SUMMER TERM NEWSLETTER 2011

Headmistress: Mrs S J Clifford, B.Ed. (Oxon), M.A. (London)SUMMER TERM NEWSLETTER 2011The weather has been generally kind to us over the past few weeks which has enabledall of our end of year events to proceed without a hitch. It has been a pleasure towelcome so many parents and guests who have joined us, as it is always a delight toshare the achievements of all of our pupils. As you read this newsletter, I am surethat you will agree that the children have been fully engaged in a diverse andstimulating range of activities over the past few weeks, both inside and outside theclassroom. One special event this term was our themed day to celebrate the RoyalWedding. The banners at the top of each page show some of the children enjoying thisevent.Year 6 Positions of Responsibility, 2011-12As we did last year, we announced the names of the Head Girls, Games Captains andSwimming Captains for 2011-12 at Prize Giving. The reaction of the girls to theannouncements was most enthusiastic and for those of you unable to attend PrizeGiving, it gives me great pleasure to confirm the following appointments:Head Girls – Jennifer Murphy and Selina St JohnGames Captains – Isabel Highsted and Erin McMoneagleSwimming Captains – Casey Dangerfield and Bryony Gray

University of Cambridge LatinMrs Kilbourn writes:The girls who learn Latin in Year 5 and Year 6 at High March follow Book 1 of theever popular Cambridge Latin Course which explores the life of Caecilius and hisfamily in the city of Pompeii shortly before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79.Book 1 culminates with the Cambridge Latin Test which the Year 6 girls take at theend of May, just before half-term. The two-part test examines their knowledge of thelanguage and classical background covered in Book 1 and, if successful, the girls areawarded a certificate to recognise the level they have attained. The test papers are sentto Cambridge for moderation and the certificates are awarded at the end of theSummer Term.This year I am delighted to say that all the girls studying Latin in Year 6 took the testand they all passed, with several girls achieving almost full marks on the two papers.The successful candidates were:-6ASophia BradshawTayla CaldeiraEllen CarterSophie Clifford-KingVictoria GreenoughJosie KuceraCharlotte MusaJade PatelSusannah TaylorMargaux WilsonIsabel Windsor6CFrancesca HealyJosie MarsdenLouise MorganGrace PeacheyYolanda QuarteyElena SheppardJessica SlaterAnnabel SmithMaddy SpeedAnna WayLola WillcockHannah WilliamsAmy WonnacottI would like to congratulate all the girls for passing the test and for working very hardover the Easter holidays and the first half of term to prepare themselves. In thecurrent Year 5, thirty girls are studying Latin and so I am hoping for even more passesnext Summer!2

Book WeekMrs Mackay writes:We celebrated Book Week in school as soon as we returned from our half term break.The Travelling Books Company Book Fair was at School all week with a wideselection of good books available to buy. Thank you for all your purchases as thecommission has enabled us to have £800 of books to supplement our classrooms andlibraries.The author Pippa Goodhart visited Junior House. She read some of her books to thechildren and talked to them about the process of writing and making a book. Shestayed after school for a book signing, with ‘You Choose’, illustrated by NickSharratt, being the most popular title.In Upper School, thegirls had a ‘Book SwapDay’, where theyenjoyed exchangingbooks at break time. Wehope they have allenjoyed reading theirnew books.The final day of theweek saw everyonedressed up as a bookcharacter. This dayraised £215.49 for theNSPCC and thewinning costumes ineach year were awardeda book as a prize. InUpper School, thewinners were chosen bythe NSPCC prefects.3

The winning costumes were:Nursery Maisie Dickinson - AladdinReception Maya Tiwana -The Mad HatterYear 1 Snaefridur Adalsteins - a SmurfYear 2 Kendall Lujan - The Cat In The HatRebecca French - Pippi LongstockinYear 3 Georgia Williams - Captain HookYear 4 Abby Minshall - Diana from Pegasus and the FlameYear 5 Selin Whittick - an evacuee from Friend or FoeYear 6 Grace Peachey – MedusaThank you for your support in this busy week.4

