News Headlines

August 2010

24 August: GCSE Success for Watford Boys

90% of students achieved at least five passes at grades A*-C including English and Maths, while 57% of candidates achieved five or more A*/A grades. 53% of grades were A* or A, which is one of the School's  best years' results at this level.

Commenting on the results, Headmaster, Martin Post said, “This year has been another good year for the school in terms of  exam results. Although exam results are by no means our only measure of success, academic performance is crucial in helping our students achieve their aspirations upon leaving the School. Warmest congratulations to all the boys, their teachers and their proud parents.”

19 August: Outstanding A-level results celebrated at Watford Boys

Students at Watford Boys have achieved outstanding results in their public examinations today. Compared to a national average of 7%,  18% of students achieved an A* grade and 82% of all A-Levels taken at the School have been graded A*, A or B grade, confirming the School's position as one of the top boys' schools in the country.

The Headmaster, Martin Post, said, "Our A-Level candidates have achieved magnificently with 95% of all their examinations graded A*-C.  I am delighted for the boys, many of whom will now take up top university places, and for their teachers who have achieved such splendid academic outcomes.”

July 2010

Seven Charities benefit from House fundraising

Nearly £3.5k was raised for charities big and small through the effort and activities of the boys across the School's House system.  Commenting on the results Martin Post, Headmaster said, "This is a fantastic result for the students and for all the charities concerned. I would like to congratulate all Houses  for the effort and fundraising initiative they have shown during the year."  

Congratulations to Humza Hussain  (7N) who has won the Watford Interfaith Association (Hertfordshire Police Constabulary) Prize for a project on diversity in Watford.  Humza's poster will be used throughout the Borough in the coming months.

Humza competed with pupils across Watford who were asked to design a publicity poster that represented diversity and equality in Watford.

Schools Climate Change Conference - There is no Planet B

Watford Grammar School for Boys (WBGS) is hosting a climate change conference for Year 8 and 9 students from Queens School, the Royal Masonic, Watford Grammar School for Girls and WBGS. Key note speakers include Lord Teverson (Lib Dem spokesperson for Climate Change) Bruce Nixon (climate change author and journalist), David Russell (environmental experts), Eric Lewis from the National Audit Office and others. Students will also be joined by local MP Mr Richard Harrington.

The event was developed following feedback from Year 8 and 9 students who felt that climate change was not a priority issue for their generation.  The aim of the conference is to address this apparent  apathy and provide a realistic thinking framework about climate change for gifted and talented students across Hertfordshire.  Commenting on the conference Martin Post, Headmaster WBGS,  said, “By providing an environment whereby experts and students can share the same thinking space, we hope to create a more practical and considered student approach to the subject. The aim is not to create radical activists, but to offer students a clear pragmatic pathway to understanding and dealing with the issue of climate change.”

May 2010

Sir Elton John drops in to School!!

Sir Elton John flew into the School playing fields on Saturday 29 May for a benefit concert held at Watford Football Ground. Fans packed the Vicarage Road Stadium and some made their way to the School gates to witness his arrival by helicopter at the back of the School. 

Commenting on the event, Headmaster, Martin Post said, "The School has become the venue of choice for many local events, but this is the first time we've had to turn the School playing field into a helipad! We are extremely pleased to have been able to support this high profile local event."

Students join corporate giant

Selex Galileo have offered summer work placements for four of our Lower VI students: Matt Fleming, Chris Mansbridge, Chris Clare and Michael Jones. SELEX Galileo is a leader in defence electronics markets, with a distinctive strength in airborne mission critical systems and a wide range of capabilities for the battlefield and for homeland security applications.

Computing genius wins Olympiad

Congratulations to Joe Hermaszewski (Year 13) who was joint winner at the British Informatics Olympiad, a national computing competition for schools and colleges, in April. Joe will now travel to Ontario, Canada, as a member of the British team that will hope to defeat students from up to 85 countries around the world in the International Olympiad in Informatics, in August. Good luck Joe!!

