Highlights spring 2017

Croydon Highlights

Spring 2017

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

The Wizard of Oz really was Wonderful!

Welcome to the 2017 Spring Highlights D

ear Friends The move into the month of March signals the passing of the half-way point of the academic year and (hopefully) brings the warmth and longer days of Spring and Summer. I would like to thank everyone in our School’s community for making me feel so welcome and helping me to embrace every aspect of school life so far.

Since I arrived, it has been both gratifying and tremendously exciting to observe all the activities, projects and other innovations - inside and outside the classroom - that make Croydon High the very special and vibrant environment it is.

At the beginning of the year, I told the girls I would be inviting them, over the course of the year, to visit me for ‘tea and cake’ (or juice in the case of most of the girls) and I am thoroughly enjoying meeting them.

They are confident, compassionate, engaged and ambitious young women who have a vision for their future and approach school life with tremendous purpose and energy. Without exception, I have gained ideas and constructive feedback from every one of my meetings and find the passion the girls convey for their School invigorating. I have also met with parents, alumnae and the Heads of our feeder schools who have been equally responsive and positive. We are looking forward to welcoming another cohort of girls in September to begin their Croydon High journey; the admissions process has demonstrated that they will be a very talented and engaging year group.

One of the many high points so far this term has been our production of “The Wizard of Oz” which showcased the acting, dancing and musical talents of a really large number of girls, from both the Senior and Junior schools. The girls who took the main roles conveyed their characters with tremendous skill; the Cowardly Lion was portrayed with real comic flair by Charlotte in Year 12 with the more sensitive Tinman superbly played by one of our Senior Prefects, Carlotta. Another Prefect, Alita, gave her own style to the bright and sparky Scarecrow in huge contrast to her role as Nancy in last year’s performance of Oliver highlighting the range of her talent. Hannah was totally captivating as the Wicked Witch and certainly had the desired effect of terrifying children - and, dare I say, some of her teachers - in the audience with her remarkable scream; an outstanding performance! In playing the main role, Dorothy, Aleksa (our Alumnae Prefect) displayed incredible vocal talent, capturing the role completely and with real style. These number but a few of the very talented girls who took part either on stage, in the orchestra or backstage. The production values were very high and the whole performance was a delightful experience for all who came to watch. I cannot convey my thanks and congratulations in strong enough terms to Mrs Webb, the Director and Mr Suranyi, the Musical Director, who enabled the girls to reach such a high standard of performance.

I hope you enjoy reading about some of the other events that have taken place recently. I would highlight the Islam conference as an example of highly intellectual exposition of very complex themes, the Holocaust Memorial Day as one of the very best examples of cross-curricular, experiential and creative learning that I have seen in my career and our numerous trips, particularly the South Africa tour in the Autumn, as exemplifying the richness of the Croydon High offer. May I also take this opportunity once again to thank parents and alumnae for supporting events such as the Careers Network Breakfast and Masterclasses which offer such valuable opportunities to our girls.

I look forward to seeing many of you at future events.

With very best wishes Emma Pattison Headmistress

POPPY MEETS MAX!

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fter school on Tuesday 31st January, Poppy Somers in Year 3 was one of six Gymnasts to be given the opportunity to meet Max Whitlock, the Olympic Gold Medallist. Max was at the Millbank Tower as part of a campaign to increase awareness and support for the next Commonwealth Games held on the Gold Coast in 2018.

Poppy expressed “It was a brilliant experience; he walked in on his hands!

I got my photo taken with him and he signed my jumper and leotard. It’s not every day that you see an Olympic Gymnast! I feel very lucky to have met him because my dream is to be in the Olympics in 2024.”

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A FRENCH CELEBRATION

n Wednesday 5th January, our Year 5 girls celebrated 12th Night – or ‘Epiphanie’ – in French style.

Traditionally in France, on the 6th of January - and in fact throughout the month – a special cake called “galette des rois”, containing a lucky charm (la fève) is eaten. The lucky person who finds this charm is crowned Queen (or King). We were delighted to welcome visitors from Year 5 at Park Hill Juniors to join us for this special event. Head of French Mme Paris, with the help of our Year 5 teachers and some excellent French A Level students, had organised an extraordinary learning experience for the girls. After learning and practising some important vocabulary, the girls enjoyed making and decorating crowns and hearing more about the traditions and songs that are associated with the celebration. The delicious galettes – freshly baked by our caterers – were delivered straight from the oven. They were absolutely scrumptious.

