As a wonderful evening of musical entertainment by our pupils brings a busy half-term to a close, a new chapter opens. You will all by now have received my email with the very exciting news that our school founders, the Haberdashers’ Adams’ Charity, have purchased Beaumaris Court in Newport.  With its’ large communal areas and modern en-suite bedrooms, this will soon become the new home of senior boarding. 

Boarding plays an incredibly vital part in creating the unique community feel at Adams’ that benefits all of our pupils. I am delighted that the school has been given this opportunity to upgrade our facilities, enabling us to secure the continued long-term financial stability of boarding and the school as a whole.  I look forward to sharing updates with you as the plans develop.
 
With this exciting news still fresh, our House Music Competition couldn’t have come at a better time, providing a rousing finish to the half-term. This is one of my favourite events in the school calendar and a defining event for all of our pupils. I have never been in a school or heard of a school that takes and embraces the ideas of mass participation with such enthusiasm. From the intricacy of the performances in the chamber music section to the raucous rock bands and big choirs, we were treated to displays of musical skill and enthusiasm which for me defines what this event is all about. I wish the warmest congratulations to Clive House on their victory and would also like to say thank you to every single pupil, teacher and parent who played a part in making the evening such a success.
 
I wish you all a restful and enjoyable half-term break and look forward to welcoming you back on Monday 27^th February.
 

Headmaster

House Music

We were treated to outstanding performances at this year's House Music Competition with over 380 students taking part.  Huge congratulations to this year's winners , Clive House, who not only stole the Trophy but were also awarded The Saull Cup for their arrangement and performance of the set song 'Let's Dance' by David Bowie, and The Newport Music Club Cup for their performance in the Chamber Music Class. The Coomer Cup for outstanding individual performance was awarded to Clive's Music Captain, Akash Srinivasan. Well done Clive!  Our thanks to this year's adjudicator Catherine Douglas and our guest performer Old Novaportan Zak Christie. A full set of photos will be available on Facebook soon.

Crest Awards success

Seven Sixth Form students have recently been presented with Gold Awards for the projects they did last summer at Harper Adams University as part of the CREST Awards scheme. CREST is a UK award scheme for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, enabling students to build their skills and demonstrate personal achievement in project work.
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Young investors taste success

A team of Year 10 pupils have maintained the school's impressive record in the ifs Student Investor Challenge competition and have qualified for a place in the semi-finals of this national competition.
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L!fe Bikes

Today (Friday) we are welcoming the BBC Midlands Today into school to film a story about DT's innovative L!fe Bikes project. We are not quite sure when the story will be broadcast but please look out for it over the next few days. Pupils will be able to find out more about the project in a special assembly in the first week back after half term.

Academic Commendations

Congratulations to all the pupils who have been awarded Headmaster or Taylor commendations this half-term.
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ON success

The school was delighted to hear that former School Captain Maniragav Manimaran has recently been named as a winner in a global competition to identify the world’s leading undergraduates.
Ragav left Adams’ in 2013 to study Medicine at University College London and has since gained a First-Class Honours degree in Medical Physics and Bioengineering, finishing as one of the top three students in his class.
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Senior boarding takes-over parkrun

On a particularly wet and cold January morning senior boarding pupils and staff were to be found dotted around the far reaches of Telford's Town Park. The senior boarders are regulars at the Telford parkrun and they wanted to give something back to this great local event.
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AGS Society Family Fun Quiz

Our AGS Society would like to thank everyone who supported their fish and chip quiz night at the end of January, which added some cheer to a cold winter evening.  The atmosphere was great and to top it all the evening raised a fantastic £650, which will now be used to help with the purchase of equipment and resources that will benefit our pupils. Please do email the AGS Society if you would like to help with any future fundraising events; they'd love to hear from you: admin@agssociety.org.uk 

AGS Radio

Introducing AGS Radio - the student voice of Adams' Grammar School. This brand new show is brought to you by Lower Sixth students Sam, Jonty, Harry and Shariz with the first programme now available on our website here. Over the coming weeks the boys will be broadcasting a wide range of news and entertainment for all of the AGS community with Show 2 available soon!

