News
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Thursday 9 July 2026 Yr 12 Magdalen Farm Geography Residential To close the month of June, the Geography department organised a residential trip to Magdalen Farm in Somerset; however, this trip was primarily situated in Dorset for coastal fieldwork at Shell Bay and Chesil Beach. This was in preparation for the students who wish to write up a Physical Geography NEA.
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Wednesday 8 July 2026 Year 12 Volunteering One of the best parts of Sixth Form is the character development that takes place outside the boundaries of education, shifting the focus ever so slightly from our academic success to the development of our character. That is why, when the opportunity to take part in the volunteering scheme presented itself, I signed up.
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Wednesday 8 July 2026 Year 12 Business Trip to MINI One of the highlights of the year is always the visit to the MINI factory, which gives us the chance to see production taking place beyond the classroom. Watching the assembly lines in action, alongside automated machinery and robots, not quite the world-dominating kind, but impressive nonetheless, provides a real insight into modern manufacturing. The experience brings theory to life, allowing us to connect classroom learning with real business operations. Seeing how technology and human workers interact makes the distinction between capital and labour-intensive production much clearer, while concepts such as quality assurance suddenly become far easier to understand. What had previously been diagrams and case studies on paper turned into real processes happening in front of us, making complex ideas finally click.
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Wednesday 8 July 2026 Year 9: Spain Visit Some Year 9 students travelled to sunny Salou, in Spain's Costa Dorada region. The laid-back lifestyle and streets of Salou created the perfect environment for the students to play football on the stunning beaches at night or walk the exciting rows of shops, buzzing with nightlife. From exciting paddlesurfing and paddleboarding to traditional volleyball and kayaking, it is safe to say the students enjoyed the two days of water activities, not only creating funny moments on the water but also learning new techniques and life skills.
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Wednesday 8 July 2026 Year 9: Plas Y Brenin Embarking on a five-hour minibus journey, 12 Year 9 students, including myself, got ready for what would be a week full of challenges, laughter and a lot of rain, given that we were travelling to Capel Curig, the UK's wettest village!
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Thursday 2 July 2026 Summer Concert Last week's annual Summer Concert showcased the outstanding musical talent of students from Years 7–10, with some special guest appearances from Year 12 musicians.
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Tuesday 30 June 2026 CERN Visit The site responsible for spearheading international discoveries into particle physics, CERN, holds a certain significance for scientists around the globe. Perhaps the most renowned collider in the world, this 27km ring resting below the bustling lakeside city of Geneva in Switzerland has produced results throughout history that have uncovered some of the plethora of mysteries concerning the early universe. This includes the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, allowing us to explore how some fundamental particles have a mass, or the sustaining of antihydrogen for 15 minutes in 2011, enabling a deeper understanding into the mysterious substance of antimatter.
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Monday 22 June 2026 Horseshoe Lake for Year 8 As a break from the classroom, Year 8 went on a trip to Horseshoe Lake Activity Centre in Sandhurst on the 21st of May. The day was packed with outdoor games to see how well everyone could work together, balance, and try to stay dry. It started on the grass with some team games. On the Beam Balance, the students had to shuffle and squeeze everyone onto one narrow log without anyone falling off into the woodchips. Right next to it was the Spider's Web game, which was a big grid of green and black ropes. Everyone was laughing as students tried to crawl through the gaps without touching the strings.
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Monday 22 June 2026 Science Museum for Year 8 On Friday, 22nd May, the Year 8s went on an educational visit to the Science Museum in London in order to help us explore the history of medicine and the people who help develop life-changing technology.
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Monday 22 June 2026 Activities Week for Year 10 Activities week has always been the highlight of the year, and this year, the theme for us Year 10s was work-related experience, in which we took part in some very engaging and insightful activities.
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Monday 8 June 2026 TEDx at DCGS In April, Dr Challoner's Grammar School hosted TEDxDCGS Youth, a two-day independently organised student event featuring 15 speakers across a broad range of disciplines. Held in the Drama Studio, the event marked a significant milestone for the school. It was one of the only two student-run TEDx events to take place in our school.
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Monday 8 June 2026 Sicily Visit On 30 April, some of the GCSE geographers embarked on a journey to Sicily for a three-day trip around volatile volcanoes, one of which was the daunting - yet fun - Mount Etna. After our flight, we were met by the looming figure of it, which was the main attraction of the visit (and what we were going to climb on the third day). Instantaneously, we realised just how different life was around a volcano. From lava fields to volcanic islands, we managed to visit lots of amazing places, all relevant to our Geography GCSE course. Making sure to sneak in a few ice cream breaks made for a fantastic all-round trip.
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Monday 8 June 2026 Careers Fair The Careers Fair, in March 2026, transformed the school into something closer to a bustling professional crossroads than a normal school day, with 89 companies and individuals, as well as universities, setting up stalls to speak directly with students and parents about life beyond the classroom.
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Friday 5 June 2026 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe We are thrilled to announce that tickets are on sale for our upcoming summer production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Performances take place on Friday 3 July at 18:30 and Saturday 4 July at 14:00. This year, we are bringing the magic of Narnia to life with an open-air, Shakespeare-in-the-park style performance right on our field. Families are warmly encouraged to bring along picnic blankets, camping chairs, and a spread of your favourite food and drinks to enjoy during the show. Please note that this is an outdoor event and will be weather permitting. Tickets are available to purchase via TicketSource here, and we recommend booking early to secure your spot.
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Monday 20 April 2026 Charity Day in Aid of Plan International On 19 March, I was lucky enough to be a part of a wonderful event, which was organised by our Deputy Head student, Dima, and Charity Prefect, Gemma, who, with the help of some of our fellow Sixth Formers, organised a terrific presentation in the hall to celebrate the wonderful array of diversity we are so fortunate to have here at Dr Challoner's Grammar School.
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Monday 20 April 2026 Yr 9/10 French Exchange visit to Marseille In March, a select number of extremely lucky year 10s and two year 9s got the opportunity to travel to France and learn all about the amazing culture and how different it is from ours. We travelled to Marseille, and there we met our amazing host families who would let us stay in their homes for a whole week. Although it was awkward at first, it soon became clear just how lucky we were that they went out of their way to make the week just as incredible as it was.
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Friday 17 April 2026 Year 9 Battlefields Visit For me - and many other Year 9 students - the Battlefields trip was a fascinating experience, linking our learning in class to the reality of war through visits to important locations, museums and memorials.
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Friday 27 March 2026 James Hernandez: Former Student Becomes Olympic Performer Jumps, spins and step sequences are all technical skills vital to a successful figure skating performance - all of which were displayed in a beautiful performance by Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez, representing Great Britain at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Hernandez is an alumnus of Dr Challoner's Grammar School; now aged 24, he is a three-time British national silver medalist.
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Wednesday 25 March 2026 The Italian Alps On 14 February, a selection of Year 8 and 9 students travelled to Sestriere in the Italian Alps for a residential ski trip. Waking up at 03:00 to board the flight was brutal, but the early start was worth it for the stunning scenery and magnificent mountains that met us when we arrived. Led by Mr Colquhoun and Mr Love and with teachers from Ski School Vialletea, we were in great hands; consequently, lots of people achieved personal milestones. For some, it was their first time skiing; this trip was my first time on a black run, one of the most challenging course tiers.
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Wednesday 25 March 2026 Mat(ilda) the Musical Tuesday, 9th September 2025. That was the day several other KS3 students and I took to the stage to audition for the school's next Junior Musical - Mat(ilda) the Musical! As we are all boys in the junior part of the school, we decided to change several of the play's characters - most notably, 'Matilda' became 'Mat.'