Sherborne Girls Newsletter 3

Script THE

www.sherborne.com

May. 14

Running for success

Whether it’s competing in athletics meets, running for fitness for team sports, or simply running as part of a healthy and active lifestyle, students from Sherborne Girls have proved over the years that when it comes to this most popular of sports they have always been one step ahead.

This year, however, has seen a shift in the promotion of cross-country running as a growing sport, with students training regularly and competing in all of the meets on the county circuit. Team wins have subsequently followed at the Milton Abbey Relays and Sherborne Trophy, with second place at the Marsden Relays and third at the Ken Bailey Relays, Bryanston Relays and Canford Relays.

The individual positions for each runner over their best five events resulted in Araminta Stubbs (L5) winning the Intermediate Age group in the Dorset Independent Schools Cross Country Trophy, with Georgie Lane (U5) in third place - an outstanding result in the School’s first full season.

TC Mackean

Results

First place: TC Mackean (20:09) Second place: Mary Butler (20:10) Third place: Araminta Stubbs (20:39) The Interhouse Trophy - the Hounslow Cup - for the fastest house in the 4km race was awarded to Reader Harris.

The end of term also saw new coach Jayne Dart organise the Sherborne Girls Inter House Cross-Country Challenge at Sherborne Castle. The race, which was a tightly contested affair with top sports scholar TC Mackean

(L6) narrowly winning by no more than 2 metres, was given a real boost with a good luck message from double Olympian and marathon runner Liz Yelling, who was in training herself for the Boston Marathon.

“The girls are always challenging themselves to improve their personal best records and have had some great successes this year,” says Headmistress Jenny Dwyer. “Cross country running in particular is a good way to build up stamina and develop determination – qualities we aim to nurture in all areas of school life.”

Sherborne Girls would like to thank Sherborne Castle Estate for permitting use of their grounds, and to a number of local businesses for sponsoring the event: Hounslow’s Travel, Shelleys the Printers, Oxley Sports Centre, Chartwells, Symonds Retail Group, White House Guardianships and Quest Guardians.

The Castle Champions Trophy was awarded to TC Mackean and the Prize for the Best House (with combined performance of runners and walkers) went to Aldhelmsted East.

FROM THE HEADMISTRESS DEVELOPMENT

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ARTS NEWS TOURS AND TRIPS

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MEET THE STAFF SPORTS NEWS

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From the Headmistress

courage, compassion and confidence I recently asked the girls what they would do if they were not afraid? I have always had a real interest in why women and girls lacked confidence to the extent that it can impede their ability to fulfil their potential. In a recent book ‘The Confidence Code’ by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, the authors claim that the common mistakes made by women are as follows: • Thinking too much • Carrying criticism around for too long • Staying in our comfort zone • Failing to voice our opinions • Failing to take risks because they carry the risk of failure

Recognise any of these?

The authors then go on to try to analyse why very able women have such low confidence. In research on brain chemistry, hormones and neuroscience there are some thoughts on how schools respond to young girls, giving them the message very early in their education careers that they will be rewarded for sitting still and being good, instead of noisy and lively.

Among our aims at Sherborne Girls is to send out into the world young women who are courageous and compassionate with the confidence to be effective leaders. But how do we help to develop courage? What makes some girls feel able to grasp every opportunity while others stand by? What

can we do to give girls the honest confidence to think that they have the ability to succeed even if they have not had the experience to try it out? This Lent we focused on Inspiring Women, and our Old Girls community provided us with many of the role models we needed to inspire our present students with a wide range of amazing achievements in academia, charities, politics, arts and business. In reading their stories, I hope that the girls are now more aware of the opportunities that are available to them.

We encourage girls here to take risks through our Sherborne Diploma, to put themselves forward for awards and

Arts Festival

responsibilities and to get up and to dust themselves down if they do not always succeed. We encourage all our students to give their views through the Student Council, Food Committees and Green Committee and teach our Prefects how to run effective meetings. I do believe that courage can accumulate through working hard, making small steps to move out of your comfort zone and recovering from the occasional set back. In generations to come I am sure that our present students will be leading the way with the courage and compassion they have picked up on their journey.

