Kaddy Lee-Preston meteorologist, BBC weather reporter and local celebrity officially opened Skinners‟ newly installed solar panels at 12 noon on the 8th October. Skinners‟ School was awarded £62K funding from Kent High Weald Unit, KCC and 2 grants from Low Carbon Building Fund, to install 60 panels of photo-voltaic solar panels. They can power the whole science block‟s labs, the computer suite, sixth form common room, toilets, kitchen and dining hall. The whole building can now run on renewable energy, saving a significant 3.8 tonnes of CO 2 per annum plus a considerable £1000 saving to the school‟s energy bill. The impressive boost to the School and the environmental committee‟s efforts closely followed the award of the prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag in February this year. It demonstrates the whole school‟s ongoing commitment to improve its environment. As Mr Everson, commented „Students and staff on the environment committee work hard to educate their peers, to reduce the amount of waste generated, promote sustainable travel to school and reduce energy consumption. Each generation of Skinners‟ students builds on the legacy of its predecessors. This generation will help to ensure that future is a sustainable one.‟ PRESS RELEASE 2 Tonnes of CO2 already saved
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Kaddy Lee-Preston meteorologist,
BBC weather reporter and local
celebrity officially opened Skinners‟
newly installed solar panels at 12
noon on the 8th October.
Skinners‟ School was awarded £62K
funding from Kent High Weald Unit,
KCC and 2 grants from Low Carbon
Building Fund, to install 60 panels of
photo-voltaic solar panels. They can
power the whole science block‟s labs,
the computer suite, sixth form common room, toilets, kitchen and dining hall. The whole
building can now run on renewable energy, saving a significant 3.8 tonnes of CO2 per annum
plus a considerable £1000 saving to the school‟s energy bill.
The impressive boost to the School and the environmental committee‟s efforts closely followed
the award of the prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag in February this year. It demonstrates the
whole school‟s ongoing commitment to improve its environment. As Mr Everson, commented
„Students and staff on the environment committee work hard to educate their peers, to reduce
the amount of waste generated, promote sustainable travel to school and reduce energy
consumption. Each generation of Skinners‟ students builds on the legacy of its predecessors.
This generation will help to ensure that future is a sustainable one.‟
PRESS RELEASE
2 Tonnes of CO2 already saved
DRAMA
Dramatic
MomentsEven before the official
dedication of the Thomson
Theatre, boys were getting a
taster of the
exciting possibilities of our
new performance space. Mrs
Fiona Lennon, the Head of
Drama was a driving force
when negotiating the
specification of the theatre
and rehearsal space; her
technical crew have already
received training in the state
of the art lighting and
sound systems; 'A' level
students will be able to
perform their exams pieces at
Skinners' this year and three
oversubscribed drama clubs
are up and running at
lunchtimes!
Watch this space for
notification of future
performance dates - all
invited!
Poet Inspires Year 7sPaul Lyalls ran a series of workshops for year 7 and 'A'
level students on 25th September. Boys were treated
to a range of Paul's own poems, anecdotes and advice
on writing - delivered in a lively, accessible style.
Poems covered a range of intriguing topics: toy
soldiers brought to life, 'Who wants to be a
millionaire?' and the adventure of children's lost coins.
Read the creative results of the competition that
followed in the next edition of 'The Leopard', the
school magazine.
Thomson Theatre Officially
OpenedOn 7th November David Thomson‟s widow was present at
the dedication and opening of the new theatre. The
theatre is named in honour of her husband who inspired
the generous benefactor, a former student, when he was
his English teacher.
The 22nd October saw 118 Year 7 boys, 9 prefects and 5 members of staff make the much
anticipated journey to Cromer, Norfolk, for a fun-filled three days in which they would be
faced with a range of exhilarating challenges. With activities ranging from Night Line, in
which boys were pitted against the challenge of darkness and testing obstacles, and
Aeroball, an exhilarating hybrid of trampoline and basketball, our boys developed their
team work skills; learning to trust, encourage and engage with each other. Friendships were
clearly developed and cemented in the centre‟s activities, sporadic games of Frisbee that
broke out, chatter and friendly banter across their cooked breakfasts and in a rousing and
rather enthusiastic practice of the Leopard song!
The Oakley Wildlife Garden was
opened on Wednesday 22nd October.
On a glorious autumn day, staff,
pupils, parents, governors from both
schools, attended to watch the
ceremonies which included an address
by the Tunbridge Wells Town Cryer, the
official opening by the Wildlife Trust,
and then speeches from both
Headmasters and the Kent High Weald
Project. The project had involved our
boys working with the KHWP over
several weeks; clearing invasive
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Norfolk 2008 - Mud Doesn’t Stop Play!
rhododendron, grubbing up old tree trunks, putting up bird boxes and making sight-
lines for the views.
