THE CANNON
ISSUE #3 | MAY 2015
FEATURES
3
HEADTEACHER’S NOTE
4
THE GENERAL ELECTION
5
8
MUSIC: Exam grade congratulations
Year 11 GCSE
PSYCHOLOGY: Visitors from Finland
Derren Brown
9
10
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
ENDEAVOUR
GOODBYE
11
INFORMATION: DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
6
7
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
SKI TRIP
12
13
CHARITY NEWS
ICT WORKSHOPS
2
THE CANNON
ISSUE #3 | MAY 2015
HEADTEACHER’S NOTE
Dear Parents and Carers
The continuing popularity and reputation of Fort Pitt Grammar School was confirmed last week when I and an independent panel
spent the whole week hearing appeals from parents who wished their daughters to be admitted to the school in September.
Earlier in the year we had received over 100 applications from external candidates to join Fort Pitt’s 6 th Form; following
interviews, places have been offered to a number who have met or exceeded our stringent entrance requirements. We look
forward to welcoming these students to our 6th Form induction days in June and July when they will join members of Year 11 who
have chosen to continue their education with us.
Our Year 11 and 12 students have already started their GCSE and AS examinations. Members of Year 13 will join the examination
cohort on June 1st. This week is the last of Year 13’s school career. The Head Students and their teams have prepared a final
assembly for the whole school and, earlier this term, led their peers, parents and the whole school community in a poignant
‘Leavers’ Service’ at Rochester Cathedral. I know members of Year 13 were very grateful for the support of Miss Langford, the
Music department and Music students who made some spectacular contributions to the programme. A totally different
celebration will take place this Friday with a picnic, bouncy castle and, if previous years are anything to go by, lots of tears! I
would like to register my thanks to our ‘leaving students’ for their many contributions to the life and community of Fort Pitt and
wish them all the best for the future.
Before the written examination papers started, many students were involved with practical examinations, oral assessments and
performances which will contribute to a final examination grade. Parents and friends were entertained and impressed with the
standard of work of the GCSE and AS Drama students and the GCSE Music students. There will be an opportunity to view the
impressive work of our Art, Graphics and Textiles students at the Summer Exhibition on June 26 th – a date for your diary.
Whilst students in certain year groups and their teachers have been preparing for public examinations, members of Years 7 & 9
have taken their end of year assessments in their stride and ‘normal lessons and activities’ have continued. I am always grateful to
those colleagues who offer and support extra-curricular activities, particularly during holidays and weekends. I know that
individual students have benefitted greatly from the variety of activities on offer. One activity, the Duke of Edinburgh Award
Scheme, goes from strength to strength; the largest cohort yet undertakes its expedition during the weekend of the 20 th and 21st
June, requiring a large supervisory team. If any parent is able to accompany a group (joining a member of staff from Fort Pitt),
please make contact with Ms Achata (via e-mail or the School Office) as soon as possible.
The Head Girls have offered words of farewell later in this ‘Cannon’. I would like to offer farewell and thanks to two colleagues
who will leave Fort Pitt at the end of Term 5: Mr Dunn who will be undertaking work closer to his home; Ms Staff who has ably
covered in both Drama and English departments whilst Mrs Page has taken maternity leave. We wish them both success in the
future careers.
May I wish you and your family a restful break.
Carol Winn
3
THE GENERAL ELECTION
GENERAL ELECTION PARLIAMENTARY VOTE COUNT AT MEDWAY PARK – 07/05/2015
Many of you will remember the Fort Pitt General Election where you were asked to vote for your preferred party. These votes
were then counted and the results ended up being rather similar to the national result! It was lovely to see so many of you
taking an interest in Politics.
I was very lucky to be able to attend the counting of the votes for the Medway Parliamentary Candidates for the General
Election.
Arriving at 10pm, I already knew it was going to be a strange night. After opinion polls pretty much guaranteeing a Hung
Parliament, it now seemed that the exit poll was suggesting that the Conservatives were heading for an overall majority.
