News Compendium

More than 30 relatives, pupils, governors and old Bordenians attended this year’s annual service of remembrance on Saturday 11 November 2017, for the 104 former pupils of Borden Grammar School who lost their lives in two world wars and other conflicts.

OLD BORDENIAN ASSOCIATION CHAIR

For my sins, I came on to the OBA committee as the headmaster’s rep, at the request of Bryan Short back in 1969.  Since then, Old Bordenians have attended Annual Dinners, both in Sittingbourne and on the island, organised Dances, performed on stage in Revues, played Football, Hockey and Cricket - all in the name of the Old Bordenians.

There is no contractual obligation to undertake these activities but there is an underlying connection brought about through long standing friendships and memories of the school.  Many have gone way beyond the call of duty: Alan Wilson and his success in making the Hockey club one of the most successful in Kent, organisers of the Dinners and members of the committee, some of whom came on board 40 or 50 years ago.

Dear Old Bordenians,

I am delighted to be working with the committee, school and members of the OBA to help us to become more relevant to the people we represent going forwards.

Our objective is to focus on driving membership, providing help where we can to those just leaving the school, and networking & social engagement opportunities for all.

We have already made some changes, with the removal of the annual subscription and a move to voluntary contributions to assist our funding. There is more detail contained in the AGM Minutes on the web site: OBA AGM Minutes 2017.

For those of you who are in and around London, we are looking to meet up for informal drinks in the London Bridge area on Friday 24^th November. It would be great if you could rally some past school friends and come and join us. If you are interested, please email me on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so I can get an idea of numbers and then I will confirm the venue.

Finally, a big thanks to those who have been doing so much work for the OBA behind the scenes over the years.

Regards to all

Mark Bailey

A recent email alerted us to the fact that, despite the sterling work carried out over the past few years by Old Bordenian Marc Stewart to identify all those Old Bordenians who have been killed whilst on active service, the names are not available on the website.  This article rectifies this oversight.  This document provides a full list of those casualties: BGS War Casualties

An article was published in a recent edition of the local newspaper, the Sittingbourne News Extra, showing the new boys of 70 years ago!  This is reproduced below (with acknowledgement to SNE):

The 2017 AGM of the Association was held at the School on Friday 6th October. The minutes can be accessed below.

Of the 103 Old Bordenians whose names are now commemorated on the School's war memorials, the most recent casualty is Michael John Simpson. After having left Borden in 1972, he briefly served in the ranks of the Royal Engineers before being selected for officer training at Sandhurst. Commissioned into the Staffordshire Regiment, he was soon posted to Northern Ireland: 'The Troubles' were then at their height and while leading foot patrol in Londonderry, Michael was shot by an IRA gunman on 3 October 1974. He died as a result of his injuries three weeks later, aged only twenty-one, and was posthumously mentioned in despatches for the gallantry he had shown during his final patrol. 

As part of his on-going research into the lives of all those Old Boys whose names are recorded on the School's war memorials, Marc Stewart (BGS 97-04) is now collating information relating to Michael Simpson. Unlike the School's casualties from the two world wars, relatively little information is publicly available about Michael. His place of burial, for example, is unknown - and hasn't even been recorded by the Staffordshire Regimental Association - and it has so far proved impossible to track down his family. If members therefore have any memories of Michael that they would be willing to share, especially relating to his schooldays and funeral (which is believed to have been attended by a number of Old Boys), Marc would be grateful if they could contact him via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . 

Were you one of the many "first formers" that started at Borden Grammar School in September 1968, the year that saw an increased intake from the majority of previous years, split into three forms -  1 East, 1 West and 1X?

A number of former Borden Grammar School pupils are taking part in next year's Brighton marathon to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust in memory of former headmaster, Harold Vafeas.  The full story was published in the Sittingbourne News Extra.  Click on the picture below for further details.