Country Dancing at theHatfield FestivalMrs Mackay writes:On the first Saturday in July,the Year 2 Country DancingClub, joined by some formermembers from Year 3 and alltheir families, attended theannual Hatfield SummerFestival. This event, run by theHertfordshire Folk Association,sees children from manydifferent primary schoolsjoining together for a day of dancing. This year the weather was perfect and the girlsenjoyed joining in the dances that they had been practising all year. A few even had ago at the complicated dance designed for older pupils, which we had not attemptedbefore! Older and younger sisters, and on occasion some brave parents, were calledupon to make up numbers for our sets and they all joined in enthusiastically! We ateour picnic lunches in the sunshine, whilst watching maypole demonstrations fromother schools. I am looking forward to attending next year’s event with the newCountry Dancing Club and their families on Saturday, July 7 th , 2012. Formermembers of the club will be most welcome to join us again!5

Rose House DayMaddy Speed (House Captain) and Lulu Heinel (Vice Captain) write:It was Rose House Day on Friday, 6 th May and we chose ‘Peace’ as our theme. Weinvited everyone in both Junior House and Upper School to come dressed as aHippy!!!Rose House raises money to support a girl named Evalina, through World Aid.Evalina lives in a poor area of Tanzania and has none of the privileges that we have.We raise money towards her education.Before Rose House Day arrived the Year 6 Rose House girls worked really hard tomake sure the day was fun and a huge success. Isabel Windsor created a brilliantwebsite for all girls to put their names down for a Catwalk experience or to enter theDesign a Peace Poster competition. Maddy Speed and Lulu Heinel created a‘Powerpoint’ presentation ready for the Rose Day Prayers. Charlotte Musa created thechart for the naming of the bear and Josie Kucera got the bear dressed. Mr Elliottplayed Beatles music for us.At morning break we sold cakes and drinks and started our games. We had ‘Put thefinger on the Hippy’, ‘Name the Hippy Bear’ and ‘Design a Peace Poster’. AtLunchtime Mrs Kucera kindly came into school and helped us have a Hippy FashionCatwalk experience. It was so colourful and great fun and Isabel Windsor was abrilliant commentator on the microphone. We didn’t realise what wonderful modelswe had in School!6

The winners were:-Best Dressed Hippy:Junior House: Holly Parkhouse 1MYear 3 Abby Hjorring 3RYear 4 Josepha Quartey 4MYear 5 Bryony Gray 5KYear 6 Josie Kucera 6AName the Hippy Bear: Georgia Mill 4JPeace Poster Competition: Susannah Taylor 6APin the finger:Charley Nicole- Burgess 6CThank you to everyone who joined in our day and supported our activities. We raiseda magnificent £418.40.South Buckinghamshire Recycling CompetitionChildren in Reception H recently entered a competition where they had to design andcreate a poster to encourage people not to drop rubbish. The children set aboutcollecting litter and making it into a collage for their design. They all decoratedflowers and these elements were combined with the slogan, ‘bin it, don’t drop it’ tomake a class entry for the competition.We were delighted to be told that the Reception H poster has been chosen as thewinning entry. The design will beused to create a panel for the refuseand recycling collection vehiclesused in South Bucks so that themessage can be spread throughout thearea. The organisers of thecompetition will be coming to schoolon Thursday to present High Marchwith some Amazon Vouchers and thegirls will each receive a goody bag.The collection vehicle sporting thenew design will visit High Marchduring ‘Love Where You LiveWeek’, commencing 19th September2011.A big ‘well done’ to all the girls inRH!7

