Tomorrow, Year 9 pupil, Adam Gladwin, is starting his cycling challenge of 1200 miles between Lands End and John O’Groats to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

Adam is cycling the length of the country in memory of his Grandfather who died two years ago, and will travel 75 miles a day over 16 days.

If you would like to support Adam in this great cycling expedition, please click here to go to his Just Giving page. Adam and his Mum have been training very hard for this great cause and would be very grateful for the support, no matter how big or small!

The family are also going to write a short blog each day so if you would like to follow their journey please click here.

We wish you all the best of luck from the Merchants’ Community!

On 18th June, boys from the lower school reading group welcomed pupils from Holy Family Catholic High School to celebrate the announcement of the 2018 Carnegie winner for a work of children’s fiction. The winner was declared, in an event at the British Library in London, Geraldine McCaughrean for Where the World Ends, a powerful novel set on the remote island of St Kilda in 1720s. The winner of the Amnesty CILIP Honour was Angie Thomas for her hard hitting novel, The Hate U Give, inspired by the events behind the Black Lives Matter movement.
The votes of our pupils made our own winner Wed Wabbit, by Lissa Evans. However, Where the World Ends and The Hate U Give, came joint second place.

The prize for the best review posted on the Carnegie shadowing website was awarded to Junior Connor. There were also prizes for all pupils who posted reviews. A total of 7,363 reviews were posted by children in this nationwide scheme.

Mrs Rea, MTBS Librarian
June 2018

Two boys from Year 7 participated in the 2017/18 Maths in Motion™ Challenge World Final yesterday, beating off stiff competition from schools in 13 countries. Team 2Fast4U had previously won through a series of internal school races and the subsequent international knockout rounds to make it through to the World Final.  For the first time ever, the World Final was online, with races broadcast ‘live’ from the organiser’s YouTube channel.

Our two finalists, Darren Toh and Shea Brennan, had just 90 minutes to prepare their car during a closed morning session. They had to accurately measure the length of the track, the angles of the bends, calculate the amount of fuel needed, work with percentages and then consider other factors such as tyres, speeds and a weather forecast.  They used all of their mathematical expertise to calculate the settings of their car, and achieved poll position on the grid.

The afternoon session began with much anticipation, with all of Year 7 present to cheer on their peers. 2Fast4U started the race well, staying in poll position for the early part of race. They dropped to 2nd in the latter stages and the boys watched and cheered with much excitement,  hoping that they could regain the lead. Sadly the team were pipped at the post, finishing in 4th position in the final seconds of the race.

There can be no doubt that the boys did themselves and the School proud. Making it through to the final 15 secondary schools, let alone finishing 4th overall is a fantastic achievement! We congratulate them on all of their efforts. Well done, Darren and Shea.