Learning to Live Dangerously - St Helen and St Katharine

Lent Term 2012The Newsletter of St Helen & St KatharineLearning toLive DangerouslyYear 7 enjoyed a fantastic expedition to Kilve Court.After some quality time looking at geographical features at Cheddar Gorge,Year 7 threw themselves, often quite literally, into mountain biking, rifleshooting, blindfold obstacles and high ropes; enabling everyone to trythings they had never done before and to live a little dangerously! Withmixed groups for all the activities, Kilve also provided a wonderfulopportunity to make new friends and, for girls and teachers alike, thechance to get muddy, step outside their comfort zone and have some fun!Flying the Flagat the MathsOlympics!Katya Richards (11R) has been chosen torepresent Great Britain in the European Girls’Mathematical Olympiad. Just like anyOlympic hopeful, Katya has completed anumber of gruelling selection rounds; herperformance in the British MathematicalOlympiad Round 1, as she pitted herselfagainst 1400 top mathematicians fromschools across the country, gained her aplace in the joint British and HungarianMathematical Olympiad training eventwhich took place in Hungary in January.Katya performed so well in Round 2 that shewas chosen, along with 3 others, torepresent Great Britain in the inauguralEuropean Girls’ Mathematical Olympiadtaking place in Cambridge in April.Taking the ChallengeOn Thursday 29th March Year 8 were set anintriguing challenge by their form tutors –to devise, shoot, edit and present a short filmabout St Helen's. If that wasn't task enough,the deadline was the end of the day!Helped by crew from the Young Film academy,Year 8 learnt valuable skills from the art of filmmaking and post production, to how to workin teams of people you don’t know very well!It was a fantastic day, challenging and highlyenjoyable in equal measure and producedsome wonderful films about St Helen’s, as seenand experienced by Year 8!More mathematical news....Helen Gildersleeves, Hannah Kinnier Wilson, Gemma Oldham and Laura Hutchisoncame 2nd in the Wantage heat of a Year 10 Team Mathematics Challenge Competition(organised by the Further Mathematics Support Network) and go through to the final,held later this year. The other St Helen's team: Fiona Alder, Isabel Ashman, FrancesCrowcombe and Joanna Savage came a very creditable 7th.St Helen & St Katharine, Faringdon Road, Abingdon Oxfordshire, OX14 1BET: 01235 520173 E: info@shsk.org.uk www.shsk.org.uk

headlinesOne of our major goals over the last3 years has been to provide both theopportunities and the climate toencourage girls to step beyond theircomfort zone, to try new things, tospeak up for what they believe and totake an active role in their own growthand development and in shaping theirSchool environment.Lent term Lines is full of evidence that thisis happening. School Council is helping toshape the way School runs day to day andwe are opening doors to a host of newexperiences which challenge them inmany different ways. We work to providean environment where the girls feel safe totake risks – intellectual as well as physical– challenge themselves and “putthemselves out there”.The Olympic competitions organised bythe PE Department this year haveencouraged the team spirit which is one ofthe defining characteristics of St Helen’sgirls. Girls of all ages, many of whomwould not have dreamt of playing in asports team, have found themselvescompeting for their country in a wholevariety of sports – fantastic!There is no denying, as you can see fromthe pages of Lines each term, that many ofour girls are exceptional in their chosenfields, but as important are the personalachievements that bring self belief andhelp to develop a robustness andresilience which will stand them in goodstead for their adult lives. Our delight is inevery girl who surprises herself with apreviously undiscovered interest or abilityand the growing confidence that brings.Rowan Edbrooke, HeadmistressNicola Blackwood MP and Year 9 enjoy a close encounter with an African pygmy hedgehogSpotlight on ScienceNicola Blackwood MP joined Year 9 pupils for aclose encounter with small reptiles, arthropodsand mammals as part of a range of activities,lectures and events to mark National Science &Engineering Week in March.Overseen by The British Science Association,National Science and Engineering Week shinesthe spotlight on how science, technology andengineering relate to our everyday lives andhelps to inspire the next generation ofSchool Councilscientists with fun and participative activities.Pupils were involved in a diverse range ofscience based activities including engineeringspaghetti