Parent HandbooksA few revisions have been made to our Parent Handbooks for both Junior House andUpper School. The revised copies are available to view on our website or please dorequest a hard copy from the School Office. All new parents to Junior House andUpper School will be given a hard copy.Second Hand UniformThank you to the team of volunteer mothers who run the Second Hand Uniform saleseach term. I would like to draw your attention to the pre-term sale that is planned forthe morning of Tuesday, September 6 at 10:00am in the second floor of Carngray.Any items for this sale should be left in the School Office during the School holidays.Activity ProgrammeThank you for all the reply forms for next term’s Activity Programme. Mrs Corcoranand Mrs Stuhldreer are now compiling the lists and these will be emailed to you inearly August.Music and LAMDA Speech and Drama Examination ResultsWe anticipate that the results will come in during the holidays. The certificates willbe presented to the girls early next term in Prayers and any leavers are asked tocontact the School Office next term to arrange collection of their certificates.DRAMA REPORTMrs Quilter-Wood writes:This term started with the announcement of the new Anderson Family DramaScholarship open to pupils in Year 4. This was greeted with great excitement andenthusiasm and underlines the School’s commitment to Drama and the PerformingArts in general. We had a large number of applicants who all wrote charming lettersexplaining why they would like to be considered for the award and they were allasked to perform a “blind mime” in the first round of auditions. Their mimes wereentertaining and varied and it was hard to choose six winners who were invited toparticipate in the second round of auditions. Congratulations to Emily Cowan,Madeleine Harlow, Ciara Lathrope, Jessica Lockwell, Georgia Mill and LilyStarkey who were selected for the second round. These girls were asked to prepare amonologue from a choice of two and have an interview with the judging panel. Thestandard was extremely high and we very much enjoyed watching them all perform.8

A winner had to be chosen though and the first recipient of the Anderson FamilyDrama Scholarship is Lily Starkey. Huge congratulations to her and also to GeorgiaMill, commended for her intelligent answers during the interview, and Emily Cowanfor her entertaining and realistic performance.All the Speech and Drama girls have been preparing for their LAMDA examinationsthis term, which involved the learning of poems, sections of prose and, for the firsttime this year, monologues for the Year 6 girls who took their Acting Examinations.Mrs Brown and I have been delighted with the hard-work and enthusiasm all the girlshave shown in their preparation and we look forward to receiving their results in duecourse. Pupils returning to us next term will have their reports and certificatespresented in Prayers, but those girls leaving will have their results forwarded to themearly in September.The Year 6 Production is always eagerly anticipated by the girls and this year was noexception. When the title was announced there were squeals of delight and thecorridors and playground have been resounding with the girls singing ‘Oom Pah Pah’and ‘Consider Yourself’ ever since. The whole of the year group took part in theperformance and they were able to choose whether they would prefer to be a boy orone of the adults; and to put themselves forward, if they wanted to, for one of thelarger, character parts. The cast was announced and scripts handed out at the end oflast term in the hope that lines would be learned during the holidays! Rehearsals tookplace on Mondays after school, with a few extra squeezed in during the final weeks.9

The girls have been full of enthusiasm andenergy and have always listened carefully todirection and worked really hard. One of themost important things about being in a showof this type is learning to work as a team,remembering that no matter how big your partor how many lines you have – every singleperson is important to the success of the showand it is everyone working together towards ashared common goal that makes an excitingand rewarding performance. It is not easytaking on such huge and iconic parts as Fagin,Bill Sykes and Nancy at any age, but for 11year old girls it is quite a challenge and it iscertainly one they have risen to. CharlotteMusa as Bill made us all tremble as she entered the stage and we certainly had everysympathy for poor Nancy played sensitively by Lola Willcock. Susannah Taylor’sOliver had just the right balance of naivety and excitement and Josie Kucera’s Faginmade us feel for the loveable old rogue! I have been proud to witness theencouragement and support that all the girls have given each other throughout therehearsal process and was delighted with their superb performances.A show like this requires team-work and I am hugely grateful to everyone who hashelped with the production, especially Mr Elliott who, as always, has worked miraclesin coaching the girls with the singing, Mrs Crawley-Boevey for her help withcostumes and props and overseeing the stage management, to Mrs Hall for creating astunning back-drop of the London Skyline and to Mrs Moore, Mrs Hagon and MrsCook for ensuring that scenes were changed and props were on stage at the righttimes! The Year 5 girls are already asking what they will be doing next year. Wellgirls……I’ll let you know!10

