Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Football Year 9 v District Teams

  Fri 16 Sep 2022

  Year 9 Football team started their TWBS career with a good 3-2 victory against the District team. Each year this is our curtain opener and gives our lads a real test to show their skills against a quality opposition. Windsor struggled for any kind of fluency at the start of the game but this is unsurprising as this is their first ever game together. The lads lack drive and determination and found themselves 1-0 after ten minutes after a mix up at the back. However heads did not drop and Windsor soon equalised with an excellent individual goal from Alex Szymczyk. This gave Windsor confidence and they started to take control of the game through a goal from Ed Bartlett, taking off where his brother (Jo Bartlett, last year’s 1^st XI Captain) had left off. Towards the end Windsor scored a third with the goal of the match, winning the ball in midfield, spreading wide to the full back, sending the winger up the line to cross and finished off by Josh Hill. The District team did get one back just before full time but Windsor held on for a very deserved victory.

  

• How to become a documentary film-maker- talk at Eton College

  Tue 13 Sep 2022

  On Tuesday 13^th of September, A level and Year 11 Media students were invited to attend Emma Cooper’s “How to become a documentary film-maker” talk at the Jafar Hall in Eton College from 20:45 to 21:45. Emma Cooper is an independent film maker with a prolific career in the mass audio-visual mass media industry and an extensive filmography. She is also the founder of Empress Films.

   

  In her talk, Emma Copper spoke about her struggles in a male dominated industry and how she did a job that she didn’t enjoy for nine years at the start of her career. After a long period as a runner, she met and started working with Louis Theroux for the BBC. After several projects with Theroux, and a time working as Commissioning Editor in Documentaries at Channel 4 and Global President of Non-Scripted Television at Pulse Films, producing films for BBC, Channel 4, SKY, she now runs her own successful film production company Empress Films, an independent production company and has offices in London, Los Angeles and Manchester, where she has produced films for big companies such as Netflix, Peacock and CNN. In her own words: “The company is dedicated to platforming under-represented voices and creating inspiring and creatively nourishing relationships with talent across the industry. Empress works with many film-makers, producers and commissioners and in partnership with other similarly minded companies to create a body of work.”

   

  Having been founded in 2020, Empress's most recent work includes the series ‘Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell' (Peacock and Sky) 'DIANA' (CNN Original Documentaries). Some of her most recent films are ‘The mystery of Madelyn Monroe: the unheard tapes’ on Netflix and ‘The Black Cop’ which recently won the British Short Film category at the 75th British Academy Film Awards. Emma Cooper’s lecture was enlightening in showing us that if you have the skills and desire to work in the film industry that is possible with patience and tenacity, therefore this is an inspiration for any young men or women that want a career in the film industry.  

    

  Report by Ben Chandler, Media Studies student, Year 12.

• Rugby U14A v Emanuel School

  Sat 10 Sep 2022

  Saturday was an enjoyable experience for all of the squad. It was the first time that many of us had played a competitive rugby match and certainly the first time that we had come together as a team.

   

  Meeting very early on a Saturday; putting on full school uniform was a novel experience. Emanuel School had the luxury of playing at home and the advantage of two previous seasons of rugby as a unit prior to our fixture.   Mr Woods was invaluable during our preparation and was able to guide us through early altercations. We benefitted from ‘on-field’ coaching and enjoyed the support of the opposition coach who was impartial. Although the result rather flattered Emanuel School, we came together and lost the second half by just a single try. We certainly found our feet and made excellent progress. Bearing in mind we had only met as a group two days before the match, we played pretty well and kept things within the spirit of the sport.  Emanuel School 25 – TWBS 0      

  
  Match report by, Joseph Melville, 9 Burnett.

  

• Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022

  Fri 09 Sep 2022

  The Windsor Boys’ School community was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II yesterday.

   

  As a school set in the shadow of Windsor Castle, we have had a strong connection to the Royal Family over many years and were honoured when Her Majesty opened our ‘new building’ (now D block) in 1994, and as recently as the summer our students were fortunate enough to play a role in celebrating her Platinum Jubilee with weeks of celebration and commemoration. Over the years, many TWBS students have met the Queen, and her presence in the town and its community was always important to her.

   

  Students will this morning have an assembly in tutor time to reflect upon her life and reign. Over the coming weeks there will be further opportunities to mark her reign, both at school and within the local community. Many families in the school will have close connections to the Queen because of military links or working on the Royal Estate and we recognise that the sense of loss can affect people differently. As a school, we will offer support to any student that is affected.

   

  Throughout the last 70 years, the Queen was a symbol of kindness, dedication and loyalty; a role model to all our young people. She was a monarch, but also a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and we extend our sympathies to the Royal Family at this difficult time for their personal grief.

