 able-and-talented primary students from a number of local schools attended 麻豆官网, taking part in a rocket car challenge before taking tours of the labs where they saw some of the more hazardous experiments run by the sixth forms, visiting the observatory where they saw our state-of-the-art telescope, and finally seeing the main Science Fair exhibits.

Congratulations to all the students involved in this year鈥檚 fair, and a huge thank you to the science staff who helped supervise groups and ensured the day ran so smoothly.

Our poets in residence were inspired to put pen to paper to capture the event.

Answers
I want to think like a scientist,
Observing animals, the Earth and even the sky,
I want to find good answers,
And pry, and pry, and pry.

So for this I came to the Science Fair,
My feet, running like a waterfall,
My mouth gaping in wonder,
My eyes, scrutinizing the hall.

Everywhere I could see, explosions,
People walking about,
Experiments all a-blazing,
And here are some things that for me did call out鈥�

The Potato gun fires 鈥� Patin鈥檚 portrait expires,
A bike whirrs round and around. It鈥檚 complexity even me did astound.
A tennis ball mortar goes BOOM! 鈥� and from it, of smoke, a great plume.
A marshmallow, vacuumed in a jar, the effect, strikingly bizarre.

A single second all this took 鈥� but for what happened could be written a book,
I stand there, will in awe, waiting for the shock to thaw,
While thinking, as my brain lost all despair,
鈥淭hank goodness I came to the Science Fair!鈥�

Zack Stone
听
A Celebration of Light and Colour
One roof under which the celebration of light and colour was continuously calling,
Two twisting tornadoes of water spiralled uncontrollably, distorting wonderstruck faces,
Three hundred people filtering through the labyrinth of knowledge and intrigue,
Forty experiments sitting dormant鈥� anticipating鈥� waiting鈥� waiting鈥�
Five fired up senses fearlessly foreseeing the future,
Six houses joined as one, sharing in the miracles of the scientific universe,
Seven frequencies of light refracting, enabling the colours of the rainbow to dance around the hall.
Eight keen poets rapidly recording the radiation of sights and sounds, summarising the spectacle,
Nine amps of current surging silently through the unknown circuits,
Ten times the school spirit packed into one room.

The room into which light and colour were continuously calling.

Jozef Prywata

The Science Fair
The genie is out of the lamp!
A fascinating sweetshop of chemical fantasies.
Mysterious, marvellous, magical alchemy.
Excited, mice-pitched voices and gleaming eyes,
As primary scientists investigate.
Weary cyclists generate power 鈥� keeping the show on the road.
Whirling wheels spin: Caractacus Potts would have been proud!
Sudden explosions-spiralling smoke mingles
with dry ice 鈥� a 1980s Top of the Pops!
Protective gowns become magicians鈥� capes
As Science takes its bow, centre stage.

Jude Ellacott

Science (f)Air
As you walk through the large wooden doors,
The music booms down your ears, in roars,
Smells of smoke and steam fill your nose,
In the Science Fair, there鈥檚 no time to doze.

As you shuffle by the stalls, like a clock at work,
No clue round the corner which experiment will lurk,
Older scientists and younger welcoming you near,
With the background music being all you can hear.

The pops and bangs from the canon on the stage,
This magic they produce seems that of a mage,
Each time they ready themselves to fire,
The cheers and chatter levels go even higher.

Each little reaction played its own part,
To stop all the bored ones, about to depart,
The flames and sparks flying up in the air,
There鈥檚 something exciting going on everywhere.

Coloured smoke bellows through the room,
The cannon fires away with a massive 鈥楤oom鈥�,
Younger students cheering with utter glee,
Watching as the speeding potato is finally let free.

Who wouldn鈥檛 want to go to this fair?
Where all you can do is stand and stare,
At all the amazing things there are to see,
And entry comes at no paying fee.
听
Ruben Locke

These lines from lead character Tony are ringing in the air at Torquay Boys鈥� Grammar School as preparations are in the final swing for this year鈥檚 musical, the ever-popular West Side Story.

Following last year鈥檚 sell-out success of Les Mis茅rables, staff and students are pulling out all the stops to deliver just as strong a performance.

To house the 70 plus cast, and huge dance numbers, this year鈥檚 musical is being performed in-the-round style, offering the audience an immersion into the New York setting, where two rival gangs of 鈥楢mericans鈥� and 鈥楶uerto Rican鈥� immigrants play out Bernstein, Sondheim and Laurents鈥� take on Shakespeare鈥檚 beloved Romeo and Juliet.