If any of you are unsure what this means, every 5 years we hold what is called a General Election, where each constituency
(area) in the UK votes for a person (candidate) to speak on their behalf in the Parliament. These candidates are usually from
a political party, but sometimes they are ‘independent’ candidates and do not belong to any party. The winning candidate in
each constituency wins a “seat” in the House of Commons, and the political party who has the most seats is considered the
winning party. The leader of this party is then able to go to the Queen and ask for permission to form a government.
To form a government, the winning party needs to get what is called a ‘majority’ of seats (at least 326). This means they will
be able to pass many of the laws that they want to pass through Parliament. If no party reaches this magic number of seats,
this is known as a ‘Hung Parliament’, and the winning party usually needs to ask another party to join them, this is known as
a ‘coalition’ and this is what our government has been for the past 5 years. The winning party can govern on their own
without support from another party but this can often be very difficult.
Political experts, journalists and even the politicians themselves were expecting lots of discussions and uncertainty over the
coming weeks but the Conservative Party ended up sweeping the board and securing their first majority government since
1992.
The process of counting the votes, I realised on the night, is complex and takes a lot longer than I expected. First, the
parliamentary (white) papers have to be separated from the local (peach) papers. Then they have to be verified and any
‘uncertain’ votes need to be put to one side until later in the evening. Then they are separated by candidate and put into
groups of ten before the counting takes place. Finally, all the votes that were deemed unclear must be looked at and a
decision reached about whether or not they can be counted.
The Medway results were not announced until 8:20am (at which point many of us had been awake for 26 or so hours!) This
particular election will be remembered for many years to come, not only because the result was so unpredictable but
because it resulted in the resignation of three major party leaders, and many well-known politicians losing their seats. I hope
that as a result of such an exciting few months, many people, particularly young people, will become more interested in
Politics and will recognise the impact it has on all our lives.
Miss Trussell
Government and Politics Teacher
Here’s a reminder of how Fort Pitt voted:
Meaden
Ryder
Somerville
Westwood
Total
The Conservative Party
79
82
61
54
276
The Green Party
24
25
13
37
99
The Labour Party
48
57
54
46
205
The Liberal Democrats
11
10
13
16
50
UK Independence Party
30
20
31
20
101
Spoils
5
4
4
2
15
4
PSYCHOLOGY
THE FINNS VISIT FORT PITT
On Friday the 1st of May a group of Finnish students and their teachers came to visit us following our trip to
Finland in February this year. We started the day with an assembly where a few English students shared their
experiences of Finland and showed a video that they had made of the trip. We then separated into groups and the
Finns were able to get a taste of lessons at Fort Pitt, this included a wide range of subjects such as Psychology,
English and Business Studies. After break, it was time to do some baking, we all made sausages rolls, scones
and fairy cakes for our lunch. Lunch was a ‘Right Royal Tea Party’ with bunting, flags and royal family face masks.
The students all enjoyed posing as the Queen and having their photographs taken. After this, we had a trip into
Rochester to see the castle and complete the Rochester ‘selfie’ challenge. Students from both countries learned
more about Charles Dickens and the novels that he wrote. An early night was needed and the next day we had an
early start at 6am to travel to St Omer, France.
In St Omer, we were able to walk around the charming streets and market of the town and purchase sweets and
cauliflowers (St Omer being the cauliflower capital!). We all met for a five course dinner which was divine! After
this we went to the hyper market and returned to England laden with croissants and French goodies to share at
home with our families.
On Sunday, we visited Canterbury. The Finns loved the chance to do some shopping and visit the Cathedral. We
went for an English cream tea and bought a lot of books!
On the final day, Monday, we met at Chatham Dockside and took a tour around Dickens World, with two fabulous
tour guides, before having lunch and saying our goodbyes.
The students of Fort Pitt and those from Finland ones have cemented strong friendships and learned of each
others cultures and language. All agreed the visit was a roaring success and we plan to continue the exchange
visits next year.
Miss Hillman
Head of Psychology
The Psychology Department took a group of students to see Derren Brown on the 19 th March at The Orchard Theatre in
Dartford. In the show, Derren talked about illusions and how they are created, he also discussed how we are all masters of
our destinies. The show ended with a grand finale that left the audience gasping in disbelief. Some of the student comments
are below:
“I would say if anyone was interested in Psychology and the mind, you definitely need to see him live. It was amazing!”