Guests were treated to a tour of the Wildlife Trail and out-door classroom, and the
sunny, extensive views over the Weald from the end of the trail were truly beautiful.
„Mini-beast music‟ was then performed by the children of Oakley School and was in
keeping with the theme of the outdoor classroom, after which we all retired to the
Sensory Garden for tea and sandwiches.
Thanks are due to all the boys who have helped on this project – too many to name
individually, but there were representatives from every Year group in the school.
Thanks also to my colleagues Mr Stone, Mr Adams and Dr Porter, all of whom rolled
up their sleeves and helped with the hard work!
Mark Moody - Specialist Science Coordinator
House academic challengeThursday 23rd October saw the first Inter-House
Academic Challenge, where seven of the finest
academically gifted pupils from each House were
pitted against each other in a University Challenge
style quiz, with hundreds of House points up for grabs
for the revitalised House Competition.
Jeremy Paxman was replaced by our very own Yorkshire
born question master Mr Utting, and Mr Oldham was in
charge of the (dare I say it!) somewhat dubious scoring
system.
The first round of ten questions saw Knott take an early
lead, but sadly Sebastian and Atwell began to dominate
the competition; Head Boy Sam Barker seemingly
answering all the questions for Sebastian House.
The final standings saw Atwell take first place,
Sebastian second, then Knott and Hunt third and fourth
respectively. Altogether it was a tremendously
successful evening and as a member of Knott House I
am content in the knowledge that our shortcomings
were merely the result of a faulty buzzer!
Joe Severs
11 Red
Knott House
Year
Group Atwell Hunt Knott Sebastian
7 769 728 730 770
8 1296 1236 704 943
9 816 728 803 919
10 607 596 572 601
11 296 434 512 489
Other 505 185 190 395
Total 4135 3568 3290 3796
Totals as at Friday 24 October
2008
House Points
MUSIC
Musical InterludesBoth Junior Swing Band and
Junior Orchestra entertained
an ever changing but
appreciative audience on
Open Evening. For Skinners‟
Day the school orchestra led
the enthusiastic singing
when boys, staff, parents and
guests proudly sang the school
song.
Visiting MusiciansTom Keenlyside, an
eminent jazz musician from
Canada, worked with 25 of our
players during a recent Jazz
day. In addition he lectured to
the exam sets.
International SuccessThe 3rd ITF (International Taekwon-do Federation)
World Cup took place in Riva Del Garda, Italy,
between the 15th and 20th of November 2008. This is
an open world championship with 1200 competitors
from 45 countries taking part. Andrew Buckingham
from the upper sixth form at Skinners‟ competed and,
in a closely fought series of contests, secured the
bronze medal! We congratulate him on his impressive
success!
Luminescence – Young EnterpriseThis year‟s current year 12s at Skinners‟ along with other schools in Kent, have decided to
participate in the highly recognised Young Enterprise scheme. Young Enterprise is the UK‟s
leading business and enterprise organization that aims to help students learn about the
business world by setting up and running their own real life business.
Members of Year 12 at Skinners‟ have teamed up with students from a variety of schools
including TWGGS and Beechwood to set up a company called Luminescence Ltd.
Luminescence aim to sell the hugely popular Pandora style bracelets.
The group will be holding a stall at Skinners‟ Christmas Bazaar on the 29th November and
will be hosting a launch party at Skinners‟ (TBC).
Luminescence ltd has created a website which showcases their products. If you are
interested to see or buy any products please visit luminescenceltd.com.
Members of Team 3, whose trek was
dramatically cut short in the summer,
were treated to a fantastic day
courtesy of team dynamics in Bells
Yew Green that covered a range of
outdoor team activities to end their
work together on a high note.
Te
am
Bu
ild
ing
CCF Cadets play in TA Freedom
ParadeOn the morning of Saturday 18 October a parade in
Tunbridge Wells town centre saw the Freedom of the
Borough offered to the locally based TA soldiers of 579
(EOD) Squadron Royal Engineers. As part of the parade,
cadets from different youth organisations, including our
own CCF, were invited to supply a colour party (of three
cadets), plus a small number of others, whose task was
to collect for 'Help for Heroes' and help raise awareness
of the parade and the role of cadets. (See full report on
the school's website - www.skinners-school.co.uk )
A J HoldingLieut. Colonel
Stop PressTickets still available for year 7 visit to January's
pantomime 'Cinderella' from the School Library.
Tuesday 18th - the inaugural concert to be held in
the newly refurbished Byng Hall will take place in the
Thompson Theatre at 7.30pm
The Right to Reply…There is an opportunity for parents to respond to