MUSIC REPORTMr Elliott writes:Once again it has been a rich and varied termof music making. Two singing competitionstook place in the earlier part of the term, witheager participation from the girls of Years 4and 5.As ever, competition was stiff, and highstandards were achieved in the challenging setpieces, ‘The Smugglers' Song’ and ‘A Rovin'’respectively.Singing was also very much the order of theday in the joint concert which was given inMay by the Year 6 girls and their exact contemporaries at Davenies School.Performances of songs from the hit musical ‘Grease’ (with Olivia Mason starring as‘Sandy’) and Michael Hurd's ‘Swinging Samson’ framed the concert, with somememorable solos in between.11

At the regular Teatime Concerts this term, both Senior and Junior High March Voicessimilarly enjoyed singing songs from hit musicals. At the first concert of term, bypopular demand, the senior girls sang well-known hits from ‘Wicked’, whilst theirjunior counterparts ably captured the spirit of ‘The Blues Brothers’ at the concert inthe last week of term.The latter part of term was packed with productions. The Year 3 girls demonstratedtheir musical and dramatic talents with their performance of the musical ‘Gold’,whilst shortly after the girls of Year 2 caught the imagination of their audiences withthe topically-themed ‘The Emerald Crown’. Last, but not least, though, the girls ofYear 6 are to be congratulated on their performances of ‘Oliver!’ to highlyappreciative audiences. This was a splendid way for them to crown the term for usand indeed their time at High March. This delightful and talented group of girls willbe missed in many ways, but we wish them well for a bright future and a musical one!12

ART REPORTMrs Hall writes:It has been an extremely busy and verysuccessful Summer Term, the highlightbeing the Art Exhibition in May. Thetheme this year was ‘What a WonderfulWorld’ and ‘The Guests of the RoyalWedding’. The girls displayed anamazingly diverse selection of work frompainting to collage, making clay tiles andbirds, to sewing flower cushions and birdbags. The wire and papier mâché figurinesof the Guests and the Royal family were delightful, adding a real sense of humour tothe occasion. The Buckinghamshire Advertiser headlines claimed that ‘High MarchSchool turns into an art gallery’, and this certainly captured the mood and ambianceof the school’s exhibition.The girls in Years 5 and 6 have also been busy designing posters for the SouthBuckinghamshire Recycle project. We were delighted to learn this week, however,that the poster designed by RH has been chosen to be printed on the side of the newrecycle dustbin lorries.Also, a few girls from each class have been busy painting and collaging pictures forthe Country Fayre Art Competition in Beaconsfield. The theme chosen for this year’sart competition is ‘The Circus’ and all the work will be judged and displayed at theFayre on Monday the 29 th of August. It is another great opportunity for all the parentsand children to have a day out and see the wonderful work created by High Marchgirls.13

SUMMER SPORTS’ REPORTATHLETICSMrs McKee writes:At the Senior Sports the results for the day were as follows:House Tunnel Ball Year 2 DaffodilHouse Tunnel Ball Years 5 and 6 ThistleHouse Shuttle Relay Year 3 ThistleHouse Shuttle Relay Year 4 Thistle and RoseHouse Relay Year 5ShamrockHouse Relay Year 6RoseHouse Sports ShieldThistleSenior Victor LudorumJunior Victor LudorumLola WillcockIsabel Highsted and Grace Storr14