Everyone had great fun and we are most grateful to the French department for all their efforts. Bravo, c’était fantastique!

CHRISTMAS AT CROYDON HIGH SCHOOL 2016

FASHION SHOW 2016!

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he Sixth Form performed in a charity fashion show featuring performances from Whitgift School. For decades the Sixth Form Fashion Show has been a major charity event in the school calendar. It is a completely student run event, led by the Head Girl team. This is an excellent opportunity for Year 12 and Year 13 to work together, forming close relationships and exercising leadership skills. The show also offers girls opportunities to get creative: designing outfits and choreographing dances, not to mention strutting their stuff on the catwalk! Some

highlights of the evening included the Bollywood dance choreographed by Shivanni Chheda and Cheyenne, the Famous Dances catwalk and the (W)rappers catwalk which featured dresses made by the girls from sweet and crisp wrappers. The show also included notable singing performances

by Fariha, Carlotta, Georgia and Alita. Not only was the show a fun event, it has also allowed us to raise money for ‘Young Minds’, a charity supporting the emotional wellbeing of young people; we sold 550 tickets over both nights, as well as raffle tickets and bracelets.

SPORTING SUCCESS Congratulations to...

lla Y12 Erin and E y for the elite Selected to pla r t England Junio U18 South Eas y Rugby Academ

Winners of the U8-U11 Croydon Schools Swimming Gala

Biathlon Nation al Finals Amelia 4th, Oli via 3rd and Marion fastest swim

Winners of the U12-13 Croydon Schools Swimming Gala

Y11 Clarice Completed the 20k course in the Tough Guy Challenge

Y11 Flora Selected for Regional Performance Pathway Academy in Hockey

BONN

RECENT TRIPS

BERLIN

PARIS

A HEART FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

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n Tuesday, 1st November, 6th form members from the school’s Amnesty group were invited to attend Amnesty International’s launch of the 2016 Write for Rights campaign. It’s one of the World’s biggest human rights events; it involves sending cards of support and writing letters for people whose basic human rights are being attacked. The event 'really touched our hearts' (Georgia). During the evening we heard from Albert Woodfox (freed in February after 44 years of solitary confinement in a Louisiana prison), and fellow prisoner Robert King.

Ambreen expressed how ‘incredible (it was) to hear stories of individuals who were completely stripped of everything that made them human’. Evangeline commented on ‘Albert’s positive attitude which was inspiring and reminded us of how Amnesty can make a real difference’. We were ‘privileged to have such

inspirational people who had extraordinary stories to tell’ (Liza).We heard a moving account from Richard, husband of British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who features in this year’s Write for Rights campaign. She was arrested in Iran in April and sentenced to five years in prison on unspecified ‘national security-related charges’.

Amnesty does not believe she received a fair trial.

In December our CHS Amnesty group supported Nazanin and a young Malawian girl, Annie Alfred, born with albinism and at risk because of ignorance and prejudice. Kaneila Denton writes: ‘I hope that our Write for Rights campaign continues to change the lives of many, just like it did for Albert’. May our Girls always have a heart for human rights.

OVER THE MOON FOR MRS MOON!

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ongratulations to our very own Mrs Moon (Junior PE Tutor) who swam in the South East Regional Masters Championship at the K2 in Crawley recently. Mrs Moon ‘cleaned up’ in her age-group breaststroke events, winning gold in the 50, 100 and 200m and silver in the 800m freestyle. She also improved her personal best times in many events. We, and the girls especially, are very proud of her.

