The Beech Tree Newsletter Christmas 2017

Christmas 2017 Issue 2

From the Headmistress

Hewarth Choir in full voice at the Christmas Concert

Record Admissions!

St Mary’s began the new academic year with a record number of new pupils. There were 85 new girls in September, nearly double the number we had at the beginning of the previous year. In this first term a further four girls have joined us, and two more will begin their time at St Mary’s in January.

Entry into our youngest year, LIII, was particularly popular and the

class grew in number from 2 to 22 between September 2016 and 2017.

Commenting on this growing success, the Chair of Governors, Victoria Younghusband said, “We are delighted at the significant increase in the number of girls starting at St Mary’s in 2017/18 and the number of applications for 2018/19.”

NOTE CARD COMPETITION Calling all artists! The school needs a new set of notecards for the Head to use and we’re looking for an image of, or about, the school by one of our girls to appear on them.

Why not take some time over the Christmas holidays to put pen, brush or pencil to paper and create a lovely image of our beautiful school! You may submit as many entries as you like, and all girls are eligible to get involved.

I want to thank the whole St Mary’s community for making me so welcome during my first term here.

When I arrived in September, I hadn’t imagined myself taking on the role of Acting Headmistress within the first term, but doing so has been a real honour and a privilege. The team of staff here have been extremely supportive; from our talented and dedicated teachers, through to the unseen support from the house, admin, grounds, catering, and cleaning teams. The Parent body has also made me very welcome and helped me to rapidly understand what makes St Mary’s tick.

However, we all know that what really makes St Mary’s a unique school is the girls. I have rarely met a school of girls with such a genuine sense of community spirit. There are daily acts of kindness in the corridors and classroom and out in the wider community; all of which come from the heart. Our girls have a thirst for knowledge which is evident in every lesson, and which inspires our teachers to give their all, maintaining excellence in teaching and learning.

This term has seen a reorganisation of House Challenges, and these events have been the perfect time to witness excellence in leadership among our girls. They actively create an environment where they will see each other thrive, and our house Challenges have been real celebrations of talent, with a fantastic atmosphere at each.

As our school continues to grow and develop, our priority will remain the intellectual and emotional development and spiritual enrichment of the girls in our care. Seeing our girls flourish in the vibrant environment of St Mary’s is a great joy, and I look forward to the coming term with excitement.

The winning image will be selected early next term. Entries should be submitted by Monday 15th January 2018 on paper no larger than A4 and should be taken to Reception and marked ‘Note Card Competition’.

Good Luck!

In the meantime I’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Sarah Matthews Acting Headmistress

LAUNCHING OUR We are very excited about the launch of our new Vitality Centre which will be opening as part of the school Health Centre in January. Health professionals will be on site during the week offering access to therapies and treatments including physiotherapy, sports physiotherapy, acupuncture, and deep tissue, aromatherapy and hot-stone massage.

The aim is to encourage the girls to understand the importance of preventative action to maintain their good physical and mental health. Our sports women and dancers will have access to top

level care and advice about how to remain in excellent physical shape, allowing them the best possible chance at achieving their potential.

The physio team are both from Abbey View Physiotherapy and have worked with club-level and national athletes for many years. We have a professional counsellor, nutritionist and therapist, all of whom will be there to be part of the Vitality Centre. Our vision is that the centre will be integral to promoting the life skills required to manage all aspects of the girls’ health in the future.

Budding Scientists Explore and Experiment

NEWS ROUNDUP This term the girls have fallen over themselves to sign up to the new Science Club. With activities like ‘make your own flubber’, ‘what happens when you mix coke and mentos’ and ‘how not to crack a parachuting egg’, who can blame them?

The club has been fully subscribed all term and the girls have had a whale of a time undertaking some seriously exciting experiments.

Everyone is already looking forward to seeing what the Science Department have lined up for 2018!

Inspirational Visitors, Speakers and Workshops St Mary’s is dedicated to giving the girls the very best all-round education and as part of this we are constantly looking for external visitors and speakers to enhance the education on offer within the school. This term we were extremely fortunate to have the experienced speaker Dick Moore visit us for two days in which time he gave informative talks to parents, girls and staff on Adolescent Mental Health.

In October, we welcomed girls from St Mary’s, Cambridge who joined our pupils for an excellent workshop in leadership training. Jo Cruise, from ‘The Unreasonables’, encouraged the girls to explore the many different variations and meanings of leadership as well as analysing self-doubt and fear.

