Two teachers and four sports teams were short listed for the  Awards ceremony held at the University of Kent at Medway on Friday the 23rd of November.

Mr Benwell in the PE department was up for Teacher of the Year and Mr Ford from the Maths department was in the running for Coach of the Year for his outstanding commitment to school basketball. Two Year 9 teams, hockey and cricket, were in for Junior team of the Year after 100% records-both coached by Mr Benwell, and we had two sides in the Team of the Year category. The 1st XI hockey team, were undefeated last season and won the Borden Hockey League and the Under 19 Table Tennis team reached the quarter finals of the English schools Table tennis Championships in Cheltenham having won the Kent Schools title. 

A great night was had by all.   We were able to cheer on Michael Baker as he was awarded the title of Young Sports Ambassador.

Twenty boys and girls from Chatham Grammar and other schools in Medway and Maidstone took part in the ten day programme accompanied by Ms Kushida; Mr Marshall and Mr Gardner.

The youngsters were fascinated by sightseeing in Tokyo on their first day but this was just the beginning as they later travelled by bullet train to Hiroshima and were shaken by the emotion of visiting the Peace Dome and Peace Park, which made them truly appreciate the magnitude of the events there in August 1945.  Further visits included two days in Kobe, sight of the huge earthquake in 1993, where Mr Marshall (right) signed an exchange agreement with Kobe High School.

Two days were spent in Kyoto where the students experienced entertainment from traditional Japanese performers and a visit to the Geisha quarter of Gion; in addition there were tours of spectacular Buddhist Temples and Zen Shrines of world historic importance.  The students thoroughly enjoyed two home stays with Japanese families from Kobe High School and Tsurinami High School in Chigisaki City.  This certainly helped them to experience and appreciate Japanese traditions and culture at first hand.

Students from Kobe and Tsurumine visited Chatham Grammar School earlier this year.

We have a history of providing student with the chance to take part in wonderful educational trips and visits all over the world, recent events include visits to Thailand, Iceland, South Africa, Italy, Germany, Spain and Costa Rica.

Chatham Grammar School For Boys was one of three schools in the South East invited to the official opening of the Thames Gateway Forum at the ExCel Centre in the heart of London's regenerated docklands.

Fifteen boys from Year 11 took part in the official opening and were introduced to the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.  They demonstrated to him some of the interactive features of the architectural model of the project.  The model is the largest of its kind in the UK, measuring 25 metres by 11 metres: the equivalent length of three London buses end to end.  It includes representations of future developments, existing buildings, transport networks, public spaces, waterways and landscaping in the Thames Gateway; itself measuring 40 miles by 20 miles, the largest regeneration project in Western Europe.

Mr Brown asked the boys about their school and was interested to hear about the schools accelerated curriculum which means that the boys have already completed their GCSE Exams and in September embarked upon A level studies a year early.  On hearing that pupil Ali Abdul was studying A Level Economics, Mr Brown predicted that Ali might one day be Chancellor of the Exchequer or Governor of the Bank of England.  Many a true word is spoken in jest, most boys from the school go on to University and many have achieved great success in industry, commerce and public service.  Perhaps Ali or one of the other boys from Chatham Grammar School for Boys will be Chancellor or aspire to go one step further?

Congratulations to Tom Strudwick in Year 9 and Tom Southerden in Year 10 who competed in the Rotary Clubs of Medway district finals on 30th November. Both students have been preparing for the competition since September, and had to present a 5 minute speech on a specified topic. Marks were given for, among other aspects, overall construction of speech, development of thoughts, ability to communicate, and logic.

The competition is open to all schools in Medway, and this year, Chatham Grammar School for Boys won the senior category!! Tom Southerden's speech on global warming gained him first place and he will now compete in the Regional Finals in March 2008.  This is an incredible achievement which reflects Tom's dedication - well done!! Miss Van der Berg would like to thank both students' parents for their support during the past few months and will keep her fingers crossed in March - good luck Tom!  Tom would also like to thank Miss Van der Berg for her help and support.