ARTICULATION COMPETITION

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n Tuesday 10th January I had the incredible opportunity to speak at the Wallace Collection in London and participate in the ARTiculation Competition. It was a chance to discuss an artwork of my choosing in front of an audience of students, teachers and our Adjudicator - Lucy Davis, the Curator of Paintings at the Gallery. The topics chosen by speakers ranged from Elizabeth Siddall's 19th century watercolour paintings to the performance pieces of contemporary artist Marina Abramovic, and my own choice of artwork:

photographer Lorna Simpson's 1980's pieces which discussed issues of representation and discrimination. It was a thought-provoking experience, and all of the talks discussed the bigger question of the role of art within society, which was really interesting to hear from so many different perspectives. I was amazingly lucky to get through to the next round which will take place at the National Gallery next month! Y13 Caroline

The Head of ARTiculation, Joanna Littlejohns, commented that Caroline’s winning presentation was well researched and passionate. The adjudicator Lucy Davis praised Caroline for her natural presentation style, her clear enthusiasm and how she deftly addressed complexities in the art work.

BOOK CORNER

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he CHS Community Book Club has just read Elena Ferrante’s The Story of a New Name (translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein). The Story of a New Name, the second of The Neopolitan Novels, continues the story of the tempestuous friendship between two young women, Lila and Elena, who have grown up in a poor neighbourhood in Naples in the 1950s.

Lila, wed at 16, discovers that her marriage is far from a fairy tale; she feels ‘imprisoned’. Elena continues a journey of selfdiscovery, becoming a scholar. The two women share a bond which sometimes brings them together and at others drives them cruelly apart. Both women battle to stay within the limits of ‘acceptable femininity’. Book Club members found the novel intriguing.

We meet again on Friday 28th March (11am-12 noon) Please contact Mrs Abrams for details kabrams@cry.gdst.net

ALL WELCOME!

FIRST GIVE GRAND FINAL

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ast December saw the fruition of a ten week project to mobilise Year 10 and 11 to social enterprise and charitable awareness as CHS First Give had its first awards evening. Nine groups of Year 10 and 11 girls gathered with their families and members of their nominated charity to present to a packed and excited room the reasons why their nominated charity should receive the award of funding from the crowdfund collection this term. There was not a dry eye in the house as each group sensitively, professionally and maturely showcased the phenomenal work undertaken on a daily basis by a broad assortment of charities in our local area of Croydon, Bromley and across London.

Charities ranged from The Albert Kennedy Trust to Dyscover to the Kiyan Prince Foundation. We were educated about the work of CCAT who combat human trafficking and protect vulnerable victims, and the importance of Nightwatch who routinely provide food, services and a kindly ear to homeless people on the streets of Croydon.

Mind, Lives Not Knives and the Bromley and Croydon Women's Aid organisation had their essential work explained through moving film, drama and PowerPoint presentations that stirred the audience. Eventually the judges had the very difficult decision of nominating a winner for the money raised and the prize went to Jessica, Anika, Lauren and Canice for their support of the charity Contact, an organisation that provides practical help, advice, support and information to elderly residents in Croydon. The Deputy Mayor Councillor Toni Letts emotionally spoke of the tremendous work of all the girls who represented and described them as "terrific ambassadors for Croydon High School". We are immensely proud of all the nominees and winners, and of all the girls in Year 10 and 11 who embraced this project with gusto. Special thanks must go to Miss Moore, Mrs Beck, Mrs Conrad and the pastoral team of the upper school who drove this project to completion. All in all, it was an evening to be very proud of!

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY

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n Thursday 19th January, Year 9 marked Holocaust Memorial Day in school through a day of workshops and lessons looking at how we best remember this event in our history.

Year 9 were taken through the narrative of Leon Greenman, who lost his family in Auschwitz and survived the Holocaust. They pieced together his story through images and objects and used his narrative as a springboard to engage with the historical events between 1933-1945 which led to the Final Solution. They created a timeline depicting the policies of the Nazi party and the stories of the people affected by the outcome of these policies: homosexuals, those with disabilities, Roma, Jews, Communists and political dissenters. They then watched

first hand testimony of liberators of the camp Bergen Belsen in the lecture theatre after being duped into thinking they were to enjoy a movie and popcorn. The horror of the images in this film impacted upon the girls and affected their responses to the final element of the day: how should we mark the Holocaust?