Boys do battle in Pi-Wars

Members of the school's Robot Club have joined with our Federation partner Abraham Darby Academy to battle it out in a series of Pi-Wars. Pupils from Year 7 to the Sixth Form meet after school on Thursdays to create their robots using Raspberry Pi computers. Read More

A night with the Royals!

On Wednesday evening boarders enjoyed one of their now traditional end of half-term feasts. The theme this time was the Royals. Thank you Catering Academy for another wonderful evening. Lots more pictures on our Facebook page.

Ski Trip

This half-term 41 pupils from Years 7-10 and seven members of staff will be enjoying the ski slopes of Saalbach Hinterglemm in Austria. We look forward to hearing all about their trip on their return. 

 

Sports Reports

Many thanks to the members of staff who have supplied us with reports on recent rugby, hockey, football and cross-country matches. It has also been a very busy term of inter-House competition with closely fought battles in House Basketball and House Gymnastics.
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Dates for your diary

Monday  27th February – TERM BEGINS
Thursday 2nd March – Year 11 parents evening
18th/19th March – Boarders’ Exeat Weekend (no Prep Club on Friday 17th March)
Thursday 23rd March – Year 8 parents evening
Thursday 30th March – Year 7 parents evening
Wednesday 5th April – House Rugby Sevens & House Netball Competition
Friday 7th April – TERM ENDS
 

Junior Boarding Update

Our junior boarders have enjoyed another busy half-term, fitting in trips to Lasertag in Wolverhampton, ice-skating in Telford and Waterworld in Stoke. To find out more please take a look at the Junior Boarding Newsletter. Read More

Sons of Pitches

Tickets are still available to see the multi-award winning a capella group The Sons of Pitches on Friday 10th March. Featuring Old Novaportan Joe Belham, The Sons will run a workshop with selected pupils in the afternoon followed by a concert in the evening. Tickets for the evening performances, priced at £15 each, are available through the Coach House or please email us to book.

CCF

Congratulations to our Air Squadron Trophy Team who took part in the West Region competition at RAF Cosford this term. The (very young & inexperienced) team came third to very experienced Abingdon School & newcomers to the region- Christ College Brecon. This qualifies them to go to the National Finals at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire in March. Well done all!

Bus Service September 2017

Parents of pupils who currently use the school's bus service will receive an email on Wednesday 1st March inviting them to register for the next academic year.

Parents wishing to renew their child's travel arrangements will need to ensure the form is completed and returned to us by Friday 10th March 2017.
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History Club at Muxton School

As part of the school's Opening Doors programme Head of History Miss Biddulph has recently launched a new History Club at Muxton Primary School. Miss Biddulph will be teaching interactive history to Year 5 and 6 pupils including a local history project, looking at family history and getting the children involved in bringing history to life. The new scheme was launched with the help of pupils from the AGS History Club who have created History scenes for the walls of the school. 

Working together

This term we have been delighted to welcome into school a group of Year 11 pupils from our Federation partner school Abraham Darby Academy for a spot of maths mentoring by our Sixth Form mathematicians.

 

Rotary Club Youth Speaks

Congratulations to the Lower Sixth Public Speaking team who won the Rotary Club’s “Youth Speaks” competition recently. They delivered an excellent performance on the topic of Generations. Well done to Saffron Howdle (Proposer/Chair), Felix Davison (Main Speaker) and Peter Overal (Vote of Thanks). They now proceed to the next round of the competition, to be held in Aldridge Youth Theatre at 6.30pm on Wednesday 8th March. 

Two Day Hike

Sixth Form student Cadet Flight Sergeant Thomas Cross is planning a two day 53 mile hike from Codsall to the Wrekin and back again to raise funds for The John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation (JTYAF). Established in honour of Royal Marine John Thornton, who was tragically killed in 2080 during a tour of Iraq, JTYAF supports young people from a wide range of youth organisations, providing scholarships and bursaries to support their personal development and the pursuit of their ambitions. More information is available on Tom's Just Giving page.