and marshmallow towers, learningabout nanotechnology; Black Holes and BigBang theories; and debating the motions ‘Thishouse believes that in this day and age bioterrorism is the greatest threat’ and ‘This housebelieves that the government should notspend money on space travel’.School Council, with representatives from every year group in school, provides the opportunity for pupils tovoice their opinions and allows the student body to influence the day to day life of School. In the last termwe have suggested a peer-mentoring scheme, which would be provided by girls in the sixth form, and weare hoping will be in place for September 2012. School Council also places huge emphasis on our schoolspirit and, on St Kate's Day, many activities involved mixed age groups to encourage a sense of community.School Council is quick to recognise and correct small operational issues and can provide an alternativepoint of view on School life.Clea Southall, Imogen Kempton and Evie Stretch, School Councillors2 | Lent Term 2012

FRONTlinesYour View of School Life‘Frontlines’ is run by the girls, for the girls. Thanks to all who have contributedthis term. Please let us know if you would like to write a report or if you areinterested in joining the ‘Lines team’.You can email the editorial team: communications@shsk.org.ukD of E goesfrom strengthto strengthIn February, 120pupils and theirfamilies attendedthe St Helen’s D of EAward presentationto collect Bronze,Silver and goldAwards achievedin the last 12months. Keith Sexton, HSE Director atAmey PLC, an Oxfordshire D of E partner,congratulated all those concerned andemphasised the value of the award topotential employers.Young Entrepreneurs in the MakingTemplar Square Shopping Centre, Oxford hadnever been seen as vivacious as it was on themorning of Saturday 28th of February, the dayof the Young Enterprise trade fair. Over 30Young Enterprise companies, from all overOxfordshire, gathered to battle it out for sales,prizes and judges' recognition! Buzzin’,Retrospect and Rouge, the St Helen’s teams,began setting up their stalls early for what wasLes Échanges and moreThe Modern Foreign Languages departmentorganised several highly successfulexchanges this term. Year 11 pupils, studyingGerman, travelled to Bielefeld and visitedthe cities if Cologne and Münster, as well asDr. Oetker World.Having enjoyed visits to both Novara, nearMilan and Santiago de Compostela earlierthis year, it was our Italian and Spanishpupils’ turn to welcome their exchangestudents to England and St Helen’s.to be a rewarding and profitable day. All 3companies found it a really useful experience,chatting to other teams about their experiencesand conducting market research for futureproduct ideas. Each company was judged onits product range, customer service andpresentation and congratulations to Buzzin'who won best product, for their 'bee hotel',and best stand.Sophie Topp, 10MWith German exchange friends in the snow in Bielefeld!Modern foreign language GCSE pupils fromSt Helen’s and Abingdon School alsoenjoyed a shared theatrical experience thisterm; watching French, Spanish and Germanplays by Onatti Productions. Highlyentertaining and often complex plots wereenjoyed by all and, despite being performedin a foreign language, none of the humourwas lost on the audience!Catherine Moon (US1 W)Our 2012 Bronze expedition training iswell underway, with 92 Year 9 pupils(over 90% of the year group) taking onthe challenge of preparing for, planningand completing a 2-day hike with anovernight camp. The groups will be outin March, on their practice expeditionrefining their skills in navigation,camp-craft and cooking.STOP PRESS...STOP PRESS...Many congratulations to Lydia Davies(piano), Olivia Law (trombone) and RosieBartholomew (trumpet) for reaching thenational final of the Pro Cordacompetition. The Bartholomew Trioplayed the second movement of Trio Op.74 by the Norwegian composer, TrygveMadsen and have been invited to play inthe runners up concert in Cardiff in May.“They played absolutely beautifully anddid themselves, and St Helen’s, proud.”Ms Rakowski, Head of Music4 | Lent Term 2012

