Poole Grammar School

🚵🏽 Wishing a HUGE good luck to soon-to-be-Year 13 student Jake who is taking on a full-distance Ironman (unofficial) triathlon this Saturday.

Jake and his dad Alec will rack up 140.6 miles in just one day in the shape of 🏊🏻 a 2.4-mile lake swim, 🚲 a 112-mile cycle and 🏃 a 26.2-mile marathon to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Two years ago the family sadly lost Jake’s grandma to MND, so they understand how funds can help people coping with the disease. “We’re doing this,” explains Jake, “because we’ve seen what MND does to its victims and the heartache and challenges it brings to the families and friends that support and love those afflicted by it. As I’m 17 we can’t enter an official Ironman event so there’s no race infrastructure or cheering crowds… just the two of us pushing through it together and Mum in the support van, so your support will also serve as motivation and inspiration for me and my dad to complete one of the toughest physical challenges there is.”

🙏 If you’re able, please go to www.justgiving.com/page/father-son-mnd and donate to help them reach their fundraising goal. Thank you and good luck Jake and Alec!

📄 Here are some quick tips from PGS students and staff on preparing for Results Day…

😳 Everyone feels nervous, no matter how well you were prepared or how hard you worked. Just remember you’re not alone!

🏖️ Keep yourself busy and distracted by meeting up with friends or doing extra work shifts to distract yourself from any nerves that might be building ahead of the day.

🗣️ We say it all the time but please talk to people about how you’re feeling. Share your thoughts with parents/carers, siblings or friends, or get in contact with your tutor or Head of Year. We totally understand what you’re going through and we know how much it helps to share it with someone.

✉️ Be prepared for any and all outcomes. Look up job prospects, check UCAS info, see what your second, third and fourth options look like… Obviously the likelihood is you’ll get the results you were aiming for but, just in case, prepare yourself (and your loved ones) for the ‘what if’ scenario.

🎈 Come in and celebrate! Teachers and staff who’ve been on the journey with you will be in school on both Results Days to share your triumphs and help you navigate next steps. Plus you get to enjoy Miss Prior’s amazing balloon sculptures! 🎈

🏆 Be proud of yourself. You’ve come so far and achieved so much. Make sure you remind yourself of that!

School will open for A-level results this Thursday 13th August at 8am and for GCSE results next Thursday 20th August at 9am. We look forward to seeing you and sharing this momentous day with you and your classmates!

🇫🇷 Throwback to our special lunch to celebrate France’s Fête Nationale, for which Mr Slade and his team prepared a fantastique feast (much of it fromage-related, bien sûr!) and our MFL classes decorated the canteen with posters, menus, flags and bunting.

🥖 From brie and ham baguettes to croque monsieurs, charcuterie plates 🧀 and loaded croissants 🥐 to éclairs délicieux, it was a brilliant success with everything unsurprisingly selling out.

🙏 Un grand merci to Mme Freemantle, Mme Mason, Mme McNamara and all the canteen staff for organising and to all the students who enjoyed their déjeuner français! Bonne Fête à tous! 🇫🇷 🥳

👀 You’d be forgiven for thinking this is the Tanzanian plains, but it was actually adventure day on the school field back when the heatwave had first set in. ☀️

Various year groups took part in team-building games, like this ‘cross the river’ challenge, and then moved on to archery 🏹, axe-throwing 🪓, pot-holing 🪖 and rock-climbing 🧗 in the blazing sun.

Big thanks to South Coast Adventures for introducing us to some new skills!

🗣️ Sing when you’re winning!! Throwing it back to last month when our Year 8 Singing Competition filled the hall with some seriously impressive performances. 🤩

🎶 First up were the full tutor groups where each class gave it their all for their chosen songs, which included Billie Jean, Pompeii, A Thousand Miles and the Boney M classic Rasputin… complete with some top-notch dance moves! 🕺

The smaller ensembles then took things up a notch, showcasing superb vocals as well as drummers, keyboardists, guitarists, sax and string players. 🎸🥁🎹 🎷 🎻

Our judges – Mr Hannington, Mr Jenkins and Mr Coley – had the tough job of picking a winner, but the unanimous choice was 8G 🏆 who celebrated their win with a lively rendition of House of Memories, with their tutor Mr Burt joining them on stage.

Well done to all who took part, whether you were singing, playing, dancing or cheering your friends on. Such a brilliant event, we loved it!! 👏

🇹🇿 Our Boys In Tanzania – Week 3 Update! 🇹🇿

Our intrepid team of volunteers in Tanzania have had a busy few days, helping local communities and developing their skills. A few of their highlights include…

🪏 Moving on to where they’ve built a new ramp for the village school.

📚 Taking Swahili lessons and immersing themselves in local culture.

🥯 Cooking their own traditional Tanzanian cuisine, learning how to make chapatis and mandazi from the village mamas.

🏹 Practising bushcraft skills, trying archery and building a shelter.

🐘 Making paper from elephant dung. Who knew?! 💩

⚽️ Rounding off their final day at Camp Msaranga with a huge game of football that involved the whole village!

🥵 We know you’ve had another hot and hard-working week, but you’re doing incredible things and we’re so proud of you all! Go TeamKiboko! 🤩

✏️ As part of Activities Week at the end of term, our Year 8 students got stuck into the wonderful world of product design, taking on challenges set by special guests from local engineering firms Parvalux and Sunseeker. 🛥️

Our students split into teams where they met and interviewed their ‘client’ then they had to design and build a promotional penpot based on a specific brief. At the end of the session, winning teams were ‘awarded the contract’ 🏆 based on how well they’d followed the client’s needs and the flair and ingenuity shown in the penpot design.

⚙️ It was great to see some brilliant engineering, design and teamwork skills on show from everyone taking part. As James Cope, Managing Director of Parvalux said, “The approaches taken by the teams were really varied with some diving straight into building prototypes to those reflecting and sketching designs first. Each team experienced challenges, some team members showed amazing creativity and others demonstrated impressive leadership skills, but what was constant across the board was how all the students taken part were engaged and curious.”

💡Well done to you all for getting stuck in and creating some truly brilliant projects. Mr Jackaman and Mr Brady are already hoping that DT and Design will be on your Options shortlists at the end of Year 9!

Parvalux Electric Motors

🗺️ From Alpine hillsides, Parisian musées, Roman ruins and Spanish playas 🏝️ to Cornish coves, Scottish glens or maybe your favourite ice cream 🍦 on the pier… wherever your summer adventures take you, make sure you’re capturing scenes and sights to enter into our Europe Through Your Lens photography competition! 📸

We’re looking for your best shots of landscapes, landmarks, people, nature or special moments that tell a story, and our panel of judges will choose the best entries. 🏆

🇪🇺 Who can enter? Students in main school (Years 7 to 11 as of September 2026).

🇪🇺 How to enter? Print out your best photo in colour, make sure your name and tutor group are on the back and hand it in to Mme Mason.

🇪🇺 Closing date: Friday 18th September

We can’t wait to see your pics. Happy snapping! 📷

🏊‍♂️ Congratulations to former PGS student Jacob Peters who’s had an incredible week at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games as part of England’s swimming team!

Not only did Jacob make it through the tough heats and semi-final to make the 100m Butterfly final 🦋, but he also brought home a silver medal as part of the 4x100m Medley Relay team🥈.

These achievements add to his gold, silver and bronze medals from the 2022 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, and many more podium places over the years.

Well done Jacob, and good luck in the European Aquatics Champs later this month! 🌊

(Last photo from 2025 Monaco swimming championships)

Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games