“It was unbelievable and a great experience”.
Miss Hillman, Head of Psychology
5
VISIT TO CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
3AS GROUP VISIT TO UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
On the last Friday of the Easter Break, I along with four other
members of the 3As Group travelled to Cambridge University with Mr
Wright in order to attend numerous talks at the university and receive
a tour of Queen’s College. Although getting up at 7am in the holidays
was definitely not appealing, I knew that this would be an amazing
opportunity to gain an understanding of just what studying at a top
university might actually be like.
We met at Rochester station and our journey began around 9.30a.m.
Upon arriving in London, Mr Wright decided that it would be a good
idea to fast walk from London St Pancras train station to King’s
Cross within 5 minutes in order to get the earlier train connection. It’s
safe to say that all of our physical abilities could be vastly improved with the exception of Mr Wright who has much longer legs than us!
Upon arriving in the city of Cambridge, I was shocked at the beauty of our surroundings. The buildings were
extremely quaint and ancient and yet they were in amazing condition. Queen’s College was situated right next
to the river and I was in awe that the university students got to experience this every single day.
To begin with, we were taken to a lecture theatre and listened to a general talk about the university. Here we
learnt more about what is expected of Cambridge students, details about accommodation and finance, and the
variety of courses offered. I learnt about a course called HSPS which stands for Human Social Political
Sciences. As I have a keen interest in Sociology, I thought that this would be an appropriate talk to go to and
find out more about. The talk was led by leading sociologist Jackie Scott and she gave us an insight into what
is involved in this course, and I realised that this was a potential topic to study at University. The other
members of the group who attended all went to different talks, ranging from Psychology and Biology to Law
and Mathematics, whilst Mr Wright went off to speak to the professors for a while.
The trip was extremely useful as it gave me the motivation to study and succeed in my exams in order to have
the best possible chance of going to a top university. I had a fun time taking selfies around Cambridge, much to
Mr Wright’s amusement, and at the end of the day we were all treated to pizza. Overall, it was an extremely fun
day out and it was definitely worth the 7a.m. wakeup call!
Sophie Holt
6
SKI TRIP—LA THUILE
On the Saturday evening of April 11, a group of 24 students and 4 members of staff met at school, and
prepared for a 13 hour coach journey to the Alps in the very north of Italy. As soon as we arrived, we had
our boots and skis fitted so we were all prepared for an early start the next morning.
Each morning we were woken up at 7:30 for breakfast at 8am, which consisted of pastries from the local
bakery. We then had a short time to get ready before meeting at the bottom of the stairs, ready to go on the
gondola up to the slopes. On our first day, we were split into groups based on our ability, and were
introduced to our coach for the week. We had 2 hours of skiing before lunch, and then another two hours
after, before we headed back down for our afternoon activity. We then walked to one of the local restaurants
each night for dinner.
None of us expected such a large ski resort to be hidden on the top of the mountain above where we were
staying, so we were all amazed with the variety of slopes that we could ski down. Each group began with
basic side steps up the slopes and skiing down a very short section, before we progressed onto the blue
slopes (the simplest of the three slopes). Throughout the week, all the groups massively progressed, with
some groups even completing a small section of a black run (the hardest slope category), and all making it
down to the bottom without falling over.
Although we had a lot of falls during the week, I think the most challenging part of skiing was the ski lifts!
We had people under the chair lift being shouted at in Italian, others ending up on a chair on their own
because they’d missed the gate opening, poles being bent when they got caught in the bar, and some
people falling off the lift completely when it was in the air!
Each evening, we had activities organised, including: ice skating, a shopping trip in Courmaeyer (where we
had the best ice cream), swimming, a disco, and our presentation night. The trip was a great chance for us
to get to know everyone and see different parts of Italy. I’ve come away from it with so many new
friendships and amazing memories which I will never forget. I would definitely recommend the 2017 trip to
all year groups, because although it’s a manic week, it’s one of the best you’ll have! #fpskitrip2015
Melissa Stanley
7
MUSIC
CONGRATULATIONS!
