8NRC ended the year with a Maths group project, where students collaboratively researched famous mathematicians from various centuries. They explored the significant contributions and lasting impact of figures like Euclid, Ada Lovelace and Terence Tao. Each group presented their findings through detailed reports and engaging presentations. The project aimed to foster teamwork and deepen their understanding of mathematical history, while also enhancing their research, presentation and, most importantly, literacy skills. I was incredibly impressed with how deeply the students delved into the lives and work of these pioneering mathematicians.

Special mentions to Bertie Heath for demonstrating great dedication through dressing up as Ingrid Daubechies, team Euclid for their short play re-enacting possible speculations on how he died, as well as interactive quizzes by team Euler and team Lovelace.

The winning group (decided by a whole class vote) was team Maryam Mirzakhani, detailing her groundbreaking achievements, including being the first woman to win the Fields Medal, her work on the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces, and her significant contributions to understanding the symmetry of curved surfaces. Her work has profoundly impacted theoretical mathematics and inspired many young mathematicians worldwide.

Massive thank you to 8NRC for participating and engaging fully with the group project. Fantastic work!

Miss Goh, Maths Department

Some images/messages to include from students:

Winning group - team Mirzakhani

“I enjoyed the challenge of this project, especially being able to work collaboratively with my friends on the research. My favourite part was presenting our findings to the class and winning the prize for best mathematician.”

Max Glaser-Batdorff, Team Mirzakhani

“To be honest, I was astounded at the fact that Marjorie Lee Browne is not well known and thus limited research is in my grasp. It really highlighted the difficulties black women faced during the 1900s. However, as the project went on, I found it to be a really inspiring experience, and it was a really enjoyable process working with my team.” Yatharth Agrawal, team Lee Browne

“I’m really proud of how well our group worked together, everyone contributed equally, and the presentation went smoothly. My group found these maths projects very interesting, and it was really inspiring to learn how far maths has evolved throughout the years to what it is now.”

Inesh Giri, Team Tao

“During our project, my group had the pleasure of researching Leonhard Euler. This project aided our commitment and teamwork skills as well as learning a bit about an incredible mathematician. Overall, we enjoyed the project.”

Elsie Jeffries, Team Euler

Bexley Grammar School has had another exciting and action-packed year of STEM. There is a summary in the Summer Magazine that is well worth a read, to see all the things the students have been doing.

The summer holidays are a great time for students to build up experiences that they do not have time for during a busy term. It can be an opportunity to develop an interest and also build up evidence of your passions. Whether a Year 8 student has an afternoon free or a Year 12 student is looking for something to add to their Personal Statement, there are lots of fantastic online resources to help spark an interest in Science. I would highly recommend students have a look at the University of Oxford’s Independent Science Magazine, which has a wealth of fascinating articles and reports from the cutting edge of scientific research. In addition, the Royal Society awards a Science Book Prize annually. The 2024 shortlist will be out over the summer, but the 2023 list is also well worth a look. It includes books for those interested in any STEM field, from Engineering to Evolutionary Biology and everything in between. Please see more details here.

Primary Science Clubs

Over the last four weeks, three local primary schools have been fortunate to be visited by our Science Leaders. The teams of Year 12 leaders have been delivering a series of Science Workshops after school to Year 5 pupils. They have been absolutely amazing and the glowing reports from the Primary Schools fill me with pride. The Science leaders represented our school really well and helped to promote a love of science.

Ms Lusted, STEM Coordinator

Congratulations to our Year 13 IB students and their teachers for their IB results, which were released on Saturday 6th July. We're very pleased to continue to maintain high standards, and average point score of 34 points, with our biggest ever cohort studying the IBDP. 

With 168 points equating to 3 A* grades, you can see from the table below that our students have once again gained a qualification of great academic value and exceeded typical global averages.

On Thursday of last week, Steven Varty, a past student at BGS, spoke to a large group of Year 12s about the opportunities of a career in finance and banking. He discussed his successes and challenges as an Executive Director at Santander and spoke about the benefits of this industry.

Since joining the bank, his role has progressed to becoming the Sector Head of Trade & Working Capital. This informative talk opened the eyes of many students, demonstrating how rewarding a career in banking can be. Personally, as someone who was already hoping to follow a similar career path, I found Steven’s talk extremely helpful and reassuring, as he was completely honest about his experiences and how his career has developed since leaving Bexley Grammar School. This was very exciting to hear as I am someone who will be making decisions to hopefully pursue my own career in banking in just under a year. Not only was Steven’s talk beneficial for those already interested in banking, but many of my friends and other students in the year are now considering this future. Despite this talk having a focus on finance, Steven shared his knowledge of the recruitment process, including interview and application advice, making everyone at the talk feel much more educated and confident to make an informed decision when it comes to applying in the future. 

Megan Butler, Year 12

Today, a few schools from Bexley came together at Townley Grammar School to discuss the Yoto Carnegie book club books. Each school performed a presentation about one of the books. The book that BGS chose was Crossing the Line by Tia Fisher, an amazing and engaging book written in verse about a boy named Erik who makes a lot of bad decisions and ends up being tangled up in organised crime. Our presentation consisted of our Year 10s reading out poems from key points in the book, while the talented Year 8s and 7s did a short performance to complement the poems. The other schools also gave incredible presentations about the other Carnegie books. Afterwards, all the schools voted for our favourite book. The winner was Crossing the Line! Personally, I thought it was an amazing trip. It was so nice to meet people from different schools and talk about books we enjoyed. It was a very pleasant afternoon and I enjoyed it very much!

Sofie Rygielska, Year 10

Carnegie Book Group

It was our last book group this week, and the students took part in a quiz on all the books we have read this term, which was closely won by Sofie in Year 10. We all voted for our favourite book, which was Crossing the Line by Tia Fisher. The National Winner was announced the same day, and was The Boy Lost in the Maze by Joseph Coelho, the current Children's Laureate. Both books are written in verse, Crossing the Line tells the story about a boy being groomed to get drugs across county lines and The Boy Lost in the Maze entwines the story of Theseus and the Minotaur with a modern story of the journey a boy must go on to find his father. 

The students approached all 8 books with enthusiasm and creativity, making podcasts, writing poetry and drawing emoji reviews. It was a pleasure running the group with them, and I was very proud of their performance at Townley Grammar. 

Mrs Carey, Librarian

Turning £230 into £4505.30!

Last term saw Year 10 Business Studies students participate in the 10X Challenge by Young Enterprise. Students arranged themselves into groups and were loaned £10 from the school. They had five weeks to start up and run their businesses and the results have been phenomenal! Students were able to put theory into practice and source the best (or cheapest) suppliers, conduct market research, develop their sales skills, improve their customer service and fine tune their finance skills. The businesses included services such as patio cleaning and car washing, while products included jewellery and bubbles to name a few. It certainly created a buzz in the year group. After students repaid their £10 loans (£230 in total, with 23 groups), the total profits made were £4506.30! Students will be spending this on a variety of things, including summer activities and donations to charity. Well done to all who participated. You should be very proud of yourselves!

Mrs Harris, Head of Business & Economics

“A big thanks to everyone who took part in our Elite Events tournaments and a huge well done to our Year 7 and Year 10 football winners who played superbly to secure their wins!”

Diego, Year 10

“Fantastic experience and really inspiring to get out into the world of work and earn money.”

Kieron & Phillip, Year 10