   

  Your sincerely,

   

  Mr Sean Furness

  Headteacher

  

• Rugby 1st XV v Reading Rams

  Wed 07 Sep 2022

  Windsor Boys’ travelled with high hopes to play a tough Reading Rams team as both teams looked for there first win of the season.  Rams kicked off and early pressure came from TWBS. A good passage of play for Windsor’s forwards lead up to push over a try for Will Moss in the corner after multiple phases. A quick start for the Windsor Boys’ was quickly repaid by Rams scoring immediately after. Pressure from TWBS in defence lead to turnovers from George Moran and Leo Ardali. The boys had a lineout from 15 metres out, the ball is smarty shipped out from Tom Coomber into Will Moss who breaks through to score TWBS’s second try.  The ball is converted and TWBS went 12-7 up. On the stroke of half time Windsor Boys’ came yet again with some big ball carrying from Amari and Tomi before Mark Venter picked up the ball and went round Rams’ defence to score.  TWBS went into the break leading 19-7.  Rams’ came out firing, scoring straight away to make it 19-14. Windsor Boys’ came back with Tomi in the corner powering over to make it a two try game with 20 mins to go, conversion made by Tom Coomber.  Relentless pressure from Rams gained them a try to make the score 24-19 heading into the final 10 minutes. TWBS were again under massive pressure but some key turnovers from Lewis Flynn and big hits from Lawrence Beboso and Dom resulted in TWBS amazingly holding on for a well earned win.    

   

  Match report by Will Moss, 6 Woodland

   

  

• Platinum Jubilee Schools Week

  Fri 27 May 2022

  It is almost impossible to sum up what has gone on in Windsor over the last couple of weeks. 23rd – 27th May we had our Platinum Jubilee Schools Week and this was followed by four days of jubilation across the world! There are so many highlights, from so many different events, but I will try and sum these up in the best way I can.

   

  Schools Week itself was a new venture, and the Platinum Jubilee was the catalyst to make this happen. It was a huge success and saw all the schools across Windsor coming together through various events and activities. We had a banquet, four concerts, big-sings, recordings, broadcasts, cake making, dancing, singing, acting, drawing, painting – it was a week full of so much.

   

  The concerts included a musical theatre night, classical soiree, rock night and a schools concert. The schools concert was a huge success with an audience of 500 and a “cast” of about 400 students. It was a lovely event hosted at TWBS and despite the wind, the weather was kind to us. The Big Sing at Dedworth Middle School was an incredible morning and we saw around 1,500 children from across Windsor all singing and dancing.

   

  I guess the real highlight came on Friday 27th when we sung our Platinum Jubilee School Song on the Long Walk in front of the world’s media. We then featured on BBC news later that night – and then all over the world over the weekend. We had messages from Australia, France & Japan! It was a fantastic afternoon on the Long Walk and I am so proud of the children.

  
  The Platinum Jubilee weekend saw us performing to 1,000s of people on the Long Walk and I am still on the come down from an incredible weekend. The Ox Roast & Beacon Lighting took place on Thursday and the Big Band & Choir performed at these events. And then on Saturday we had the Big Band, Choir & Euphoria performing on the Long Walk to crowds of about 25,000!

   

  I said it would be hard to sum it up, and it really is. But I guess the key thing at the centre of all these Jubilee Celebrations was the students in our schools. They did so much to make it incredible and I am proud of every student who took part. It was a massive operation to bring together so many schools, but the staff across these schools made it possible.

   

  Please do follow our Twitter & Instagram feeds for all the photos of these events. But I have included a few here. I will be writing a full report of the whole Platinum Jubilee experience and I will share that with you.

   

  And this week we have been back to school. Exams are looming for A-Level & GCSE Music students and we have our production of Mary Poppins just around the corner. Tickets for Mary Poppins will be going on sale this weekend and I will be sending out messages to announce this. It is taking place in our Studio Theatre, 6th – 9th July and we have performances at various times to suit all ages. I have been pleased to see lots of rehearsals and revision taking place this week and it was been nice to get back into the classroom after half term. Looking ahead we are preparing for our end of term concert on 13th July. This will be a final farewell to our Year 13 students and a great way to round up a wonderful year. But we are not there yet and we have lots to look forward to over the coming weeks.

   

  Thanks to all those who have supported me on this Jubilee journey! I have had the most incredible time and I think it is the start of something exciting for music & education in Windsor.

   

  Mr J. Manwaring

  Director of Music – Windsor Learning Partnership

  Email - jmanwaring@twbs.co.uk

  Twitter - @twbsmusic

  

• Platinum Jubilee Upper Schools’ Chess Competition

  Wed 25 May 2022

  On Wednesday afternoon we held a chess tournament at TWBS library as part of our Platinum Jubilee celebrations. It was a wonderful festive atmosphere and an absolute pleasure to have students from the Girls’ and Boys’ schools organising and competing. Congratulations to all the students who competed and thanks to all of those who helped behind the scenes.  

