School Captain’s Blog: March 2012

I had hoped that after an extremely busy start to the year, the next few months might be a little more relaxed; but as ever, at QM, there was always something happening.

We witnessed the Sixth Form Centre rising from the ashes of the old houses at a truly impressive rate. It is still on track for opening at the beginning of the forthcoming academic year; to add to the excitement, the event will be marked by Radio 4 ‘Any Questions’ being hosted at school! At the moment focus is moving to the interior of the building. The Sixth Form have been put in charge of choosing and sourcing furniture. The chosen designs are from two old boys of the school: James Mercy and Joseph Duffell, who have a design company called JDD Furniture. Various fund raising events will be happening soon to raise money for this.

Sixth Form German students were given the chance to participate in a two week long work experience exchange in Biedenkopf. Those studying Spanish were not left out as there was also an exchange trip to Vigo in Spain, where the party met up with two teachers who recently left QM for sunny Spain.

The next QMA fundraiser, the Burns’ Night, saw dancing to Val Miller and her band as well as a sit down meal, including the traditional haggis. A huge amount of effort went into the organisation of the event and it has brought in a substantial amount of money for the school.

The CCF spent three weekends up at Farchynys with Arctic and Antarctic Warfare giving cadets the chance to put into practice what they have learnt on Friday nights. Major Machin’s ever popular Command and Control weekend saw cadets simulating a battle in the area surrounding the coach house!

Most recently, Farchynys has been put to good use by the Geography Department with their AS-Level fieldwork study. During the visit, students carried out studies into succession of plants on sand dunes, sand dune structure, river flow and valley formation. Another change in the Geography Department has seen Mr. Matley appointed Head of Geography for the next academic year.

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