Debating Society UpdateLorel Scriven and Leying Lee have continuedtheir success in the ESU Mace competition thisterm, reaching the Regional Final inBirmingham where they debated: ‘This housebelieves that people convicted of serious crimesshould be electronically tagged for the rest oftheir lives.’ Lorel and Leying were highlycommended by the judges, placing them 2ndout of 44 teams in the region.The Year 11 Rotary Public Speaking team (HelenDallas, Jess Ward-Zinski and Rea Averill) havealso been on a winning streak, reaching theRegional Final in High Wycombe. All three girlswere praised for their lively enthusiasm andengaging manner.A group of 16 US2 girls enjoyed a black tieevening debate at Abingdon on 14 March. Thedebate ‘This house does not support the InvisibleChildren campaign against Joseph Kony’ wasdebated in mixed pairs. Strong opinions wereexpressed on both sides and the conversationscontinued over dinner.Following in their footsteps, the Lower SchoolDebating Club followed up their home successagainst Abingdon’s Lower School debaters withanother 2 – 0 victory away. Mrs Haines isRoom 101An opportunity for an invited ‘school celebrity’to discuss their top five pet hates which they wouldlike to consign to Room 101, the infamous torturechamber in George Orwell’s novel 1984.I have found it rather tricky to think of a ‘top 5 pethates’ but, after careful thought and consideration, Ihave come up with a list!Madame Abbott, French Departmentinvestigating new fixtures for our Year 7 – 9debaters next term at Cothill andD’Overbroeck’s Leckford Place.Mrs Hughes, Director of StudentsLeying and Lorel... a formidable team!Pet Hate 1: Mess. I cannot stand mess or untidy places – I often start my day by giving thephotocopying room five minutes of my time as it seems to be allergic to tidiness! Many ofmy current or former pupils will have heard my famous phrase ‘ranger les chaises’ beforeleaving the classroom.Pet Hate 2: Badly behaved children, never at St Helen’s of course! Sometimes children areso badly behaved in public places that I have to resort to telling their parents off! Once Isaw a father with his three children eating some fish and chips and, once they hadfinished, they simply dropped their rubbish. I ran after them and told them they had leftsomething behind! The father came back and collected it. Mission achieved!Pet Hate 3: Ball games. Don’t you find that the ball always heads in the wrong direction?Especially in tennis. Most of all, I really hate it when the ball hits you in the face. That hurts!Luckily when I was younger I had a very kind PE teacher who didn’t make me play all thesegames and kindly let me sit on the bench.Pet Hate 4: TV. It’s just too much noise in the evenings. Don’t you find that on TV everyonelooks exactly the same: same white teeth, same shiny hair, same cheesy smile?Pet Hate 5: Last but not the least. Really sorry but I don’t like Christmas and New Year.Around that time of the year I‘d rather be known as Mrs Scrooge!Interview withMr HuntMr Hunt joined St Helen’s this term andis the new Director of Staff. He teachesHistory to Years 7, 8 and 9 and isparticularly interested in Russianhistory which he finds fascinating.How have you enjoyed your time atSchool so far?It has been brilliant! I am having a fantastictime, everyone is so welcoming – theteachers are fab and the pupils are great.Why did you come to work at St Helenand St Katharine?I joined St Helen and St Katharine for a newexperience. It is clearly a great school andafter over nine years teaching in a boys’school I felt I needed a change. I am alreadynoticing differences between the two schoolsbut I am also able to see that many of thestereotypical images of boys and girls are infact incorrect.How have your first few weeks been?Brilliant! I am having a smashing time, it hasbeen very busy but I take that as a realpositive. There are new challenges and thegirls seem to collaborate well and reallyenjoy their work. St Helen and St Katharine isan exciting place to be and joining inJanuary has been great, as I have been ableto get stuck in to the job while the school iswell under way in the academic year.What do you like best about the school?The people – both the girls and staff arewelcoming and a delight to work with.Whilst the girls are hard-working andcommitted we can definitely have a laughand joke along the way!Jess Hoskin, 10L and Sophie Top, 10MLent Term 2012 | 5

CREATIVElines12 Angry Jurors'1962. The death penalty is sill enforced and 12 jurors must decidewhether to send a 16 year old boy to be hanged for matricide. Thevote must be unanimous.'12 Angry Jurors was a student directed play involving an ensemble cast of14 Year 9 and 10s performed in the Studio Theatre in February. The pace andintensity of the dialogue and the stage direction, which demanded all 12jurors remained on stage, in character, throughout the performance meantthat we had to know the play and each other incredibly well! Each night thefinal decision of 12 ‘not guilty’ votes was highly charged, for both audienceand actors alike. The moment of silence, as the final line is delivered, a realturning point in our character’s lives.Walking