Well done to the following musicians who have recently achieved music exam success -
Ruth Agui Yr 10 – Grade 1 Violin
Phoebe Fatoke Yr 10 – Grade 1 Violin
Kirsten Martin Yr 11 – Grade 1 Violin
Eloise Hulme-Sheffield Yr 9 – Grade 4 singing with distinction and Grade 2 clarinet with distinction
Emily Alger Yr 11 – Grade 6 Piano
Nicola Adams Yr 13 – Grade 8 Saxophone with merit
Doyin Yahyi Yr 13 – Grade 5 Theory with merit
Charlotte O'Gallagher - Grade 1 Flute with distinction
Also, many congratulations to Nicola Adams in Year 13 who reached the final of the Medway Young Musician
Competition last month.
A Talented Class to Remember!
The Year 11 GCSE Music class has recently been working hard to produce their final assessed
performances for their exam. Each student has to perform a solo and in an ensemble, which is then
assessed for their GCSE. As a result of such fantastic quality performances the Year 11s were encouraged
to organise a Performance Evening on 5th May so they could share their achievements and talents with their
families and friends.
I am very proud of all the students who took part, many of whom have made excellent progress with their
vocal or instrumental skills through dedicated practice. Many students have said their confidence has really
improved through the course, and it really showed during the performance evening. Well done everyone,
and good luck with the remainder of your exams!
Miss Langford, Head of Music
8
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
MEDWAY SCHOOLS GAMES
Currently after 8 Secondary School games
competitions, Fort Pitt are joint second with Rainham
Mark on 31 points. We still have Cricket, Rounders
and Athletics left.
Steve Brown, a Paralympic Olympian came in to
school to work with GCSE PE groups and Sports
Leaders through the Sky Living Mentor Programme.
He will be returning to work with other groups to talk
about his experiences as an athlete and competing at
the London Olympics.
Year 10 and 11 students attended the PE annual
Netball residential in Ashford. The students
challenged themselves with adventurous activities
and competing with schools around Kent.
YEAR 10 AND 11 NETBALL TEAM
Miss Mullens
Head of PE
ENDEAVOUR
Endeavour Spring into action!
Fort Pitt’s after-school STEM enrichment club has
been busy investigating the science involved in the
production of everyday cosmetics such as shampoos,
shower gels, skin creams and lotions. The students
began by extracting herbal essences from botanicals
such as rosemary, thyme and sage. Many ingredients
used by the cosmetics industry owe their origin to
plants which, once identified, are then produced
synthetically by chemists. The theme continued with
looking at the factors which affect viscosity of gels. All
these activities are in preparation for a competition
we are entering which is run by the Society of
Cosmetic Scientists to produce a refreshing and
invigorating shower gel. Our endeavours continue next term. We meet weekly on Thursdays after school in Lab
3 until 4.15pm The club is open to all years and is free to attend and we even welcome you with biscuits and
squash!
Mr Wesson
Science
9
IT’S GOODBYE FROM US
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
10
After seven years, our time at Fort Pitt has finally come to an end. The excitement that came with us into year 7
has gradually turned into the comfort we feel now as members of the sixth form. Fort Pitt has been more than
just a school to us, it has been a home, a place for our dreams to grow and change. The memories we’ve
made, the people we’ve met and the things we’ve learnt have made us into the women we are today.
The challenges we have faced in the last seven years, both academically and personally, have made us
stronger individuals. Now as we venture into the world of work or higher education we will continue to carry the
belief that hard work, focus and passion are essential in everything we do, this is something that our time here
at Fort Pitt has taught us.
We can say with confidence that we are proud to have been students at Fort Pitt Grammar School.
Thank you for giving us so many memories and supporting us as we took on our Head Girl responsibilities.