Jenny Dwyer, Headmistress

21-27 June

Described by its director Jenny Nelson as “action-packed, exhilarating and with something for everyone”, our inaugural Arts Festival is set to take place from 21 – 27 June. Featuring music recitals, LAMDA presentations, a Speakers’ Corner, Jazz Café, fashion show and our very own Art, DT and Textiles Exhibition - we will also be welcoming former pupil, Santa Montefiore, for a guest lecture, as well as Icarus Theatre with RSC veteran and former RADA professor Tim Hardy, and our very first Photographer in Residence, Katy McDonnell. There will be trapeze and tight rope walking in Tip of the Iceberg’s Circus Skills workshops and an evening which will combine Brazilian dance, music and philosophy into ‘Jogo de Capoeira’. Finally, throughout the week will be themed academic lessons, workshops and preparations for the Commemoration Concert, to which all friends and family are warmly invited.

Please keep an eye on our website for the latest details.

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Feature

Scholarships & Awards 2015

The following girls have all been awarded Scholarships/Awards:

Academic: Natasha Linhart, College Sainte Marthe; Verity Robinson, Knighton House; Cecilia Burney, Port Regis; Isabella Taylor, Sherborne Girls. music: Willow Wordie, Mount House; Ellie George, King’s Hall; Felicity Prater, Cheam.

Art: Verity Robinson, Knighton House; Mimi Tosh, Cheam; Jessica Upton, Port Regis; Aderinsola Adeyemi-Bero, Sherborne Girls. sport: Anna Perkins, Cheam; Camilla Ridgers, Mount House; Isabelle Keating, Forres Sandle Manor; Amber Wakeley, Sherborne Girls; Jessica Carroll (Swimming), Harriet Watts (Swimming). all rounder award: Millie Evans, Castle Court; Emily Hartley, Forres Sandle Manor; Ella Milne, King’s Hall; Catharine Sawyer, Thorngrove; Zara Smith, Mount House; Charlotte Orton, Sherborne Prep. sixth form academic awards: Georgina St Pier, Emily Westlake, Alice Wharton, Amelia Harbottle, Zoe Robinson, Kate Hon, Grace Longman, Catherine Leach, Allegra Lindblom, Lily Sun. sixth form art awards: Harriet Comer-Calder, Minnie-Lupin Isles. sixth form sport awards: Sophie Gould, Lexie Humphrey, Faye Ashton-Rigby, Arabella Burles.

Congratulations to Isabella Gardner (L6) who has been successful in her application to spend two weeks at Yale University in the summer studying Grand Strategy: Global Challenges. She is one of just 200 students on the Global Young Scholars programme.

Engaging the imagination

“The iPad trial saw each girl in L4 equipped with her own device for a term. Researching, note taking, sketching and photography, flashcard vocabulary practice, quizzes, filming, map work - all these activities were covered, often in short focused sections of a lesson, and sometimes carrying through into prep. The prize for the most ambitious teacher goes to Mr McCarthy for taking the girls through a whole product design project on the iPad, from research through sketching and designing to recording and evaluation, all in one e portfolio. The teachers’ verdict: there is massive potential here.

As for the girls… they didn’t want to hand the devices back. The multi-media approach engages the imagination. Learning to use technology appropriately is key. The ability to manage the potential distraction of mobile technology, whilst at the same time exploiting its power to build and share knowledge, will be a skill that marks out the top performers of the future.”

Dr Gill Oliver, Director of Academic Resources

M5 Business challenge

Inspiring science

Young scientists and school staff dipped their toes into an unusual area of science to celebrate National Science and Engineering Week – with an experiment to find out if it is possible to walk on custard. Head of Physics, Katy Smith, led the girls in the experiment as part of the British Science Association’s Demo Day, which involved mixing over 30kg of cornflour with water in a paddling pool. She said “All the girls – and many of the staff - were great sports and showed the theory really does stand up to scrutiny.” The event was the subject of two radio broadcasts

by BBC Radio Solent and Abbey 104FM. In addition to the custard experiment, Demo Day also included Start the Day With a Bang! and the Eureka Great Egg Race, and the girls also presented on topics ranging from solar panels to sound insulation, and from water purification to automated engineering processes.

Girls had to choose a charity and deliver a fundraising event for it, including a full business plan with a business name, logo, strap line, an advertising campaign and a cost analysis. Events varied from throwing wet sponges at teachers to wheelchair racing. The group with the best business acumen was judged to be Wingfield Digby 1 supporting Motor Neurone Disease. Almost £1000 was raised in total, which will be divided between the seven nominated charities.

IB girls take guests back to the future

The Sherborne Old Girls enjoyed a ‘back to school’ experience laid on by the L6 IB students during their AGM on 17 May. They were treated to biology lessons extracting DNA and languages tasters in French, Russian, Dutch and German.