This summer we returned to Pipers Corner for another Quad Kids Athletics match.The Year 5 and Year 6 Teams participate in a variety of events including standinglong jump, vortex howler throw, 75m, 600m and the shuttle relay. Despite the hotweather, both teams produced some excellent individual and team performances. Welldone to Grace Peachey who scored the highest individual marks and congratulationsto both year groups for finishing in 1 st place.Year 6 Year 5Josie KuceraCasey DangerfieldJosie MarsdenIsabel HighstedCharlotte MusaZara McLellanJade PatelErin McMoneagleGrace PeacheyJennifer MurphySusannah TaylorGrace StorrLola WillcockScarlet StorrIsabel WindsorEllen WalkinWinners of the Inter- House Rounders Competition:Year 6 - DaffodilYear 5 - ThistleSWIMMINGMr Bruce writes:The swimming squads have had another fine term of results in the pool. The selectedmembers of the ‘A’ Squad competed in the Panagraphics finals at Haberdashers’Aske’s School and did exceptionally well. Year 4 came third, Year 5 fifth and Year 6second. These are quite amazing results for the year groups, as this LeagueCompetition is made up of all the top schools in South Bucks and Hertfordshire.Congratulations girls!The entire ‘A’ Squad travelled to Godstowe for a gala and won the gala by asubstantial margin with every swimmer in the ‘A’ Squad playing a part in this resultand showing the wonderful depth we now have in our year groups.Our Year 3 and 4 ‘A’ Squads were invited to compete against Davenies and it wasquite an atmosphere from the start. The girls swam very well, but were narrowlybeaten on the day by a strong Davenies boys’ team. We will have to see what happensnext year.15

On Wednesday, 29 th June therewas a gala in our pool againstHeatherton House. We expectedsome very strong competitionfrom them and were notdisappointed!The final score, however, wasHigh March 109 and HeathertonHouse 105, a great final win forthe end of this academic year.Well done, everyone!The following girls were awardedSwimming Colours: Charley-Nicole Burgess, Tayla Caldeira, Francesca Healy, Chloe Imlah, Josie Kucera, OliviaMason, Charlotte Musa, Jessica Slater, Lola Willcock, and Isabel Windsor.A big thank you to Mrs Gray and Mrs McAlister for all the tremendous work they doand the effort they put in to help the swimmers. We all appreciate their hard work.Thank you must also go to Mrs McKee for all the help behind the scenes. Her tirelesshelp poolside at galas and driving the minibus is greatly appreciated by all. Also,thank you must go to all the parents who help out at squad nights and galas. Weappreciate you giving up your time to assist every week.Lastly, good luck to all the Year 6 girls at their new schools next year. The class ofYear 6 girls has been outstanding this year, not just in their results in the pool but themanner in which they have led from the front and set a wonderful example to all theother year groups. They have been fantastic.Well done, girls and good luck.16

The Social GroupMrs Katharine Cousins and Mrs Sarah Kucera (Co-Chairs) write on behalf ofthe Social Group:The academic year 2010-2011 has been very full and active for the High March SocialGroup! We are a group of volunteers and our main function is to arrange socialevents and fun, interesting initiatives for parents and children. A by-product of ouractivities is hopefully and usually some fund-raising for the school and its charities.In May we held a Quiz Night which was a great battle of general knowledge betweensixteen teams of High March parents. This was followed in June by a familyrounders tournament - with children and parents taking up their positions at FortyGreen cricket ground for an evening of rounders with a bar and barbeque to providesustenance!The generous support of children, parents and staff made all of the events this yearhuge successes and, in addition to the enjoyment derived by all, we are delighted thatover £16,000 has been raised this year for High March.Some of the money raised by the Social Group hasalready been used to fund the Happy Puzzle Companyvisit to Upper School, the Quantum Theatre Group tovisit Years 3 to 6, the artists to visit Junior House andthe Young Shakespeare Company to visit Upper Schoolnext year.It is also likely that the money raised will also gotowards equipping the new outdoor learning areasadjacent to the Reception classrooms and the purchaseof play equipment. At Upper School new netball kitwill be purchased for our teams and the sound systemwill be extended with extra speakers.Thank-you to everyone who has helped us this year, but particularly to the SocialGroup members of 2010-11:Caroline Boyle, Katharine Cousins (Chair), Rachel Cunliffe, Amanda Hudson(Treasurer), Colleen Jones (Secretary), Fiona Kelleher, Lauren Khouri, Sarah Kucera(Chair), Anita Langwade, Jo Litherland, Melanie Murray, Suzi Oliver, Tiff Rex,Michelle Slater, Eleanor Telling, Jo Waldron, Trudi Watts and Figen Whittick.17