   

  It was a competition for students of all abilities. Congratulations to Adam Bryant who came first in the Advanced section. Owen Bryant was a close second and Ivan Grygorov was placed third. Congratulations also to Maham Omar Mirza, who came first in the novice section. We had a tie for second place between Siobhan Chuah and Leve Nagy and third place went to Verity Mitchell. It was an absolute pleasure to see the skills of all the students who were involved in this competition. Congratulations to you all. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of further tournaments between the two schools and we don’t have to wait for the next Jubilee!  

   

  A huge thanks to Andrew Syratt who took charge of the scoring and judging of the competition, which was an excellent display of his mathematical prowess and organisation. A massive thanks also to Joe Winters from WGS for her organisation of the event, prizes, certificates, food and decorations, her artistic skills and organisation made it a competition to remember. Thank you also to the Sixth formers who came to help with the last minute set-up.  

   

  A big thank you also to Mr Van Der Merwe and Mrs Williams, who run regular chess clubs at WGS and TWBS respectively. These are after school clubs and new players are always welcome.  

   

  S Winters

  

• U15 County Cup Final - TWBS v Sandhurst School – Best in Berkshire!

  Wed 25 May 2022

  Thorough their campaign the U15 team faced many challenges… Pitches too small and goals under regulation side, dominating games but finding themselves behind, and injuries. These challenges have helped shape the character and resilience of the team. With only one defeat to their name all season, the squad went into this final with full confidence at the luxurious pitch at Ascot FC.

   

  TWBS started fastest out of the blocks with Harvey Brook netting early on. It looked like TWBS would take the game away from Sandhurst in the first half, however, momentum started to swing as Sandhurst found themselves isolating our centre backs and scoring a well-finished move. 1-1 at half-time.

   

  The half-time team talk required composure and leadership from Vice-Captain Finnley viotto (standing in for injured captain Lockie Lee). It seemed subdued and nervous in the TWBS dressing room, when all that was required was more effort, confidence and belief, as we were the better ‘footballing’ team.

   

  It seemed to have worked as Jaye Long won and scored a penalty after five mins of the second half. Some scary moments as Sandhurst hit the bar and started to chase an equaliser followed. A sin-bin did not help TWBS’ cause but the team dug in deep. Injuries to Alfie Holland (GK) meant Harry White, buoyed by his recent call up to Woking, stepped in. Harry was cool, calm and collected running down the clock in expert fashion. With minutes to go Ellis Lehane broke through on goal, after some build up play by Marcel Guzynski, Harvey Brook and Jaye Long to wrap up a 3-1 victory, crowning the TBWS U15 Champions of Berkshire!

   

  Special mentions this season to Marcel, Ellis, Lockie, Markus Reisi, Bailey Niblett, Finnley viotto and Charlie McCreanor. Man of the Match on the day went to Jaye Long who proved he was the best player on the pitch. Harvey Brook and Markus Reisi put in outstanding performances in the final.

   

  On a personal note, I am very proud of these boys. They are an incredibly talented bunch who learnt from their one loss this season and bounced back to win a famous treble. I look forward to next season and hope some reinforcements can drive this team on to more successes.

   

  Mr R Unsworth ‘Jose’
  Director of Pupil Progress Year 10 & Head of Ottrey House

  

• History Lecture at Windsor Castle

  Tue 24 May 2022

  As part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations this week, a special lecture was arranged for Sixth Form students to attend at Windsor Castle on Tuesday 24^th May. The lecture was run by Dr Alessandro Nasini, a Senior Curator of Photographs and focused on the Queen’s image – a look at Our Platinum Queen’s image in photographs from the Royal Collection. The lecture was a brilliant opportunity for students to be able to see some behind the scenes photographs of the Royal Family and to have a Senior Curator guiding them through each image, discussing the symbolism and the occasion it was taken to mark. It was particularly interesting to see how the Queen has chosen to include not only links to her previous monarchs in her images but also to create her own elements which ensures the monarchy is both traditional and also in keeping with modern day.  In addition, her choice of particular photographer’s ensures that there is a full representation of Her Majesty from the official ones to mark occasions but also to those which are more natural to showcase a more relaxed and relatable image. There were lots of discussions over what the official photograph for the Platinum Jubilee will look like so it will be interesting to see if our ideas play out. It was a truly lovely evening and I would like to thank Gordon Ferguson at Windsor Castle for helping to arrange such a special event.

   

  Miss Gray

  Head of Humanities

  

• European U19 Rowing Championship

  Sat 21 May 2022

  Marcus Chute was electric in Varese Italy where he represented Great Britain and the European U19 Rowing Championships taking the Gold Medal.

   

  Progressing from Saturdays heats to the semi final on Sunday, Marcus displayed great composure in both races to make the A final before an scintillating display of  power skill saw him dominate the field to become European Champion in the single scull, a rare feat for sure for a GB athlete.

   

  This marks a a great stepping stone towards the summer international races and Marcus will get back to training looking to progress on towards the World Rowing championships in July.

   

  Congratulations and well done!

   

  Photo credits - World rowing