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Development

Annual Fund Update

Our Annual Fund is a year-in year-out campaign that encourages giving – at any time and of any amount – to the School’s various development funds. Recent gifts to the ‘Where the School Needs It Most’ fund are proving transformational: Design Technology has its long-desired laser cutter; Duke of Edinburgh Award girls will now be camping in much-needed new tents; Science is benefitting from a wildlife garden with a pond, rockery, log pile and planting, and Art, Music and Focus (Christian Union) has received a generous single gift from a parent.

This year’s Annual Fund is focused on building support for bursaries, in particular the ‘Candlelight Bursaries Fund’ launched last year. This fund is to provide 100% bursaries to girls with character and promise in real need of a boarding education, plus extras like trips and music lessons. Generous giving means there are now funds to support our first Candlelight student all the way through Sherborne Girls from L4 to U6, jointly supported by Kids Company. We are now seeking funds to support a girl starting in September, co-funded with The SpringBoard Bursary Foundation.

Other gifts are supporting particularly talented girls from families in need of fee support through the Scholarships and Bursaries Fund whilst donations to the Buildings and Facilities Fund are paving the way for further enhancement to the School’s campus.

A giant leap for astronomy

Thanks to a donation to the Annual Fund, the School now has an astronomy room just below its small observatory in the Beddington building. Transformed from a spider-filled store room, the now warm and comfortable space, with seating for up to 16, will enable every student to use the School’s telescope, instead of just the few members of the Astronomy Club as before. The room has been dedicated to astronomer Mervyn Ellison (1909-1963), Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). Acclaimed for his work observing and charting solar flares, Mervyn Ellison was Senior Science Master at Sherborne School from 1933-47. His daughter, Dione Ellison (Lady Shaw) a Sherborne Old Girl, has kindly funded the astronomy room development.

To find out how you can add your support to the Annual Fund 2013/14, such as by sponsoring a day, a week, a half-term or a term’s schooling for a girl on a Candlelight Bursary, please visit: www.sherborne.com/the_annual_fund

Hunter organ recital

Over 100 guests enjoyed the School’s first public organ recital on Sunday 16 March, performed by renowned international organist Margaret Phillips, who lives in nearby Milborne Port.

Guests included a number of donors who contributed to the Hunter organ’s £102,000 refurbishment and installation in the School Hall in 2012, replacing the School’s previous 100-year old instrument.

“The Sherborne Schools’ Symphony Orchestra returned to St George’s for their final concert of the 2013-2014 season. The orchestra presented an imaginatively varied programme, contrasting a number of danceinspired works with other orchestral masterpieces. Opening with Malcolm Arnold’s exuberant ‘Anniversary Overture’, moving onto Peter Warlock’s Renaissanceflavoured ‘Capriol Suite’, then followed by Britten and Berkeley’s rarely heard ‘Four Catalan Dances’. The sublime s l o w m ove m e n t o f B e e t h ove n’s S eve n t h Symphony provided a striking change of mood.

The concert ended with the orchestra’s pièce de resistance, Glinka’s rousing ‘Ruslan and Ludmila’ overture. Our young mu s i c i a n s w e re o n fine form throughout, producing a wonderful ensemble in all sections and some exquisite solo playing. After a season of such high achievement, the Symphony Orchestra is looking forward to an exciting educational partnership with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra next academic year.”

John Jenkins, Director of Music

Arts News

SSSO performs in Bristol

Dame Emma delivers ‘inspirational’ masterclass

Eight sopranos enjoyed an afternoon of personal coaching from Dame Emma Kirkby DBE for the annual Harriet Tory Masterclass, rehearsing pieces which included ‘Bonvica’s Song’

by Purcell and ‘Nulla in Mundo’ by Vivaldi. At an evening concert, guests enjoyed a full programme with a performance from every girl, as well as performances from the School Madrigal Society. Dame Emma is no stranger to the school, having studied here in the early 1960s. Director of Music, John Jenkins, said, “Dame Emma is renowned for her extensive knowledge of early music performance practice and her gift for communicating this to audiences and students alike. It was an inspiration to see her in action as she coached our solo singers and the girls went on to give an outstanding performance in the evening concert. We are delighted that she finds the time to stay in touch with the school and we are very appreciative that the Tory family continues to make this masterclass event possible.”

Mid-Somerset Festival winners

On 21 March, the twenty members of Quintabile, our L5 choir, travelled to the Banqueting Room of Bath’s Guildhall. Competing in the Under 14 Choral Class, the girls sang two contrasting pieces, Reginald Unterseher’s ‘First Snow’ and a lively arrangement of ‘Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho’. Awarding them first place and a Certificate of Distinction for their excellent technical and artistic performance, adjudicator Miss Vivien Pike – for many years a leading figure in the world of women’s and girls’ choirs – praised them for the energy and finesse of their singing, their beautiful tone and their true intonation.