Kindertransport survivor visits WBGS

Holocaust survivor, Harry Birbing gave a fascinating talk to a group of Year 9 boys about his life during the war. Commenting on the visit Head of Religious Studies Ms Charlton said, “The boys were absolutely fascinated by Mr Birbing’s war time recollections and we are grateful to him for giving the students such an insight into his life.”

A Big Thank You to the WGSB Big Band

Despite the rain, the WBGS Big Band played on to the delight of visitors at this year's Rickmansworth Canal Festival on Sunday 16th May. Sue Thompson from the Festival organising team said, "May I say a huge thank you and congratulations for such an outstanding performance by The Big Band at yesterday's Festival. The boys were professional and the band closed the ceremony in grand style ... the whole performance was amazing!"

April 2010

Rugby Team depart for Barbados Tour

We wish our tour team every success in Barbados and we await news of their matches via their daily blog which you can access from the home page. 

Everest Climb for Old Boy Josh Lewsey

Old boy and Rugby International, Josh Lewsey, is attempting to climb Everest to raise money for Help for Heroes. He is using a particularly difficult but historically significant route. Follow his progress at http://www.mounteverestclimb2010.com/

Skiers put their skills to the test in the Canadian Rockies

A party of 48 students from the Boys’ and Girls’ Schools travelled to British Columbia and enjoyed a week’s skiing in the Rockies over the Easter break.

Hockey Round Up

Despite the weather the Hockey Teams did extremely well this term. The 1st X1 had an excellent term, winning thirteen out of their eighteen matches. One of these defeats (3-0 to Perse, the eventual winners) came in the preliminary rounds of the East of England U18 Cup. They played some excellent hockey at times, not least of all at the King Edward’s, Bath Hockey Festival, where they defeated Taunton School (2-0), Calday Grange (7-1) and Ardingly (9-4), before losing their final game to KCS Wimbledon (2-4).

The U16’s also performed strongly winning their Hertfordshire cup competition and gaining valuable experience in the East of England rounds. The U16’s only lost three out of fifteen fixtures, more often than not playing without George Thomas 11T and Mark Guest 11T who are to be congratulated for completing full seasons for the 1st X1.

The U15’s had an excellent undefeated season, winning all ten of their games. Bill Gage 10P and Aaron Mitchell 10G performed impressively throughout and represented the 1st X1 on several occasions. The 2nd X1, U14’s and U13’s also played some excellent hockey.

Congratulations to the following Players of the Season: 1st X1 – Joe Warren 6Cld, 2nd X1 – Dan Churchman 6FPg, U16 – Matthew Gleeson 11G, U15 – Stephen Causbrook 10P, U14 Jeremy Swanwick 9G, U13 A – Gokulan Kannan 8G, U13 B – Nikhil Shah 8N.

Rugby Round Up

The Under 12 Rugby teams have had a very busy and successful season, where much improvement has occurred. 28 fixtures have been played this term, with the ‘A’ team winning 11 out of 19 matches and in the final match of the season they comfortably wonagainst Queen Elizabeth’s, after losing to them in two previous occasions. The ‘B’ team were unbeaten in the 5 matches they played and in the two fixtures played by the ‘C’ and ‘D’ teams, the ‘C’ team won 1 and lost 1 and the ‘D’ team just lost their 2 matches.

The Most Improved player award went to Zak Flesch 7N and the Player of the Season went to Douglas McGregor-Smith 7T.

We entered the Hertfordshire Schools’ Under 16 7-a-side Tournament and the team acquitted itself very well, beating Berkhamsted, Bishop’s Stortford HS and Richard Hale comfortably in the pool games before losing at the Quarter Final stage.

A combined Watford GS and Merchant Taylors’ Under 16 team defeated a combined Eton and Windsor GS team by 31 points to 29, with Elliot Byfield 10B scoring in the last minute.

And finally, congratulations to Pranave Amaranath 9B, Adam Kowalewicz 9C and Cameron Wells 9F who have been selection to represent Hertfordshire at Under 14 level rugby.

