The Beech Tree Newsletter Christmas 2018

Christmas 2018 Issue 4

FROM THE HEADMISTRESS Many people have asked me how I have found my first term at St Mary’s. I have felt hugely welcomed, and it’s been really fun. I love being involved in such a thriving community, surrounded by girls who are busy, purposeful, enjoying themselves, making great progress and are fully alive to all that life offers. I see this around school every single day, and it makes me very proud of both the girls and the staff.

As the Christmas holiday approaches, it is time to reflect on the term. There has been a huge amount of progress in class, and the senior years have responded well to their new academic tracker system, which provides a weekly snapshot of their progress. As I write, our Upper Sixth are receiving a steady stream of impressive offers from their chosen universities. We are very proud of the range of chosen courses and I am deeply impressed with the standard of applications and the girls’ personal statements; the offers received are well-deserved.

While the friendliness, confidence and poise of the St Mary’s girls were a strong draw to the school for me, it has been a real delight to get to know all the girls this term. A snapshot of the school might include: gritty determination during a hockey match on the windswept Astro, accomplished photographers exhibiting their work, dazzling poise and artistry in dance,

wholehearted enjoyment of the latest dramatic production, outstanding individual achievement from those awarded Head’s Commendations, hospitable scientists helping with primary school Science Days, quiet contemplation during Adoration, accomplished public speaking, sixth formers enjoying Open Mic night in Mary Ward, determined boarders walking ten miles to raise money for charity, motivating Sports Leaders, choir members contributing weekly beauty to Saturday Mass and much more. I applaud all the girls’ wholehearted commitment to a rich school life.

Of course, our dedicated academic, pastoral and support staff make all of the above possible.

Extra classes, clubs, societies, faith groups, music ensembles, community partnerships and 1-1 catch-ups are evident on a daily basis and I would like to thank all the staff for their commitment and inspiration.

As we look towards the New Year, I know that the creative, energetic and committed attitude of the girls will continue in body, mind and spirit.

We are working as a community to set and maintain the highest standards possible. Our strong faith and our Mary Ward values give us a clear framework and nurture us every step of the way.

I hope you enjoy looking back over the highlights of this term in the following articles. My thanks to all of you for making St Mary’s such a lovely place to be, and I wish you and your families every blessing for a peaceful and happy Christmas.

Maria Young, Headmistress

NEWS ROUNDUP

DORSET ARTS AWARDS Autumn Exhibition Inspired by a one day location shoot workshop at Stourhead, LV photography GCSE pupils put into practice some of the skills learned this term and put on a wonderful week long exhibition called ‘A Portrait of Autumn’ at Shaftesbury Arts Centre.

Two LVI girls, Francesca and Saskia, won second and third prize among the hundreds of work submitted from schools and colleges across Dorset. Francesca submitted a print and Saskia a wire and wood sculpture. The event took place at Poole Museum, where the girls’ work was on display.

Hewarth Musical The Hewarth Musical, Where is Love? was a spectacular show with UIII and LIV girls performing a variety of songs from the wellknown musicals, Annie, Matilda and Oliver. It was a wonderful evening and thanks must go to everyone in making it such a success, in particular Mrs Cheadle.

Author Visit Successful author and UK Patron of Reading, Joffre White, visited girls from LIII to UIV for an inspiring talk, along with visiting children from Wardour, Ludwell and Semley primary schools. Joffre delivered an interactive and inspiring session to energise the pupils’ imaginations, interest them in the power of words and inspire them in their own reading and creative writing.

Afterwards, he signed copies of his books before running a wonderful creative writing workshop for LIV.

Pupils Win STEM Cyber Challenge

Dance Debut

A group of girls visited Blandford Camp to join pupils from other schools for a STEM Cyber

Congratulation to UVI pupil, Isabelle, who joins the cast dancing in the world premiere of Matthew Bourne’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’, which is on tour from May 2019.

Isabelle auditioned alongside 1000 dancers aged between 16 and 19 and successfully joins 6 young cast members (97 in total) with the New Adventures company, at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton next year.

Isabelle is one of St Mary’s Elite Dance Scholars.

Challenge day. The event, hosted by the Royal Signals, offered challenging tasks and we were delighted that Tallulah, Anastasia and Elena were part of the winning team of the day.