Our younger pupils enjoyed a visit from author Steve Voake. He spoke to all girls from LIII to UIV about his books (the Daisy Dawkins and Hooey Higgins series) and how the smallest idea can grow into a published novel. As a former primary school head teacher and now a senior lecturer at Bath Spa University, he was able to give the girls useful tips for their own creative writing.

What better way to inspire our young musicians than to bring musical excellence into the school? We do this through the St Mary’s Music Society concerts, a series of concerts held throughout the year where exceptional, professional musicians come to the school to perform for the girls, our parents and the local community. This term we were honoured to host the violinist Victoria Sayles, accompanied by our Head of Music, Mr Harris.

Trips Roundup

As always, students have been offered an array of opportunities this term to enrich their learning journey with some fantastic trips and visits.

Our GCSE Textiles candidates enjoyed a day in Bath where they visited the Museum of East Asian Art and tried on some beautifully ornate Oriental clothes. From here they went to the Museum of Fashion and Textiles to research the diverse use of lace in clothing through their ‘Lace in Fashion’ exhibition. Finally, the girls were inspired by an exhibition of dress from the 1920’s Jazz Age: Fashion and Photographers, being held at The American Museum.

LV and UV Art and Photography students enjoyed a trip to London’s stunning Kew Gardens in October where they were able not only to absorb the beauty of the gardens themselves, but also to see a sculpture installation by celebrated artist Rebecca Louise Law and an exhibition

We have had two outstanding competition winners this term and both for displaying exceptional writing skills.

The first was LIII pupil, Beatrice C, who won the junior category in the first ever Salisbury Story Prize. The competition was run as part of the Salisbury Literary Festival and attracted some 2000 entries in Beatrice’s category, so her win is a truly exceptional achievement.

Alice J was the worthy winner of a Christian Writers’ competition and has recently journeyed to London to receive her prize: a tour of Westminster and the Houses of Parliament followed by afternoon tea with Baroness Cox. Congratulations to both girls.

called ‘Abundance: Seeds, Pods and Autumn Fruits’ by Dr Shirley Sherwood.

In November our GCSE and A Level Drama students went to the Salisbury Playhouse to see The Ladykillers, a stage version of the classic Ealing Film Comedy of 1955 adapted by Graham Linehan, writer of such TV comedy hits as, ‘Father Ted’ and ‘The IT Crowd’.

Towards the end of term, our UIV Historians, who have been learning about the First World War, were able to bring their textbooks to life through a visit to The Imperial War Museum in London.

Meanwhile our UV Historians ventured South to visit the ruined Corfe Castle as part of their historical exploration.

MATHS CHALLENGE SUCCESS Once again, our UVI and LVI mathematicians have been put through their paces by the UK Mathematics Trust Maths Challenge. The challenge requires girls to think laterally and really put their maths skills into practice. Our girls scored a brilliant five Bronze, three Silver and one Gold award, with two girls getting high enough scores to go through to the next stage, the Senior Kangaroo Qualifiers. Congratulations to Mary, Tiffany, Coco, Iris, Tina, Helen, Maria, and Mary as well as to Heidi who scored best in year, best in school and a Gold award.

NEW SCHOOL WEBSITE We were thrilled to launch our new school website earlier this term. Full of up-to-date information and beautiful fresh photography, the site is a showcase for all that goes on at our vibrant school, for new visitors, current parents and Old Girls alike. The Latest News section is especially relevant as this is the perfect way to keep up-to-date with all that is going on at St Mary’s as it happens. www.stmarys.eu

SIXTH FORM NEWS

ARTICULATION COMPETITION

This has been a busy term for the St Mary’s Sixth Form. Our LVI have now settled into their chosen A Level courses whilst the UVI have submitted their UCAS forms and are preparing for their mocks in the final countdown to the summer term. As part of the support offered to the girls in planning their next steps after finishing at St Mary’s, the UVI were taken to Bristol at the beginning of term to go to a UCAS University Fair. Most of the UK’s Universities had a presence at the event which gave the girls the opportunity to accumulate bag

loads of prospectuses and course information as well as talking to current students about their experiences. All the girls agreed that they had learnt a lot from attending and they were inspired about the courses on offer.