Lunch time debates go from strength to strength

Miss George and the eminently capable trio of Oliver Dawson (6NCh), George Shearring (6NSW) and Alex Lozowski (6NCh) are running a debating skills club called TALK SHOP on Thursday lunch times for Year 7. The jolly bunch of fast talkers have been honing their speaking skills through a range of fun activities. The agenda for next term includes balloon debates and visiting the upper school debating club.

Entrepreneurs win Watford Final

The Lower VI Young Enterprise company, Smarta Rotaries, fronted by Adam Greenberg (6CLd), Adam Renak (6BCo), Tom Clark (6CLd), Seb Timmis (6CRy) and Mohammed Khaki (6CLd) won best company and best presentation in the

Watford area finals. They will now be competing in the Hertfordshire County final later on the year.

March 2010

Young Thespians Tread the Boards at Watford Palace Theatre

Well done to Richard Miah (6CRy) and Jacob Hartley (8B) who joined the cast of the Hertfordshire County Youth Theatre’s production of The Arsonists by Max Frisch at the Watford Palace Theatre in March.

Maths Department gets Outstanding report from OFSTED

Following an OFSTED inspection on Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th March, Her Majesty's inspectorate found the School's Mathematics Department to be outstanding. Commenting on the visit Martin Post said, "We are delighted with the outcome of the inspection which highlights, once again, the excellent teaching we provide. I would like to congratulate the Maths Department for their contiued hard work and dedication."

Charity roundup

£35 was raised for Sport Relief in “Beat the PE teacher at Table Tennis”. Just over £100 was donated for the Sport Relief Mile which involved 2 laps of the school field. Year 7 Cross Country Captain, Zak Flesch came home 1st with a sprint for the finish against Shiv Haria.

The House prefects have been busy again this term with more assemblies, car washes, films, Inter-house 6th form football, debating and quizzes. New House are topping the leader board on House points with Fuller and Bushey in close pursuit for the House Cup. The Prefects would like to thank their Houses for their continued efforts in raising money for good causes.

Non uniform day looks well on the way to raising £1,000 for House charities and the National Autistic Society (NAS).

Cranfield Professor Lecture Goes with a BANG!

Year 10 and a select number of sixth formers and Year 7s were scientifically entertained by Professor Akhavan from Cranfield University. The James Theatre rang to the sound of bangers as chemistry mingled with showmanship in a pyrotechnic display par excellence.The Chemistry Department is most grateful to Jacqueline Akhavan and the Royal Society of Chemistry for enabling this talk to take place.

Linguists succeed in UK Olympiad

Congratulations to Bill Foster (10P) who was ranked in the top 10 nationally at the UK Linguistics Olympiad. Bill will now be taking part in round two at Sheffield University to try to gain a place on the UK team which will compete at the International Linguistics Olympiad in Sweden this July. Congratulations also go to Abhishek Joshi 10B, Leo Jurascheck 10C, Dominic Toon 10F, Alex Butcher 10F, Gavin Herbertson 10F, Tim Bond 10F, James Kennedy 10F, Bhavesh Tailor 10N, James Wong 10N, Bill Gage 10P, Atsuro Zhai 10T, Suhayl Kassam 10T and Dharmesh Tailor 10T; all of whom finished in the top 25% nationally and were awarded a bronze award.

February 2010

Boys join Poet Laureate at Poetry Live!

On 26th February 180 Year 11 students attended Poetry Live!i in London, and heard such renowned poets as John Agard, Simon Armitage and the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.

December 2009

Carol Concert heralds festive season
Students, staff, governors, parents and friends of the School gathered at St Michael's Church on 15 December for the annual Carol Concert. Lessons were read by the Headmaster, Chair of Governors, Paul Shearring, students and parents as well as Old Fullerian Ron Armstrong. There was a collection in aid of the Watford New Hope Trust and St Michael's Church.

Dr Faustus delights audiences
This year’s Upper School play was a spectacular version of “Dr Faustus”. The play was a brilliant interpretation of Marlowe's classic tale and was performed to delighted audiences for three consecutive nights by a wonderful cast and a live orchestra from WGSB and WGGS.