School Magazine The Christmas edition of the school magazine, Crossroads (written by the girls for the girls) came out this week thanks to the hard work of its two UVI editors, Willow and Elfrieda. Next term they will hand over to Mima and Aggie in LVI to continue their work.

Throughout the term, a wide variety of fantastic trips have been organised to support learning across all departments.

At the start of term, pupils travelled to Ypres, France, for the annual Battlefields trip. The girls visited the trenches, British and German cemeteries. The group attended the Menin Gate ceremony, to commemorate the 54,000 missing men from around Ypres. The final day was spent visiting Vimy Ridge and its tunnels, followed by a visit to the Somme. The trip was particularly thought-provoking in this WW1 Centenary year.

LIII enjoyed an action-packed three day trip to Normandy, on the idyllic island of Tatihou. The girls visited children at École Ste Marie, spent evenings on the beach and enjoyed going to a traditional French market.

MATHS CHALLENGE SUCCESS Congratulations to the girls who entered into this year’s Senior Maths Challenge. Organised by the UK Mathematics Trust, over 80,000 pupils from across 2200 schools and colleges in the UK took part. with the top 10% receiving gold awards, the next 20% silver and the next 30% bronze.

Particular mention must go to Coco and Heidi who won Gold, Iris who won Silver and Helen, Tina and Summer who were awarded Bronze.

GCSE Art and Textiles pupils went to London to visit the Tate Modern, the V&A and the Natural History Museum.

The girls were able to explore different types of art and gather information to present in their portfolios.

A group of UV and Sixth Formers visited the Young Vic Theatre in London to see a musical version of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’. It was a wonderful production and transported the audience to modern day Notting Hill as a perfect setting to capture Shakespeare’s themes of love, music and identity. The quality of singing, acting and dancing was exceptional. The girls were lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet members of the cast before the performance.

BOARDING St Mary’s is a vibrant and busy full boarding school. This term, it was wonderful to welcome so many new girls who all settled well and enthusiastically embraced their new House identities. The boarders take an active role at St Mary’s in shaping their life outside of the classroom and at weekends.

The Saturday Enrichment programme has been a real success with LVI pupils leading many activities for the younger girls this term, including bee keeping, Austrian cooking, cake baking and decorating, nature walks, hockey training, engineering challenges and cryptography.

Meanwhile, UVI pupils have taken part in life skills lessons such as ‘Dress to Impress’, car maintenance and meditation.

Many weekend events, activities and trips have been arranged throughout the term including the much-loved annual Fun Family Dog Show, the Fireworks Festival, Zumba, Live Lounge, a roller disco, trips to Stourhead, Dorset Waterpark, Winter Wonderland and Longleat. There have also been several socials with Sandroyd, Milton Abbey, Downside and Sherborne.

Evenings during the week have been full of fun in the dormitories for all girls with pampering evenings and pancakes being a firm favourite!

The Sixth Form have enjoyed their independence in Mary Ward house and during weekends have had the option to join in with activities alongside their studies or simply take time for themselves. Come Dine With Me evenings and Sixth Form-only swims have been popular ways to unwind and enjoy time with friends.

At St Mary’s we offer a balanced boarding provision and organise many activities for the girls whilst offering them time to recuperate and relax. We have a warm, welcoming boarding community and have had a wonderful time together this term.

Susannaah Hill, Acting Deputy Head (Pastoral) & Head of Boarding

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SIXTH FORM This term has had a strong academic focus with the UVI working hard on their UCAS applications. Five girls have applied to either Oxford or Cambridge and we are delighted that all five have been invited for interviews. We would like to thank our alumnae network who have been very generous with their time in offering practice interviews.

We wish all the UVI luck with the remainder of the selection process in their university applications.

The Annual Sixth Form Charity Ball Earlier in the term, 200 Sixth Formers enjoyed the annual Sixth Form Charity Ball, in aid of Ataxia UK. Guests from Milton Abbey and Downside joined the St Mary’s girls for a wonderful evening with a sit down dinner and dancing. The event raised £1,000 for Ataxia UK.

The LVI have also had a busy term starting their chosen A level courses and beginning early research for their EPQ tasks.

Alongside their academic study, the term has been rich with extra-curricular activity, with many Sixth Formers continuing to be involved with lifeguarding, Leiths cookery sessions, corridor dinner parties, charity bake sales and many other activities.