This year we had four Oxbridge hopefuls as well as one medic. They have all worked extremely hard this term on their applications and had the opportunity to go to Sherborne School for some additional interview practice. Two of the girls, Risa T and Georgia H, were selected for final interviews, one for Oxford and one for Cambridge, and we wish them the best of luck with the remainder of the selection process.

We have a number of Art History enthusiasts at St Mary’s, all of whom had the opportunity to compete in the school heat of the ARTiculation competition which took place on Tuesday 5th of December. This national public speaking competition is open to Sixth Formers from all subject backgrounds. The competitors are asked to speak about a piece of art work they feel passionate about. Five girls took part this year: Georgia B, Helen C, Giorgia G, Heidi H and Daisy M. Chosen art works ranged from the Renaissance to 20th century Modernism.

First prize went to Giorgia G with her presentation on Flandrin’s ‘Study’. Helen C came second with her response to Pan Yulian’s ‘Self Portrait’. Giorgia will now present at the regional heat at St Swithun’s School, Winchester, on Wednesday 10 January.

The competition was judged by Debbie Hillyerd (Head of Education at Hauser & Wirth Somerset) who noted the diversity of the chosen pieces and the sophisticated answers of the students when she engaged them in a discussion.

St Mary’s Represented in the Houses of Parliament One of our two Head Girls, Kirstie S, is also a member of the UK Youth Parliament.

As YMP (Youth Member of Parliament) for West Wiltshire, Kirstie is regularly called upon to speak at Youth Parliament events.

In November, the Youth Parliament took over the Commons to debate a range of topical

issues. Kirstie had the opportunity to speak on the subject of work experience hubs and apprenticeships as a part of the debate, an amazing opportunity to represent her constituents and give young people a voice.

We’re really proud of Kirstie’s energy and drive to make a positive difference.

In October St Mary’s hosted the annual Sixth Form Charity Ball. 160 young people from St Mary’s, Milton Abbey and Downside donned their glad rags and danced the night away to raise over £2000 for this year’s chosen charities.

Shakespeare’s story of love, deception, friendships and enemies was re-written by a talented trio from our Upper Sixth. Setting the comedy in a co-ed boarding school, Georgia H, Alicia S and Risa T had their audience laughing throughout with witty wordplay and genius characterisation.

The five principal characters, Peter, Ben, Claudio, Heather and Beatrice were brilliantly played by Giorgia G, Francesca RM, Cressida B, Milly A and Clemmy L. Francesca and Clemmy engaged in a battle of wills with their struggle to convince themselves that they would never succumb to the thing called ‘love’, before promptly falling in love with each other. Meanwhile the highs and lows of romantic life were played out by Cressida and Milly as Claudio and Heather, with their friends, and enemies, conspiring to ensure the course of true love did not run smoothly.

The play’s production team developed an interestingly designed set, using a central catwalk-style platform to bring the players and action up close to the audience. The effect, as well as making demands on the actors who were inches away from the audience at times, was truly immersive and made the night-visitations and intrigues of the plot feel all the more real as the action moved around us.

The supporting cast enjoyed getting huge laughs from the audience using their comedic skills to great effect. Alexa G will not be easily forgotten as the awkward, musical Caspar, and nor will our ‘nerd’ friends in the Prefect Team, lead by the uptight but imperfect Dogberry (Rosanna W), chief henchman Verges (Tabby E) and trio of footsoldiers Alice W, Colette Y and Saskia L. Congratulations to everyone involved in this memorable production!

The play’s production team developed an interestingly designed set, using a central catwalk-style platform to bring the players and action up close to the audience.

BOARDING The Saturday Enrichment programme was enthusiastically embraced this term, with staff and external instructors offering a huge array of activities for students at the start of the weekend. From Archery to Fencing, Critical Thinking to Lifeguarding and from Singing to Astronomy, the Enrichment programme gives girls a chance to stretch their thinking and learn new skills on top of their core, weekday curriculum.

Meanwhile regular weekend features like socials with other schools, a Live Lounge Open Mic event for Sixth Formers, craft activities, a neon party and outings to places like the Dorset Water Park, cinemas, a trampoline centre and many others, continue to attract Day Girls as well as Boarders‌ and still leave time for some study, relaxing and Mass each Sunday!

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

This term has seen many of our LIII take part in their first retreat.

This is a special time where each year group gets to come together and explore their faith whilst having some time and space to reflect and give thanks.