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Tours and Trips

Culture and friendships in Berlin

As an extension to their German studies, a group of M5 girls, together with some boys from Sherborne School, spent the first week of their Easter holidays improving their linguistic skills and learning more about the culture and history of Berlin. The students stayed with their exchange partners and families, but met up most days to take part in organised activities including visits to the Brandenburger Tor, Schloss Bellevue and the Reichstag. Another day was spent in warm

sunshine in Potsdam, visiting Schloss Sanssouci and Schloss Cecilienhof. Evening entertainment ranged from exploring underground bunkers to experiencing the excitement of a Bundesliga handball match.

The students also attended some lessons at the local grammar school specialising in Latin and Ancient Greek. The return visit is in June, when the girls will be providing an equally exciting programme for their exchange partners.

U4 Geography students enjoyed a field trip to the Devon coast and Dartmoor

Art in the Big Apple

Trekking and tapas in Spain The annual weeklong study tour to Salamanca was well supported by M5 and U5. Girls stayed in pairs in host families where they could practise the language and the experience Spanish way of life. Each day, they had four hours of lessons at the ISLA school, and then took part in activities which included guided tours of the city, the two cathedrals and the famous university.

Girls then got to know the city better by participating in a photo rally and a treasure hunt.

Evening activities all had a genuine Spanish flavour – a tour of tapas bars, a flamenco dance class, paella in a local restaurant and a celebratory birthday meal. One of the highlights was the day spent in the Sierra de Francia walking along mountain tracks and visiting small mountain villages. The trip was deemed a fantastic insight into Spanish language and culture and was considered to be both educational and fun by the girls.

A group of 53, comprising 44 sixth form artists, art historians and photographers (including four boys from Sherborne School) and 9 staff spent six nights in New York for their Easter study tour. Sketch books, notebooks and cameras were essential items for the visits to the Guggenheim, Metropolitan, MoMA and Whitney museums and the Frick Collection; they also enjoyed some of the popular attractions including the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Centre), Central Park and districts such as SoHo in downtown New York and the view from Brooklyn Promenade. The group even went upstate New York to Storm King Sculpture Park and took in some ‘cutting edge’ contemporary art at Dia Beacon.

The highpoint for a select group was an early evening invitation to the apartment of art lecturer and Sherborne Old Girl, Rosamond Bernier.

Rosamond, who is now in her late 90s and founded the famous art magazine L’OEIL , gave over 200 sell-out lectures at The Met and has been decorated with many awards in recognition of her contribution to French culture and art. She generously entertained the girls in her New York apartment with vivid memories of her friendships with many of the twentieth century’s leading artists and composers, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Leonard Bernstein, Juan Miro and Alberto Giacometti. One of the girls described it as “the best day of my life.”

Many of the art girls will use their experiences in New York for their art examinations, which have started already.

I am a great advocate of full boarding and knew that at some point I wanted to return to a girls’ full boarding school environment. Becoming Deputy Head feels like a perfect fit, as it is a position that not only enables me to fulfil my career aspirations, but also has meant I am back in the full boarding school environment that I love.

What are your initial impressions of the school?

Compared to the other schools I have worked in, I am hugely impressed by the volume of activity that takes place at the weekend.

This weekend, for example, there were tennis, rounders and swimming fixtures, dinner parties, discos and socials, cinema trips, a sisters’ sleepover and a family lunch, plus cookery classes, pampering activities, and much, much more! All in addition to lessons on Saturday morning and prep!

Which part of your role do you think you will enjoy the most?

Being fully involved in all aspects of the school and spending time with the girls and the staff.

What do you hope to achieve?

For me, the most important thing is that the girls are happy and thriving in everything they do inside and outside the classroom. Above all, I would like to see them be fully prepared for the world outside Sherborne and their future lives and careers. Therefore, if I can contribute to them achieving their own aspirations during my time here I will have fulfilled my goal.

• Hayley Garnsworthy

• Ryan Garnsworthy

We are delighted to announce our new Heads of Year. As of September 2014, Jon Hammond will become Head of L4/U4, Jonathan Gammon will be Head of L5 and Penny Abbott, assisted by Elodie Smith, will be Head of M5/U5.

• Jon Gammon

Why did you decide to move to Sherborne Girls?