VISITING SPEAKERS

All the Sixth Form girls have been living and working together in Mary Ward, forging close friendships across year groups. The girls have also demonstrated leadership across the school with many volunteering to run enrichment opportunities in the evening and across the weekend.

Throughout the term, the Sixth Form have enjoyed meeting and listening to a whole host of interesting and inspirational speakers in the General RE speaker programme. These included Mr Wali Rahman from the Wiltshire Islamic Centre, Peter Radford who spoke about Amnesty International, Lali Cardozo, an alumna who talked about living with Ataxia and Simon Hoare MP.

Dominic Simmons, Head of VI Form

Debating Matters A team of Sixth Formers took part in Debating Matters, Dorset’s first debating competition organised by Sherborne Girls. With seven other schools competing, the standard of debating was extremely high. Pupils debated on a range of tough issues facing society, such as social egg freezing, Universal Basic Income etc. The St Mary’s girls who took part were extremely articulate and persuasive with their arguments and Saskia L was singled out for an individual commendation by the judges.

ARTiculation The UVI girls impressed once again in the annual ARTiculation competition, a national public speaking competition about art. The girls presented a piece of art about which they feel passionate and this year’s external adjudicator praised the pupils’ presentations for their depth and sophistication equal to that of undergraduate students. Helen C won the school heat and will compete with the South West schools in February.

Lucy Blyth, Charities Prefect

&

Charity Community

Charity and working with our local community are very important to us at St Mary’s with each House supporting its own charity throughout the term. There have been many events, which include the Macmillan Afternoon Tea in Mary Ward house, support of the Salisbury District Hospital Stars Appeal and BBC Children In Need.

After a successful appeal last year, we supported Gillingham Food Bank’s Christmas Hamper Appeal, which offers local families who need help over Christmas with something a little special.

During half term, we were delighted to welcome the Michaelmas Fair to St Mary’s. The halls were full of wonderful stalls and families arrived in droves to do some early Christmas shopping. The event was in aid of the RNLI Swanage and the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

On Wednesday 28th November, the whole school supported the Red Wednesday campaign in solidarity with persecuted Christians and faith minorities who suffer unjustly for their peacefully-held beliefs.

Our younger boarders took part in a sponsored walk on the 10-mile Trailway from Blandford to Sturminster Newton in a record time of 2 hours 15 minutes. The girls raised more than £1,000 for local group, Little Giants, in Shaftesbury, which supports children with severe learning and physical disabilities, and their carers.

CHAPLAINCY Olivia Willis, Deputy Head Girl

At St Mary’s Shaftesbury, our Catholic ethos and the spiritual development of the girls remains at the heart of all we do.

Retreats are a core part of life here, giving the girls time to pause and reflect. The LVI spent a day of reflection and prayer at Alabare Retreat Centre in Salisbury discussing the theme of discipleship. The LIII and LIV enjoyed retreats on friendship, in which they explored the Christian teaching “Love thy neighbour as thyself ” and looked at the qualities needed to make effective friendships. LV also went on a retreat to Salisbury with Project 99 catholic youth team.

The term began with the traditional Rite of Welcome service and ceremony in which the whole school came together in the Chapel to welcome new pupils and staff into the St Mary’s community. Each new pupil and member of staff was officially welcomed and handed a rose, symbolising hope and a school prayer book, symbolising prayer, by their guardian angel.

On Sunday 11th November, we held a Remembrance Service in the Chapel in which

St Mary’s pupils and families commemorated the centenary year and the lives of all those in active service who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Pupils and staff made a beautiful display of 100 felted poppies for the event.

At the end of term, we were privileged to have the Lampedusa cross displayed in the Chapel. We held an evening vigil to help the girls to reflect on the refugee crisis and those who lost their lives fleeing to safety.

Hockey After long days of summer sunshine, enjoyed with carefree abandon, autumn was quickly upon us with the promise of wet and windy weather accompanied with dark and gloomy journeys to and from school. However, there was one highlight – the Hockey season!

We were delighted with the uptake for the pre-season hockey weekend, especially with the new pupils choosing to hone their skills and bond as a team before the season started.

Congratulations were in order for Olivia W who was appointed Senior XI Captain, with Cicely, Willow and Georgia ably supporting her in their Vice-Captain roles.