Year 9 debated the importance of memorials and the nature of remembering. It was an emotional, educational and extraordinary day with a tremendous bunch of empathetic young women. Staff were impressed and moved by the way that the girls embraced all of the tasks. Thank you to Year 9 for a very special and memorable day. Please do look at our work on the twitter feed @croydonhigheng

WE WONT REST

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upils from Years 7 to 9 came together to raise awareness of local homelessness and funds for the charity NIGHTWATCH. On Friday 20th January 2017, Croydon High School held its first We Won't Rest sleepover event to raise awareness of the causes and effects of homelessness. After four months of planning by two Sixth Form girls Tulsi and Amelia, over 50 girls gathered together to spend an evening exploring the issues surrounding homelessness.

Paying ÂŁ10 for the privilege of sleeping in the school hall, the girls were welcomed into the event by The Worshipful the Mayor of Croydon Wayne Trakas-Lawlor and the Deputy Mayor Toni Letts. Donna Edmonds, Head of English and WE Ambassador launched the evening by welcoming Tony Packwood from NIGHTWATCH to talk to the girls about the problems faced by someone who is homeless. Tony expressed the many different ways that a person finds themselves in a situation of homelessness and described what his charity aim to do to support those in need. The girls broke into workshops to explore the issues in more depth and to discover themselves what they think should be done to address the problem

of homelessness. Workshops involved creating a leaflet and a brochure through separating the myths surrounding homelessness and the facts, to drama role play and freeze frames, to a floor sized artwork depicting the feelings of loneliness and isolation felt by a victims of homelessness who are ignored and ostracised by society. The girls collaborated on realising an artistic response to the information and presented their work to Tony Packwood, Melissa Agnew from the charity WE and to Diana Jarvis a journalist from the NEWSQUEST group. The evening ended with a homeless facts pass the parcel and a cinema screening with "midnight feast" snacks and treats. As the girls bedded down for the night we were all in agreement that it had been a fun but educational and informative evening. Significant thanks and praise must go to all of the girls from the WE movement in CHS who led this initiative to its fantastic conclusion, especially Tulsi and Amelia, spreading the kindness revolution, raising ÂŁ650.00 for NIGHTWATCH and living their lives ME to WE.

ISLAM CONFERENCE

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s difficult as it is to talk about the Holocaust, it is crucial to remember and learn about one of the most significant events of human history, especially in a time when racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia are still prevalent in our societies.

This was our rationale behind organising our first Religious Studies conference; to challenge, extend and enrich students’ understanding of Islam. We wanted participants to really grasp how relevant Islam is; that it is part of the global world and that there is real worth in studying a religion which, probably more than any other in the contemporary world, demands our attention. We welcomed 160 delegates, including students from 14 external schools, to the conference, to challenge, extend and enrich students’ understanding of Islam.

To really grasp how relevant Islam is; that it is part of the global world and there is real worth in studying a religion which, probably more than any other in the contemporary world, demands our attention.We welcomed 14 external schools to the conference, giving us 160 delegates.

The programme consisted of seven speakers featuring academics from Cambridge University, media experts and practising Muslims. The day was packed full of issues for us all to consider and engage with which included why Islam matters through to what young Muslims should be taught about Islam. We gained an insight into Islamic civilisation which was then contrasted with Islam in contemporary China (all before lunch!).

The relationship between Islam and women and the integral role the media plays in highlighting Muslim identity were featured prominently and we were later challenged to think about bioethical issues including questions around what it means to be human. The penultimate session got us thinking about how we can live together and co-operate with people who differ – racially, ethnically, religiously, or economically through the eyes of a prison researcher. Finally, we were treated to a Q&A session with the panel which included questions such as; can religion and politics ever be separated? Is there a belief in Islam about predestination and, if so, are

CAREERS NETWORK EVENTS

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n Thursday 1st December Croydon High invited over 20 delegates from a range of Creative professions including Art, Graphics, Theatre, Music, Photography, Journalism, Marketing, Law and Consultancy to network with years 10-13. The delegates included alumnae, parents, relatives and friends. The girls had the opportunity to find out more about potential careers and enjoyed asking delegates about their lives and jobs on a day to day basis. The delegates were all very impressed with the maturity of our girls and with their questions about work/life balance. The girls threw themselves enthusiastically into the conversations, some walking away with business cards, work experience and offers of jobs.