• Elodie Smith

What did you do before joining Sherborne Girls?

I studied languages at Durham University, and then, following a year in Paris and a PGCE course, I started my teaching career as Head of the Bilingual Section at the Bolitho School in Penzance. I met my husband there and together we also ran the boarding side of the school.

My more recent experience includes senior roles at Wycombe Abbey and Headington.

• Jon Hammond

Violaine joined Sherborne Girls in April 2014; she comes from Headington School in Oxford where she was Head of Boarding for three years, and prior to that, Cloister Housemistress at Wycombe Abbey School.

Head of Lacrosse Ryan Garnsworthy will be taking over from Niamh Green, Housemistress of Dun Holme when she moves on to a Deputy Head role. Ryan will be supported by his wife Hayley. The couple have much experience to offer; Ryan has been teaching PE and Outdoor Education for the last ten years in primary and secondary schools and has also been a resident house tutor here at Sherborne Girls for the past three years. Hayley teaches at nearby Sherborne Primary School. Both very much enjoy the pastoral side of their roles and are looking forward to helping maintain the safe, fun, friendly, family environment for the girls in Dun Holme.

• Penny Abbott

Deputy Head (Pastoral)

meet the staff

Violaine Ludwick

Congratulations to ...

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Congratulations to our U13 XI team – winners of the Dorset friendly county hockey tournament. Despite having not played for weeks, and this only being their second 11 a-side game, they showed some excellent skill and a lot of promise for when they step up to the full-sided game next season.

Dorset County Hockey Selections for 2014:

U13 Charlotte Radford; U14 Amelia Fortescue, Georgina Luders, Emily Mitchell, Olivia A n d re w s, A m b e r Wa k e l ey and Issy Dudley; U15 Poppy Bolton-Carter, Frances Budd, Clementine Kerr, Charlotte Given, Eliza Loyd, Rosanagh Bullough and Isabel Hunt; U17 Lexi Humphrey and Imogen Andrews.

New elite swimming programme launched

In September Sherborne Girls will be launching an elite swimming programme to support a number of young regional swimmers, who will be based within the School.

There will be more details of this exciting development in the next edition of The Script.

netball news

Congratulations to the U14 A squad (pictured above) who have had a fantastic season. They played some exciting and skilful netball, culminating in an unbeaten season, with wins against top schools in Dorset and Somerset. Meanwhile in the U13 Dorset Finals, the players showed some excellent netball skills and rose to the challenges against some very strong opposition.

The girls improved their play tremendously throughout the day and we were therefore delighted with their fifth place finish. Special mentions to Ella Beaumont, GD (U4) on her birthday, and to Thea Berry, GA (U4) and Polly Usher (L4) who played up an age group.

Next edition of the script is due out

21 October

South West Lacrosse team victorious

Head of Lacrosse Ryan Garnsworthy recently coached the U19 South West Lacrosse A Team to victory at the recent national championships, with our very own Phoebe Parker (L6) playing in the winning team.

The U6 Touch Rugby team had their first ever match against Richard Huish College. An exciting fixture and well played by both teams, Sherborne Girls beat the opposition 25:20. The tries were scored by Fenella Houlton (2), Alice Horn (2) and Siqi Chen.

Sports Dates

14 June Dorset County Athletics 16 June North Dorset Tennis U14 and U15 21 June Inter-house Athletics - support & bring a picnic!

26 June North Dorset Swimming Championships 20 July - 4 Aug South Africa Hockey Tour 6 Sept Hockey Tournament and Super 8s Lacrosse

Sherborne Girls, Bradford Road, Sherborne, Dorset T. 01935 818224 E. enquiry@sherborne.com

Designed and Printed by Shelleys The Printers 01935 815364

Dorset hockey win

As part of Sport Relief, John Willis of the charity Power2Inspire came to speak to the girls and complete a swim towards his challenge of 1000m in 50 pools in 100 days. Equating to 40 lengths in the Oxley pool, and joined by girls and staff, he achieved this in 35 mins 53 sec. John, a father of two, studied at Cambridge University, travelled the world, had a successful legal career and runs a thriving business consultancy – all the more remarkable that he was born without properly-formed arms and legs. Nicky Matthias, Head of Sport, said, “A truly inspirational man, I hope his courage and determination will help many of our girls go on to achieve things that they did not think possible.”

Rugby

Georgie Lane (U5), Emily Mitchell (L5) and Annabel Harris (L5) competed as a team at the Leweston Biathle in March, achieving second place with an overall time of 14.03.

power2inspire

Sports News

biathle success