This year we re-shuffled the teams with the U15 and U14s combining forces to form the Inter As and Bs, whilst the U13 and U12s did the same to form the Junior As and Bs. The result has been wholly positive, challenging the more able and allowing other players to gain more match-time and experience.

The Minis (LIII) have progressed well this term, with the majority of girls playing hockey for the first time. They

have shown great enthusiasm and sportsmanship throughout.

The Junior A and B teams displayed some excellent stick skills and improved tactical awareness this term. Both teams had some fantastic end-to-end matches with many highlights, in particular, from Willa who scored a hat trick for the Junior As against BCS earlier in the term.

The Inter Bs and Senior XI Team had a challenging term with relatively young sides making up the two teams. There are plenty of positives for the future and we will continue to build on the progress already made. We have been particularly impressed with the previously mentioned four UVI hockey players, for the support they have given to the younger players in the team, and we congratulate them on their commitment to St Mary’s hockey over the years.

The Inter A team has been a highlight of the hockey season, with an already strong team being bolstered by key players such as Evie and Katie. The team have played some fantastic hockey and displayed not only great teamwork on the pitch, but great friendship off the pitch. This has helped them to stay focused and support each other throughout every game.

Everyone on the team has contributed fully to its success.

With a total of 47 fixtures played, the end of the hockey season is upon us.

However, training will continue next term with a focus on the improvements we can make for next year. All the girls who have represented the school have done so with enthusiasm and grace and we are very proud of what they have, individually and collectively, achieved.

Individual Success in National Governing Body Performance Pathways:

Sports Roundup

Dorse

Congratulati represent St Bryanston. T for the Dors March 2019

Congratulations to the following girls who have achieved individual success this term: Dorset County Hockey: U17 – Fleur H

Charlotte B

U15 – Evie LG

Archery

This term, our PE teacher, Lou Rees, a GB International Archer, set up an evening archery club, coaching alongside her father, Andrew Rees, County Coach and also a GB International Archer.

Archery is a sport for all, an individual (or team) sport, which offers the opportunity to teach girls body awareness, focus and discipline. We are excited to be able to introduce such a diverse sport and are hoping to arrange fixtures in 2019.

Wiltshire County Hockey: U17 – Katie L

Badminton: Penny B - Wiltshire Restricted Badminton tournament in U18 Women’s Singles, U18 Women’s Doubles and U18 Mixed Doubles.

Penny has secured a place on the Team Bath Futures’ Badminton programme at Badminton England’s High Performance Centre, Bath University.

Basketball

A number of pupils have been honing their Basketball skills in training and competed against Sherborne International. The girls performed really well, applying their netball skills brilliantly. The U13s won 30-10 and the U16s won 20-16. Mr Dalton will be arranging more Basketball fixtures next term.

Equestrian: Abby M – came 7th at the Horse of the Year Show in the Mountain & Moorland Ridden Connemara Pony of the Year class.

Martial Arts: Zoya G – competed in the WKU Martial Arts World Championship winning a gold medal in Korean style martial arts and a bronze medal in the sparring U13 category for England.

Zoya has a place in the national team at the World Championship in Austria next year.

Badminton

We were delighted to welcome Julie Bradbury, Commonwealth Gold medallist, to St Mary’s to coach badminton. We are looking forward to Community Badminton hosting its coaching sessions, available for all children aged 5-17 years, at St Mary’s next term.

et Leadership Academy

ions to the girls who were nominated and selected to t Mary’s at the annual Dorset Leadership Conference at The workshops and seminars offered excellent preparation set Winter Games, which is being hosted by St Mary’s in 9.

Cross Country

Cross country has been vibrant this term. St Mary’s hosted the annual Inter-schools relays in which over 100 runners took part. The Inters (Immy, Penny, Dodo and Theodora) set a great example leading the Juniors and Minors running teams at an event at Leweston. We look forward to more events, such as the County Cross Country and Bryanston Cross Country next term.

s a m t s Chri at St Mary’s

The last fortnight has been full of festive cheer at St Mary’s, with the girls celebrating the build-up to Christmas with friends.

Our School Council arranged for students to spend several evenings carol singing to the elderly at local care homes. This event is always a highlight for the girls who enjoy the opportunity to offer seasonal joy in the community.

The school has been decorated beautifully, with the main Christmas tree standing in all its glory in the entrance hall. The girls have tied Advent prayer envelopes to its branches and each day individual prayers have been read out.

