Highlights autumn 2014

Croydon Highlights

Autumn 2014

CROYDON HIGH SCHOOL Old Farleigh Road, Selsdon, South Croydon, Surrey CR2 8YB Tel: 020 8260 7500 Fax: 020 8260 7461 E-mail: info2@cry.gdst.net

Croydon High welcomes VIP Guests to Prizegiving

Welcome to the 2014 Autumn Highlights

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nother half term over at Croydon High; the leaves are changing colour and the grounds are taking on their wonderful Autumn glory, although I must say we are lucky to have such wonderful views here whatever the season. As always, there has been plenty going on, not least our plans for celebrating our 140th anniversary. Our first event is the celebratory performance at Fairfield Halls on November 26th and groups are busy rehearsing in every part of the school. I am very much looking forward to seeing many friends and alumnae there to join us for what I hope will be a very happy occasion.

We are continuing with our programme of refurbishment and improvement and many visitors have commented on how smart and fresh the school is looking with its newly painted exterior. I am particularly pleased with our new look Reception classes which are full of light and colour and provide the girls with a wonderful learning environment. These Early Years are so crucial and they are experiencing inspirational teaching in inspiring surroundings.

Talking of inspiration, our Prizegiving Ceremony in September was just that, as we welcomed Chantal Henderson back to school. Chantal left CHS in 1994 to study Economics at Bath and went on to become a successful Chartered Management Accountant. Her most recent role was the Head of Financial Planning for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Chantal, equipped with her Olympic torch, enthralled the girls with her zest and determination, in both her personal and professional life.

It is always a pleasure to welcome guests to the school, be they ‘old girls’ returning for a nostalgic visit, or prospective parents considering Croydon High for their daughters. We have an Open Door policy and we are always happy to arrange a tour and a chance to see the school in action. If you would like to do this at any time, feel free to contact us on 020 8260 7500 or info2@ cry.gdst.net

New Colourful Reception Class!

Open Doors for...

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n Wednesday 19th November 2014 at 1.30pm we have our second Open Doors event for our Alumnae community. The inaugural event in the summer of this year saw ladies from the Class of 1947 through to 1999 greeted in the sunshine by our wonderful prefect team. Reena Patel, who now lives on Australia, was pleased this event coincided with her trip back home. Reena was Head Girl in 1999 and spotted her name at the top of the current Head Girls plaque in the main hall! Open Doors provides a tour of the school to see it in all its glorious action; many of our guests have previously visited the school but out of hours, so this was an opportunity to meet some of the staff and pupils and observe lessons. After the tour Mrs Leonard invited the ‘girls’ for a cup of tea in her office, for many the highlight of the day!

If you would like to book for the November event please contact Karen Roe at ivylink@cry.gdst.net.

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n Tuesday 14th October all girls from Year 7, with the Art Scholars participated in an art workshop run by the painter and printmaker Helen Clark. Helen showed all of the girls the work she had created in response to the Unknown Soldier and in response to many war poems she had read. The poems were discussed and Helen demonstrated a variety of techniques the girls could use within their pieces. They had images of poppies and soldiers to inspire them and the haunting words from the poems. They all then had an opportunity to create their very own piece of work using inks, acrylics, chalk and charcoal.

However, they were restricted to the colours red, brown, black and white. The pieces they created were thought provoking, exciting and ambitious; many of them were taking risks and really experimenting with their materials. 10,000 men from the Croydon area went to fight in WW1 and 2,500 of them were killed in battle. There will be a concert to remember and commemorate these brave men at the Fairfield Halls on Friday 14th November. All of the girls’ work will also be exhibited on this day together with three other schools from the Croydon area. The Mayor of Croydon will then select three of these paintings to be framed and hung in the Museum of Croydon. To book tickets please contact Fairfield box office on 020 8688 9291 and quote DoveSchools to receive a 50% schools discount.

Sporting Success

Congratulations to...

play o t d e ct en sele ounty team e b s a Erin h r the Kent c fo rugby

Winners of Surrey U19 Tumbling Competition

Runner A me individu lia finished in 4t al event at the To h place in the ny J Country Georgie, Marney and Jojo all gained places competit ames Cross ion. in the Surrey netball development academy.