November 2009

Human Rights Activist visits WGSB
WGSB was delighted to welcome one of the world’s foremost human rights campaigners, Peter Tatchell, who addressed our Sixth Form students as part of the School’s Sixth Form Lecture Series. Mr Tachell, spoke about the advances made in gay rights in the UK, especially in the last fifteen years, whilst warning that true equality across the globe had still not been achieved. Other guests for the Friday Lecture Series this term have included Barry Gardiner MP, Evan Davies and Pater Saunders.

Old Boy leads Remembrance Day Assembly
During this year's Rememberance Day Assembly, Old Boy Steve Prest, Luietenant
Commander with the Royal Navy and recently returned from Afghanistan, spoke to the entire student body about the need to honour and remember our fighting forces during the two World Wars and those who are engaged in current conflicts. Wreaths were laid at the School's two war memorials and a special memorial was erected in the School Hall in memory of Old Boy Captain Tom Sawyer who fell in Afghanistan earlier this year and whose family joined us for our Remembrance Day Assembly.

Catering contractors get thumbs up!!
Our catering contractors, were awarded four out of five stars by the Environmental Health Inspector recognising their excellent standards of food safety and kitchen hygiene. Catering Manager, Jo Watkins, was delighted with the inspection outcome and said, "I am very proud of what we have achieved here and I am really pleased for the entire catering team who have put in a lot of hard work to achieve such high standards."

Table Tennis champs qualify for national finals
Congratulations to James Evans, Nick Aldersley, Austin Bailey and Elliott Harris (U13) and Jordan Olney, Aron Zolnai-Lucas, Ishan Bairolina, Pryesh Kotecha (U16) who had successes in recent table tennis tournaments and are now through to the national finals. They are following in the steps of another Table Tennis champion, Old Boy, Will Maybanks who is currently training in Austria for the London Olympics in 2012.

Gloria Concert raises money for New Hope Trust
The Senior Choir were joined by the John Lewis Choir and Orchestra and the choir from WGGS to put on a performance of Vivaldi’s Gloria in the Clarendon Muse in aid of the New Hope Trust. The 200 strong audeince were treated to a wonderful concert in aid of the charity.

September 2009

New Sixth Form Centre welcomes Sixth Form students
The School's new Sixth Form Centre opened its doors to sixth form students following a 10 month refurbishment of the the Old Gym and music block. The new Centre provides a modern and spacious area with comfortable rooms in which to relax, socialise and study. The new Food Technology Department will also be housed in the new block. An official opening of the Centre will take place next term.

August 2009

Boys Celebrate Outstanding GCSE Exam Success
Over 98% of boys that sat the GCSE exams last term secured five or more A -C grades and 65% of pupils achieved five or more A* and A grades. Commenting on the students success Martin Post said, "This is an excellent achievement for the boys and their teacher who have worked hard to gain such outstanding results. We now look forward to welcoming many of our GCSE students back into our brand new Sixth Form building next week."

"A" Level success at Watford |Boys
Once again, students have produced good A level results with 78% of students achieving A or B grades and with an overall pass rate of 99%. Headmaster Martin Post said, "Excellent standards of teaching, better facilities and continually improving student support have produced a good set of results for our sixth form students again this year. The results are testimony to the skills of the staff and the commitment of the students."

July 2009

WGSB Chinese "trek" a success
17 students from Years 10, 11 & Lower 6th, accompanied by Mrs LLoyd, Head of Geography and Mr Raffety, Head of Economics, took part in a hugely enjoyable and exciting visit to Beijing, Xian and Shanghai between 12-20 July. Hhighlights of the trip included a visit to the Birds Nest stadium and the main Olympics site, vsiting the Great Wall and climbing a section at Badaling in temperatures of over 40C - and surviving! - and seeing the Terracotta Warriors. Other highlights included cycling along the Xian city walls, bartering for goods in the Pearl Market in Beijing, being the centre of attention and photographed everywhere we went - and learning to use chopsticks! Everyone who took part had a fantastic time and would like to thank the excellent guides in each city, particularly Lilly, who was with us for the whole time. Look out for the illustrated blog coming in September.