There was great excitement in the boarding houses on the evening of St Nicholas. In keeping with the St Mary’s tradition, shoes were left outside dormitories and rooms, in anticipation. The girls loved taking on the role of St Nick in leaving sweet treats in abundance around the boarding houses.

The Christmas concert was another outstanding performance, showcasing the musical talent in the school. From the choir singing their hearts out to all the musicians who performed beautifully, guests were treated to a wonderful evening of music-making.

After a busy, festive weekend, the Christingle liturgy, which is organised by the Sixth Form chaplaincy team, offered boarders time to reflect on the meaning of Christmas in the candlelit chapel.

The traditional Lower School Nativity play is always a highlight during the Christmas period. Our younger girls sung beautifully and put on a wonderful performance. The staging and costumes were superb and it is always a delight to see the angels wearing the same wings, which have been worn by St Mary’s angels since 1954!

All the girls in the school enjoyed Christmas suppers this week and thanks must go to the Catering Department for all their hard work in preparing delicious meals.

On the last couple of days of term, the Christmas Fair and Carol Services took place, to which we welcomed many parents and friends of the school. The girls have worked hard to prepare gifts and treats to sell, in aid of their house charities. The Carol Services rounded off the term beautifully in the Chapel with boarders and day pupils joined by their families.

Head’s

Commendations Head’s Commendations are awarded at the end of each term to girls who have consistently made a good effort or outstanding contribution to the academic or extracurricular life of the school. They are based on Tutors’ recommendations.

Recipients of Head’s Commendations for the Autumn term are:

Alexa Ridge Poppy Marshall Winnie Dawes Frankie Hayward

FAREWELL TO: Sophie Savage Sophie arrived at St Mary’s in 1974 as a pupil. In 1995, she re-joined the school as one of the school nurses and in 2003, was promoted to Senior School Nurse. St Mary’s has been a very important part of Nurse Savage’s life and she has cared for girls with compassion and professionalism during her time. We thank her for her commitment and dedication to St Mary’s and wish her well in looking after her own family, gardening and riding her horse.

Maxine Bridger Max joined the art department at St Mary’s in September 2012 becoming Head of Creative Arts in 2015. Over the years, her talent and passion for photography and art has been much appreciated by all the girls she has taught and the department results have been some of the best in the school. Max also set up the school photography enterprise group, ‘Shutterbabes’, which is popular amongst the girls. Max is a talented author having recently written a children’s book. Her inspirational teaching will be greatly missed at St Mary’s.

Yuko Leece Yuko has been a Science technician at St Mary’s for just over two years. She also taught Japanese to some of the older girls. We wish her the very best in the next chapter of her life.

Carla Tolbaños Ansurias Rose Andrews

WELCOME TO:

Alice James

Hugo Gardner

Ioana Cret Emily Butt Cassia Thackray Tina Xu

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Hannah Langton

Hugo began teaching at St Marylebone School in Westminster, and became Head of Modern Languages. After relocating to the West Country with his young family, he worked at Huish Episcopi in Somerset before being appointed Head of MFL at St Mary’s.

Megan Bailey Megan is the new Hewarth House Matron and Travel Co-ordinator. She has worked with children and young adults for the past 5 years, within both pastoral and educational settings. In her spare time, she likes putting on her wellies and enjoying long country walks with her black Labrador, Ralph.

ALUMNAE MASS & DRINKS RECEPTION, LONDON 24th January at 6.30pm

LOWER V PARENT STAFF MEETING 8th March at 4.05pm

HEWARTH PARENT STAFF MEETING 25th January at 4.05pm

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (SENIOR PRODUCTION) 7th, 8th, 9th February at 7.30pm

OPEN MORNING

15th March at 10.30am

ADDITIONAL SIXTH FORM PARENT STAFF MEETING HALF TERM 15th February at 4.05pm

WINTER GAMES FESTIVAL 26th, 27th March

BORN TO WRITE PRIZEGIVING CEREMONY WITH RAZIA IQBAL 6th March at 5pm

SENIOR SPORTS AWARDS 25th March at 7pm

TERM ENDS 29th March at 1pm

St Mary’s School, Shaftesbury Dorset SP7 9LP +44 (0)1747 852416 www.stmarys.eu