Following her tennis win at the London Youth Games, Flora was invited to a coaching session at Wimbledon. Flora was also recently selected for the Surrey Satellite Elite netball academy.

Sophie and Ella, both selected to play rugby for Surrey for the second year running, a huge achievement.

Seyi has been selected for the Surrey Satellite Elite netball academy.

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An Inspiring Weekend

n Friday morning, five of the senior prefects travelled to The Royal High School Bath for the GDST Young Leaders’ Conference.

After being welcomed by Helen Fraser, the chief executive of the GDST, we heard inspirational speeches from Tracey Edwards and Ann Franke, two successful and admirable women. Both shared their experiences throughout their impressive careers, and how they still suffered setbacks and challenges because of their gender.

They motivated us to find a balance between our home and work life, and to never let being a woman limit our success. We were divided into teams to take part in team-building challenges supervised by members of the British Army. The task was to design and market a charity fundraising event in an ‘Apprentice’style competition.

The nominated charities were The Children’s Society, Water Aid, The Eve Appeal and learning disabilities charity, Hft. Each team was assigned a charity and we had Friday and Saturday to plan the event ready to present the idea to judges on Sunday morning.

On Saturday, we developed our ideas and began finalising the details of our event, such as finance, design and filming a thirty second promotional video. We also had the opportunity to go into Bath city centre to carry out market research. In order to fund our event, we had to pitch our idea to potential sponsors asking for their support. We then began planning our presentation, and had until 7pm to submit our final powerpoints and videos.That evening there was a formal dinner which provided a networking opportunity for us to form links with GDST girls from all over the country.

Finally, it was presentation time.

Despite it being nerve-racking to speak in front of the judges and the other girls, it was a fantastic experience and was great to hear the other groups’ impressive event plans and what they had produced within a short space of time. It was a fantastic weekend for all girls involved and we came away inspired to be successful and to be great leaders. New friendships were formed and useful links were made in what was a very rewarding few days.

OCTOBER 2014

a b o d r C贸 Spain

Washington DC & New York City - USA

HALF TERM TRIPS

Pompeii - Italy

Santand er - Spain

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Excitement at Gatton Park!

ear 5 all got on the bus really excited about going to Gatton Park. We met our guide Sarah and she showed us the classroom where we learned about grid references as part of our Geography topic. We then put our coats on and ventured outside. Sarah gave us a tour of the park. My favourite place was the Japanese Garden. It was very tropical but it was overgrown until 2000 when there was a TV makeover. We had to work out the grid references for each location and match them with photographs. After our packed lunches we played two orienteering games. The first activity was to make a jigsaw.

We started with a map and a grid reference and we travelled to different places in the grounds and solved problems. My favourite one was making up words, one of which was ‘swinto’ meaning ‘lake’. When it was time to go we were very sad! By Zoe Year 5

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Magical Museum of London

n October the girls in Year 3 had a fantastic trip to the Museum of London in the Barbican. They had a very exciting morning exploring the Roman Gallery, studying fascinating artefacts and finding out about life in Roman Britain. After lunch they took part in a myths and legends workshop. The session began with an interactive storytelling of the story of Perseus and the Gorgon Medusa dramatised by the museum storyteller.

The girls were then given original Roman artefacts to handle. They had to consider what the objects were used for and what they tell us about life in Roman Britain. They then used the objects to inspire creative ideas for their own stories. Girls had to suggest magical powers that these objects could be imbued with to help their hero achieve their quest. The girls had a wonderful day and can’t wait to write their own exciting myths back at school.

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Harvest Festival

he Junior School’s Harvest Festival included a visit from Major Batt of the Croydon Citadel, who delivered a truly meaningful message to the girls.

He explained how our gifts would help those in need and he extended his thanks to all families for their generosity. The Jazz Band played us in and out of the hall and the choirs entertained us with beautiful songs and harmonies.

Each year group presented poetry and Nursery and Reception brought lots of smiles from everyone with their songs and accompanying actions. The assembly was very colourful, displaying the beautifully decorated Harvest Boxes made by each class.

A Message from the Duke of Cambridge!