Doyin, Madelaine, Jasmine and Emily
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I don’t remember feeling nervous when I first came to this school in year 7 – I was ready. I was ready to make
new friends, to work hard (well... harder than trying to figure out who pinched my thumb in our weekly game of
heads-down thumbs-up!) and most importantly, I was ready to have my own locker. I remember meeting my
form for the first time wearing my neat oversized blazer and my pink and white Fort Pitt hair band, smiling ear
to ear with my best friend from primary school, Mimi, right beside me. I remember being handed my first ever
locker key and being told its position – bottom centre... Now, don’t get me wrong, the excitement of having
somewhere I could call my own in this huge new school far outweighed my disappointment in its location but it
was definitely not what I was expecting. So I spent the rest of the year kneeling down to get to my locker with
two pairs of legs either side of me, dreaming of the day I would get a top locker.
Other memories I have of year 7 are running up the three, awful flights of stairs to get to my first Maths lesson,
entering the class with Mimi late and completely out of breath, and bonding with my soon-to-be best friend over
the fact we had the same middle name and took the same bus home.
I spent the next few years at Fort Pitt growing and changing. I considered every career path under the sun from
musician to lawyer to management consultant to aerospace engineer and eventually settled on ‘something to
do with science’. Year 9 in particular, was a pretty big year for change, I decided to speak up more in school
council, to join the Medway Youth Parliament, to start Flute lessons and to volunteer for as many things as I
could. I guess, as well as trying to be more adventurous, I also didn’t want to have to choose and being at Fort
Pitt meant I didn’t have to. I was free to try as many things as possible and discover for myself what I wanted to
do and who I wanted to be.
The opportunities kept coming even as I moved up the school. I chose my A-levels (Mathematics, Further
Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Spanish), became Vice-chair and then Chair of the school council, I
became a prefect of Spanish and Maths and even convinced myself to join some of the music clubs. Above all,
the opportunity I am most thankful for, is being a Head Girl. The application process was long and the
competition was fierce but it was worth it in the end. I remember the day we found out like it was yesterday; the
then-house leaders invaded the foyer and watched as we went into Mrs Winn’s office in fours to find out who
the new head girls would be – it was surreal. Finding out that Emily was also a Head Girl made it even better,
we spent the whole of our Spanish lesson (after we had found out) in disbelief and trying to figure out how we
would tell our parents. The last year has been incredible. Apart from having fun, getting to know the people in
my house and politely declining the offer of a drink with Jasmine, Emily and Madeline every Monday at our
‘Winny’ meetings, being a house leader has given me the opportunity to give back to the school and
community that have given me so much and contributed to making me the person I am today.
Doyin
11
INFORMATION
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Monday
1 June
Start of Term 6
Monday
8 June to
Friday
12 June
Thursday
11 June
Year 10 Geography Field Trip to Pett Level
Friday
12 June
Year 9 visit to The Somme and Ypres (returning Saturday 13 June)
Monday
15 June
Year 12 return from study leave
Year 8 exam week
Year 7 visit to Upnor (7L1 and 7L2)
Tuesday
16
Year 10 visit to Thorpe Park
Thursday
18 June
Year 7 visit to Upnor (7L3 and 7L4)
Friday
19 June
TAG DAY – ALZHEIMER AWARENESS
Year 11 book return day
Monday
22 June
1st group – Year 8 visit to Natural History Museum
Wednesday
24 June
2nd Group – Year 8 visit to Natural History Museum
Friday
26 June
End of public exams
Monday
29 June to
Wednesday
1 July
Thursday
2 July
New Year 7 Induction Day
Thursday
9 July to
School Production: Fame - 7pm
Wednesday
15 July
Sports Day
Thursday
16 July
Monday
20 July
Thursday
23 July
Year 12 Induction Days
Year 10 Cultural and Linguistic visit to Paris
End of Term 6
CHARITY NEWS
NEPAL EARTHQUAKE APPEAL
An appeal to the school community by our Nepalese students, has resulted in over £500 being raised through
generous donations and a ‘Lucky Bear’ sale. The school is also donating £800 enabling us to send £1,300 to the
disaster area via Christian Aid.
12
ICT WORKSHOPS
ICT workshops will be led by
Mrs Gordon and Mrs Davis
2nd June 2015
16th June 2015
3.30-5.00
3.30-5.00
30th June 2015
3.30-5.00
Shopping Online
Facebook and Social
Networking
Photos Online