LeaversAs I said in my report at Prize Giving, the end of the school year is always a sad timeas we often have to say goodbye to members of staff. For those of you who wereunable to attend Prize Giving please find below a slightly adapted extract from myspeech in which I paid tribute to our leaving staff and pupils:The end of the academic year is traditionally a time to say goodbye to some staff asthey move on to pastures new. As you know we were very sorry to say goodbye toMrs Susie Matthews, our Head of Drama, when she retired at Christmas.After a year in which we have had a baby boom at High March, I am delighted toreport that there will be very few changes to the staffing at Upper School. At JuniorHouse, however, Mrs Lisa Imlah and Miss Emma Ives, class teachers for LowerNursery and Reception respectively will sadly be leaving us. Mrs Imlah is movingout of the immediate area and taking the time to settle Chloe and Abby into their newschool and Miss Emma Ives is moving to London to take up a post teaching a Year 1class. Both teachers will be sorely missed for their enthusiasm and caring approachto the teaching of their young charges and we wish them well in the future.We shall also be very sorry to say goodbye to our two Gap Tutors, Miss Jodie Lewinand Miss Ellie Shipp. Miss Lewin leaves us to study forensic science at universityand Miss Shipp has secured a place to complete a postgraduate certificate ineducation, training to be a teacher.To the children (and staff) an important part of the day islunch! Our caterers, Brookwood, work very hard toensure that we are well fed and so we are very sad that ourChef Manager, Mr Terry Reddings, has decided that nowis the appropriate time to retire in order to devote moretime to his family. Coming from a military background, Iwill always remember Terry for his perpetual habit ofcalling me “Head Teacher” as if I am the colonel of theregiment. Despite many requests from me to call me“Sue” or even “Mrs Clifford”, he just about falls short ofthe full military salute and insists on referring to me as“Head Teacher” at all times. I know that many parentshave felt enormously supported by Terry as he has alwaystaken the time to talk through special dietary requirements and the children will missthose special days when he tossed pancakes or dressed up to make lunch a fun andspecial occasion. We all wish Terry a long and happy retirement and hope that hewill be able to remain in touch with us all at High March.18

A significant proportion of my time each week is spent with prospective parents. Aswell as wanting to be assured that their child will be happy at school, prospectiveparents are also keen to know what I call the A, B, C. Now obviously A, B, C canrefer to the teaching of reading and writing and I am always at pains to explain thatwe teach phonetically and so it is important to use a, b, c with your child and not A,B, C! However, A, B, C also has a deeper and wider educational meaning and as Iconclude my speech this afternoon, I would like to share this with the girls.My A stands for Aspire and Achieve. At High March we want every child to fulfiltheir potential to enable them to reach their own goals. In order to do this we needthe B’s. We encourage each of you to Be good ambassadresses for the School, Beproud of your School, Be kind and considerate and above all to Be active learners.By following the B’s you will be showing that you are being C’s. You will be Caring,Considerate and Confident members of the community.As I survey our Year 6 leavers, I believe that the girls are excellent examples of my A,B, C. Girls, you have been a super Year 6 – full of energy, hard working and great tobe with. As you move on to your senior schools, I hope that you will look back withhappy memories of your years at High March. You will find that in life you are oftenoffered opportunities. Seize these chances to try something new or to pursuefavourite hobbies or interests. We wish you well in the future and hope that you willcome back to visit us.On behalf of the Anderson family, the Governors and the Staff, I wish you all a veryhappy and hopefully sunshine-filled holiday. We hope that those pupils who areleaving us will be very happy and fulfilled in their new schools. You will always bewelcomed back to High March and so do visit us if you can. For those returning tous next term, we look forward to welcoming you back in September.Yours sincerelyMrs S J CliffordHeadmistress19