past and sharing a look with our fantastic director, Zenia Selby, oranother member of the cast the week after the play made me realise howbig a part of my life the play had become over the last six months, and howmuch I had learnt.Eloïse Carey, 10DMusical MasterclassIn January St Helen’s welcome renowned pianist Giorgios Konstantinou to conduct apiano masterclass with some of our most able pianists. Having studied at the NationalConservatory in Athens and the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Giorgos hasgone on to win several major international piano competitions and performedin many of the world’s most prestigious venues, including concerts on Rome,Prague, St Petersburg and London.Alexandra Wilkinson, Eleanor Hurrell, Elizabth Hancock, Lydia Daviesand Bethan Rose were delighted to have the opportunity to workwith such an eminent and talented musician.Festival SuccessSt Helen's pupils, once again, scooped manyawards at the Oxford Music Festival in February.Particular mention to Eleanor Hurrell, who wonthe ‘Helen Robson Memorial Award’, and ClaireWatters who won the ‘Headington Folk SongCup’. Both girls were invited to perform in thefinal concert, Claire alongside her sister Fiona.Creative Arts DayIn early January Year 9 went off timetableto experience and enjoy a ‘Creative Arts’ Day.Invited ‘guest’ artists from a range ofdisciplines, supported by art department staff,ran a series of workshops in art; design andtechnology; food technology; photography;textiles; and art history. Pupils had theopportunity to attend workshops of theirchoice and experience the range and breadthof creative arts disciplines at first hand.Congratulations also to...Katie Blackwell 1st place 18 years and under musical show solo1st place 15 – 18 years folk song soloLucy Taylor 1st place 8 years and under bowed string recitalBethan Rose 1st place 15 years and under bowed string recitalCatriona Suttie 1st place 14 years and under vocal soloHeather Conder 1st place 14 years and under vocal duetChantal Olavesen 1st place 14 years and under vocal duetAnya Chomacki 1st place 15 – 18 years vocal duetEleanor Hurrell 1st place 15 – 18 years vocal duetElizabeth Hancock 1st place 15 years and under chamber ensembleKatya Richards 1st place 15 years and under chamber ensembleHannah Tollemache 1st place 15 years and under chamber ensembleLower School Choir 1st place 13 years and under choirAnna Murphy, US1X6 | Lent Term 2012

COMMUNITYlinesRaising money and votes atthe Great Balloon Debate!The Year 10 Charity Dinner CommitteeDressing Up for aGood CauseBecause I Am a GirlFebruary saw thelaunch of our yearlong campaign toraise money for thecharity Plan UK –Because I Am A Girl.The charity works indeveloping countriesto give practicalsupport for girls to remain in education, thusimproving their chances of movingthemselves, their communities and futuregenerations out of poverty.We have set ourselves the ambitious target ofraising £30,000 which will involve every St Helen’sgirl attempting to raise £52 each, that’s £1 perweek per girl for the year long campaign!Fundraising is well under way with a host ofcreative ideas from sponsored walks, runs andsilences to cake sales, themed party night andchores for parents!Whole school fundraising events got underway with the ‘Great Women’s Balloon Debate’to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March.(see ‘Beyond the Lines’)Rev’d Janet Taft,The refectory buzzed with excitement onFriday 16th March as the Year 10 Charity dinnerbegan. With over 140 guest all dressed up indazzlingly high shoes and suits (the boys!), itwas certain to be an evening to remember.Thanks to great organisation from thecommittee, wonderful waitress serviceprovided by US1 and a delicious 3 course mealprovided by Olivier and the catering team, theevening was a huge success. We enjoyed liveperformances from Lorna Stephens, FrancescaSissons and Jasmine Ellesmere as well as a quizand a raffle. Not only was it a fabulous eveningbut we also raised £650 for the School charity:‘Because I am a Girl’, which made the eveningall the more worthwhile.Sophie Topp, 10MGold Volunteering....Members of UpperSchool are currentlyworking to completetheir Gold Duke ofEdinburgh's Award andare undertaking a range ofvolunteering activities:“I work at Cancer Research in Wantage,doing anything from sorting donations,to serving customers in the shop. I oftenend up talking to people about theirexperiences with cancer, and it’s greatto know that our work is making adifference, and helping to cure cancer.”