The Rite of Welcome service is one of the most important dates in the St Mary’s calendar and this year we celebrated welcoming record numbers of new girls and staff members into the school community.

We have a new cohort of Mini Vinnies this term who are linked with the St Vincent de Paul Society. The girls have been reflecting on faith in action and are busily knitting for people in our community.

Towards the end of term we joined the #RedWednesday Campaign run by Aid to the Church in Need. The campaign focuses on the plight of Christians around the world who are

persecuted for their beliefs but also highlights the injustices perpetrated against other faith groups. The girls showed solidarity with the cause and raised funds by dressing in red, decorating the school in red and enjoying a red-themed lunch as well as a cake sale at break time.

Congratulations to Tabitha E who has been presented with the new ‘Do Good and Do It Well’ award, a special accolade given to a student who shown exceptional Mary Ward spirit. Tabitha led the development of a partnership with our local foodbank in Gillingham this term which we hope will be a relationship that continues over the coming months and years.

Sports Roundup Individual Success in National Governing Body Performance Pathways: Congratulations to the following girls who are developing their sporting talents: Oria L, Olivia A & Sara-Kate H U17 County Hockey

Isabella M & Fleur H U15 County Hockey

Alexa G U16 County Netball

Fleur H, Charlotte B & Munashe I U14 Satellite Academy Netball

Penny B U16 County Badminton Player and top 100 U14 players in the country.

Congratualations also to Fleur H and Charlotte B who are in their Club Netball Regional Team as well as to Amelia H who came 7th in her class at the national Horse of the Year Show!

Hockey We have had an incredible season of hockey this term! Lots of new girls meant plenty of new players in our U13, U14 and U15 XI teams.

The U13’s had an excellent season culminating with a tournament in late November. Congratulations to Maddy H who is Player of the Season, as well as Players of the Matches: Emily S, Ines, Sofia S and Olivia TT. Congratulations to Sasha E, crowned Most Improved player this season, Scarlett R for the Bravery of the Tournament award, Aggie for Reverse Stick Reveller and Mia for committing to the U13 team as only an U12 player, new to hockey! Well done everyone for a great season!

The U14 highlights include a nailbiting end to end game versus Downside, a fabulously close game versus Monkton Combe and a great goal extravaganza against Bryanston where we won 6-0! Player of the Season goes to Isobel D for huge progress in her game play, fantastic defence and a great goal against Milton Abbey. So many players showed improvement this season including Lily M, Ioana (a super captain!), Charlotte B, Alice J and Tess HJ. However, we must congratulate Sophia M who, as the steady and consistent GK, has shown great growth as a player; her confidence levels have soared!

The U15s have solidified as a squad, and with a few new and

highly valued players, have gone from strength to strength! Players of the Season include Olivia O, Bella M and Alexa G. Undoubtedly the player who has had the biggest impact on the team and played up a year has been Lottie B as GK. Lottie has averaged approximately 4 or 5 game-changing saves per match.

Most Improved Players of the season go to Tabs and Bella S who have played matches as though they’ve been playing hockey all their lives!

Bego has also played brilliantly, both on the pitch and in goal, and Sofia and Rocio are Best Newcomers to the team, transforming games with their spirit and competitive determination!

Our Senior girls had a great Hockey season - for some of them their last at St Mary’s. The motivation and dedication of the Upper VI in attending and supporting the staff needs a special commendation. Our match against Kings Bruton was a real stand-out event, particularly when Caro scored an amazing reverse stick goal. The season ran so well thanks to Fizz and her superb organisation; she’s always thinking ahead. And special mention also goes to Kirstie for stepping into goal never having done it before and doing a brilliant job.

Swimming

Netball

A great start to Swim Squad 2017/18.

The four sessions available to girls have developed their fitness levels and 100% of the girls who attend have gained a personal best time in one or more events across the winter term. A very promising start for galas to come in the New Year.

The U14 Netball team were 2nd at North Dorset and went on to play brilliantly at the County, holding their own against tough opposition from around Dorset.

Cross Country Over 40 girls competed in the two major cross country competitions this term at St Mary’s and Leweston. Cross Country relays always cause much excitement and team spirit is high! Autumn 2017 was no exception with 5 girls in the Inters team (Olivia, Rosanna, Lara, Tess and Isobel) and 3 girls in the Juniors teams (Sofia, Bella and Mia) achieving PB’s over 2.4km. It was lovely to have Theo back after injury, welcome Maddy R into the team and brilliant to see so many of the new Hewarth girls coming out to run! We will be straight back into the mud after Christmas with our first meet on the 11th Jan 2018 at Bryanston and the County Cross country at Kings Park later in January.