The whole cast have had to learn to dance: choreographer Victoria Pellant said, 鈥淭aking on West Side Story has not been the easiest of tasks 鈥� the amount of dance within this show can be daunting for any professional company, let alone a huge cast which have not danced very much at all; the cast have been absolutely brilliant and taken all my crazy ideas within their stride.

“I am extremely proud of them and all of their hard work as they have ended up with a fantastic show.鈥�

Performing West Side Story is a huge undertaking for any company, but the complexity of the music, dancing and story staging all contribute to the long-standing beauty of the show.

Musical director, Chris Eastman, said, 鈥淕round-breaking in its time, the emotional depth and technical complexity of West Side Story鈥檚 score make it incredibly difficult to perform, even for adults.

鈥淚t was an unfulfilled ambition of mine to play Tony in my time at 麻豆官网, but now I get to go one better and conduct this exceptionally talented and energetic cast and orchestra in what remains the musical pinnacle of Musical Theatre repertoire.鈥�

As usual, students from Torquay Girls鈥� Grammar School are joining the boys, the combined cast offering many talented performers on and off stage.

Director, James Hunt said, 鈥淭he cast seems to grow in confidence and skill year听on year; there are some familiar and new faces but everyone has risen to the challenge of bringing the world of the disaffected rivalling gangs to life.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to see it all come together for our first performance on Monday 2 March for local primary schools.鈥�

West Side Story is being staged 3-6 March at 麻豆官网; tickets are available via the what鈥檚 on tab at

The school musical for 2020 is West Side Story, the tickets are now available, you can buy them from the school shop by clicking the poster below.

Torquay Boys鈥� Grammar School is top 10 school nationally!

It is great to be recognised as the top 10 school in the country, out of over 3000 secondary schools.

麻豆官网 regularly celebrates the huge progress students make academically during their time at 麻豆官网, but last week saw further recognition for how well the school compares nationally.听 Researchers from Bristol University analysed the 2018 progress scores of all secondary schools across the country and made an adjustment to take into account disadvantage, gender, SEND and English as a foreign language.

Headteacher, Pete Lawrence, said, 鈥業t is wonderful to see this recognition of the achievements of our students, and due reward for the hard work of everyone involved.鈥�

In the report, published in Schools Week, grammar schools are noted to have their ratings go down in the Fair Secondary School Index, so it is particularly pleasing to have secured such a stellar position.

The findings come from measuring student outcomes at GCSE, but the high performance of 麻豆官网 students is testament to the well-rounded nurturing educational experience offered at the school, which leads to students achieving so highly compared to their peers across the country.

With the winter upon us, here is the latest edition of the 麻豆官网 Winter Sports .

A packed Centenary Hall enjoyed a delightful evening of music from a variety of genres on Tuesday 12 November 2019.

The calibre this year was exceptionally high, and the finale performance of 鈥榃ith a Little Help from my Friends鈥�, featuring every student who had taken part during the concert, was a testament to the volume and quality of the musical talent being nurtured in the school. Enjoy some of the highlights in this video.

It is getting very Autumnal outside now, here is the latest edition of the school .

This term began with a celebration of last year鈥檚 success. On 19 September, almost 100 students were invited with their families to celebrate at a prize giving. Each year, students in the lower school are awarded for either progress, academic achievement, endeavour, or our school Aude Sapere prize, a prize devoted to resilience and triumph.

The evening started with welcome drinks served in our new constructed bar area in the Centenary Hall, paid for with the money raised through the school musical. This has transformed the atrium area into a real venue. Accompanied by some vibrant jazz from the year 11 quartet of Thomas Grogan, Isaac Hutchinson, Oscar Garbett and George Thorne, there was a really exciting welcome vibe to kick start the celebration.

Mr Lawrence introduced the award giving with a famous clip from Educating Yorkshire (where a Musharaf experiences a turning point in his education as a teacher opens up his ability to speak, overcoming a stutter, by listening to music), to highlight the power of education to transform lives, and what happens when talented teachers work with dedicated students.

During the award giving, Heads of House awarded special certificates, and coveted gold star lapel pins to the winners, along with perhaps something even greater to cherish; a special individualised tribute was given to each person in turn. Much of the school鈥檚 success, and the success that students go on to achieve at the end of school and beyond, comes from strong pastoral relationships between staff and students as they work together through each student鈥檚 educational journey. The evening demonstrated that Heads of House know their students, their strengths, motivations and goals, reinforcing the power of our house system.

Congratulations go to all the prize winners.

We look forward to celebrating success further at the upper school evening on 31 October.

This is a video