“I volunteer at Riding for the Disabledwhere I help in lessons with disabledchildren, and I’ve also been with them todemonstrations at Blenheim Palace, theRDA National Championships and theirannual holiday on the Ridgeway. It’sbeen amazing to see how much progressthey make in a short space of time.”Anna Murphy, US1XServing the CommunityFor the last 3 years we have been volunteeringto do community service. Every week we visitan elderly lady, living alone at home. We cycleto her house in Abingdon, in all weathers, andMargaret is always so welcoming and greetsus with a smile on her face, a cup of tea and achocolate biscuit! We then get stuck in tovarious jobs ranging from gardening and letterwriting, to cleaning and tidying her house.We have been very lucky to build a uniquefriendship which bridges an almost 70 yearage gap. We have met Margaret’s family andfriends and attended a 90th birthday party!We very much hope to stay in contact withMargaret but will always treasure her sense ofhumour and fun which has become such animportant part of our week.Alice Matthews, US2E and Axie Finch, US2CLent Term 2012 | 7

BEYOND THE linesCelebrating International Women’s DayBalloon debaters representing (from l to r) Dorothea Beale, Helen Keller, Catherine the Great,Ellen MacArthur, Betty Friedan, Charlotte BrontëOn Thursday 8th March, we celebratedInternational Women's Day. Rev'd Taft led theSchool in a Eucharist Service with guestspeaker Rev'd Dr Erin Kirby, who challengedus all to embrace choice in order to make adifference in the world.At lunchtime the School gathered again inYPH for a charity ‘Great Women’s BalloonDebate’. Six passengers, members of staff andpupils each representing a ‘great’ woman,attempted to convince the School of theircontribution to society and why theydeserved their place in the sinking hot airballoon! After some highly passionate andRowan Edbrooke and Alice Thomson at theInternational Women's Day Evening Receptionenjoyable exchanges which saw Catherinethe Great and Ellen MacArthur making anearly exit from the balloon, Betty Friedantriumphed over Helen Keller to claim the oneavailable place in the basket!The day was rounded off by an inspiring,honest, thought provoking and highlyentertaining guest lecture on the proverbialquestion ‘Having It All?’ given by Old GirlsKatie Tait (’85) and her sister Alice Thomson(’83); who have both enjoyed highlydistinguished careers in journalism at theBBC, The Telegraph and Times newspapers aswell as bringing up 7 children between them!Jane Cranston, Chair of Governors, chatsto Katie TaitGap Year options...A Focus on CareersIn March St Helen’s hosted a highlysuccessful joint Careers Convention withAbingdon School and Our Lady’s, open topupils and parents from Year 10 and abovefrom the organising schools and a numberof local senior schools.The purpose of the event was to helpinform pupils about the huge variety andbreadth of careers open to them; allowingthem to make informed choices aboutpossible A level subjects and degreechoices. Speakers and representatives fromover 60 career areas attended the eventand the evening included a keynotespeech from Katie Greves, Olympic andWorld Championship rower. Panels ofspeakers from the worlds of engineering;marketing; market research andadvertising; journalism and law alsoaddressed seminar groups, and manyformer St Helen's pupils returned to Schoolas career specialists in a range of differentfields. We are greatly indebted to suchsupport and thank everyone concerned.Debbie Laidlaw, Careers andHigher Education SupportOxbridge Fact and FictionIn February, St Helen's Higher Education and Careers Departmenthosted an ‘Applying to Oxbridge’ event for over 400 Years 11 and 12pupils from 28 schools across Oxfordshire. Mike Nicholson, Director ofUndergraduate Admissions at Oxford University opened the eveningby dispelling, with the help of audience participation, the many mythsof applying to Oxbridge! We were then able to attend seminars on arange of topics from the Science Subjects, Combination Subjects andthe Application Process. Everyone benefited hugely from the expertiseof the many Oxford and Cambridge faculty members and currentstudents who attended, and the evening ended with an informativequestion and answer session in YPH.Catherine Moon, US1WA packed YPH discusses the fact and fiction of 'applying to Oxbridge'Lines is the newsletter of St Helen & St Katharine, Faringdon Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1BE.www.shsk.org.uk T: 01235 546 541 E: communications@shsk.org.ukEditors: Mrs Charlotte Carey, Jess Hoskin (10L), Catherine Moon (US1W), Anna Murphy (US1X), Sophie Topp (10M)Photography: Thanks to Mr Paul Burnett, Mr Paul Moylan and Mr Ash Verjee Design by: MCC Design, Oxfordshire