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n Wednesday evening, 8th February, we held our biennial Careers Master Class Evening.

This evening is quite different to the Careers Convention held last year, in that the seminars offer a more detailed and focused opportunity to delve into a particular career area. This year we introduced a new element, the chance for parents to hear important information about preparations for university, including student finance, (ably led by UEA) and Apprenticeships. The latter are increasing in number and importance, and offer a real alternative to the traditional route to university. Over 150 girls and parents from years 9-13 came to hear talks from our 11 visitors.

Our delegates came from very different, but nonetheless, interesting career areas, including

Art, Law, Journalism, Medicine and Pharmacy.

Some were parents (Mr Brooks, father of Vega year 8) and alumna, Katie Maude-Barker (CHS 2004). All seminars were well attended and extremely well received; parents praised the quality of the presentations and students, the enthusiasm of the delegates. All found the evening both interesting and informative, some parents were even tempted to try a new career themselves! I would like to thank all those involved, but especially the delegates who gave their time freely and my fantastic Sixth Form helpers, without whom the evening woul would not have run so smoothly. Mrs Gower sgower@cry.gdst.net

A DAY IN CAMBRIDGE

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ast term a group of Year 10 and 11 girls enjoyed a beautiful sunny day in Cambridge learning about the university. We spent the morning at Churchill College, one of the most modern and largest colleges. Girls were told about the uniqueness of the Oxbridge system and encouraged to choose a degree subject which they passionately wanted to study. Dr Jonathan Padley, Churchill’s admissions tutor, is visiting Croydon High in the summer term when more girls will have the opportunity to hear about applying to Oxbridge. In the afternoon, some of our alumnae who are currently studying at Cambridge (Honor Clapp, Olivia Jenkins, Jessica Payn and Lizzy O'Leary) gave the girls a tour of other colleges and answered their questions, encouraging them to apply!

THE IVY LINK NEW YEAR REUNION

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n January we were delighted to welcome back girls from our ‘Class of 2016’ to enjoy Prosecco, CHS famous brownies and a good catch up following their first term out in the world. All the girls seem happy and it was lovely to see them in such a familiar environment and obviously pleased to be back at school and with each other. Everyone is doing really well and it was touching to hear from several of the girls how much they miss their Croydon High family. We hope that they will remain in touch and continue to let us know how they are getting on. Once a Croydon High girl… always a Croydon High girl! We are still very proud of all of them.

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CHEMISTRY IN ACTION

n Tuesday 6th December the Year 12 A-level chemists spent the day at UCL listening to a variety of entertaining lectures as part of the ‘Chemistry in Action’ program. It was an amazingly informative and inspirational day which involved talks from people who had ventured into a range of careers after studying chemistry.

The most interesting talks which captured both our hearts and our noses were ‘the Science of the Scent – capturing new smells’ and ‘Living in a Material World’ which was presented by Sujata Kundu, an ex-CHS girl. The talks showed us that we should not be limited in our career choices but instead explore the vast range of opportunities available. By the end of the day we all felt much more appreciative of Chemistry as a subject and the immense impact it has on our daily lives.

Ivy Link Dates for your Diary 2017 Thursday 30th March 3.00pm - Ivy Link Tea Party Thursday 11th May 6.00pm - Open Evening

(1963 and all years prior to this) (for prospective pupils)

Thursday 30th June 1.30pm - Ivy Link Open Doors Wednesday 14th June 6.00pm - CHS Art Exhibition Wednesday 22nd June 7.00pm - CHS Summer Production Friday 23rd June 7.45am - CHS Golf Morning

(Surrey national Golf Course)

Saturday 24th June 12.30pm - Ivy Link Summer Lunch

For more details please contact Karen Roe on 020 8260 7531 The Ivy Link is a way of bringing together the alumnae, parents and other friends of our school. 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.

If you have email and do not already receive news emails from the Ivy Link please contact Karen Roe - ivylink@cry.gdst.net

THE IVY LINK 50TH ANNIVERSARY SUMMER LUNCH SATURDAY 24TH JUNE 12.30PM