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ach week I run the Noah Club which raises awareness about endangered species. In Noah we produce newsletters and do other activities to encourage the girls to learn more about animals close to extinction. The Duke of Cambridge is highly involved in the protection of endangered species, and has set up a charity for this cause, called 'United for Wildlife'. I recently wrote to the Duke to tell him about the Noah Club. I also mentioned my interest in promoting awareness about endangered species and perhaps widening the Noah Club to all GDST schools. Last week I was lucky enough to receive a reply from Kensington Palace! The Duke has sent his very best wishes and encourages the Noah Club and me to continue this worthwhile work.

He also said that the United for Wildlife Facebook page would post a picture of the Noah Girls and me to further promote Noah. By Anika Year 9

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A Trip to the Opera

pera is the only art form that has it all: music, movement, drama and design, and just before half term 46 girls from Year 9 to 13 had the opportunity to experience the art form at its best, at Glyndebourne Opera House, for a performance of Verdi’s La Traviata. Unfortunately the damp weather meant no sitting out on the lawns for our picnics, but the opera itself was a triumph. Natasha Jouhl in the role of Violetta was amazing and there was real chemistry between her and Alfredo (Zach Borichevsky).

Not all of us agreed with the director’s decision to move this 19th century opera into a modern setting, but the music was superb and everyone agreed that this was a memorable and fantastic experience. Two bonuses were meeting former CHS pupil, Alison Strange, who was a violinist in the orchestra, and afterwards some lucky girls got to meet Zach Borichevsky.

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First Concert of the Year

ast Thursday was the Music Department’s first concert of the term, not counting the musical performances for Prize Giving. Fourteen musicians from Year 10 to 13, performing on a range of instruments, delighted the audience with their talent. For girls taking GCSE Music, it was a good opportunity to record performances for their course and for others it was a good reminder to get practising again after the summer break. The Music Department has a busy term ahead preparing for the celebrations in the Fairfield Halls on November 26th and the Carol Service after that in Sanderstead Church on December 11th. We hope to see you there.

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t the beginning of the school year Sabrina Coleman, Alumnae and Development Coordinator at Trust, came to enlighten Year 12 of the wonderful benefits that the GDST Alumnae Network has to offer.

The Network is an active community of nearly 60,000 former students and staff of the 24 schools and two academies of the GDST. It’s the largest network of its kind in the country. It brings together alumnae based in the UK and overseas, making connections, sharing news, passing on careers and university expertise and hosting professional and social events.

Our girls now have the opportunity to connect with GDST alumnae for university and career advice, plus the prospect of work experience.

For more information please go to: http://www.gdst.net/2200/alumnae/ university-and-careers/

Photosynthesis at Kew

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n 2nd October, Year 9 pupils visited the botanical gardens in Kew, Wakehurst as part of their Biology curriculum. The first topic in Year 9 this year is ‘Photosynthesis’ and the girls had already conducted a few experiments and learned about photosynthesis before their visit to Kew. At Kew, they were divided into two groups to conduct two separate activities in the morning and afternoon. First, one group conducted a photosynthetic experiment and successfully obtained both qualitative and quantitative data to show the effect of light intensity on photosynthesis. Meanwhile, the other group studied a series of raised beds each one with a different habitat. These beds contain plants associated with each habitat and were ideal for adaptation studies. The topic, ‘Adaptation’, is part of the GCSE course and will be studied later on this year. The girls enjoyed their day out in the beautiful surroundings of a botanical garden and the weather behaved too.

R DIARY U O Y R O F S E T DA Open Doors ov 1.30pm Wednesday 19 N Evening n e p O rm o F h t ix S v 7pm Wednesday 5 No Celebration ry a rs e iv n n A h t 0 14 roydon C , s ll a H ld e fi ir a F ov 7pm Wednesday 26 N Winter Fair 2-4pm Saturday 6 Dec 1 Carol Service erstead All Saints, Sand 7.15pm Thursday 11 Dec 2011 & 2014 f o s s la C k in L y Iv Xmas Reunion ec 4pm Wednesday 17 D ber Music m a h C f o g in n e v E b 7pm Wednesday 4 Fe Challenge Ivy Link Netball l 2pm Saturday 18 Apri

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he Ivy Link is a way of bringing together the alumnae, parents and other friends of our school.

Whether you join to make new friends, to reconnect with old friends or just to keep in touch with what is happening, we hope that The Ivy Link will help you stay involved in the life of Croydon High School.

Contact Karen Roe for more information ivylink@cry.gdst.net