These are two sports we have previously played in clubs, but this year is the first year we have successfully competed against other schools. Both teams have had a match this term and came away victorious thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment from the girls and Mr Dalton.

Rod Wiltshire who heads up our Duke of Edinburgh programme at St Mary’s was very proud to accept our Licensed Organisation certificate for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at St James’s Palace in late November.

The DofE is widely acknowledged as the world’s leading achievement award for young people and involves volunteering, learning a skill, getting fit, planning and undertaking an expedition, and at Gold Level, also taking part in a 5 day residential.

A very large proportion of girls at St Mary’s undertake the challenge

of the Awards, which continue to be highly valued by universities and employers. Developing selfknowledge, learning new skills and giving to others are at the heart of the kind of education St Mary’s provides and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award continues to complement our aim of developing confident, well-rounded young women.

Also at the ceremony at the Palace were two Old Girls, Rachel O and Jemima M who collected their Gold Awards along with 100 others from the South West with fellow Old Girl Rachel CM due to collect her Gold Award shortly.

A ROYAL SEAL OF APPROVAL

Basketball & Football

s a m t s Chrati

s ’ y r a St M

Christmas cheer was abundant for the last couple of weeks of the St Mary’s Autumn Term. The girls and staff had been rehearsing and planning for months to ensure that everyone had a fitting end to this full and busy term.

We are so proud of our choir and the talented singers we have in school and so were delighted to be able to go out into the community and sing carols in local care homes. The residents were thrilled to welcome the girls and found their beautiful singing extremely uplifting.

The Christmas Concert was an absolute triumph. With a hall fullto-the-brim with guests, the girls’ performances raised the roof. All of our musicians shone and the high standard of each and every performance left the audience feeling emotional yet festive.

Two of our senior girls, Lucy B and Olivia W, took it upon themselves to arrange a beautiful Christingle Service which was enjoyed by their peers and the staff.

The Lower School Nativity was the perfect balance of tradition and performance with beautiful staging, excellent direction and superb singing and acting from everyone involved. The stunning angel wings are still going strong after being used every year for more than 20 years!

Our catering team excelled themselves with delicious Christmas feasts for the girls, the St Mary’s staff and our boarders loved having their very own celebratory meal at the end of the last week.

As always, the term ended with our Christmas Fair and Carol Service. We welcomed local artisans to the Christmas Fair, as well as having stalls for each house so that the girls could sell their own homemade gifts and goodies for charity. The Carol Service provided the perfect end to the term and all the girls, parents and staff left for home to enjoy and happy and restful Christmas and New Year.

Head’s

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

Emma Lavan Matilda Martin Grace Cartlidge Lily Marshall Olivia O’Donnell Megan Bale Heidi He Georgia Hares

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.

This term we have also introduced the ‘Do Good and Do it Well’ award, inspired by a quote from Mary Ward and given in recognition of service to the community. It was awarded to Tabitha Elwell.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 25th January 2018 at 7.30pm St Mary’s Music Society Concert, David Heyes

22nd February 2018 at 5.00pm Choral Concert at Wimborne Minster, Fauré’s Requiem

17th March 2018 at 7.30pm Fashion Show

19th March 2018 at 7.00pm Senior Sports Awards

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

FAREWELLS AND WELCOMES ANGELA EDDY It is with great sadness that we will be saying goodbye to Angela Eddy at the end of this term. Angela has been at the epicentre and heart of our school, guiding girls through their journey of religious understanding and discovery. The activities Angela has put in place have been a success and the girls have benefited from their time with Angela and will no doubt miss her immensely.

Angela has shown true spiritual commitment for which we will be ever grateful.

DEBBIE WHITEHEAD Mrs Whitehead has been a brilliant Housemistress for Newby House and an important part of the boarding team for 12 years in total. She is kind and generous with her time and works tirelessly for the good of the girls and we are going to miss her. Her famous phrase “Once a Newby girl, always a Newby girl” will live on and she will be reminding us of this as she continues to work at St Mary’s in the exams office for a little while.

YVONNE ATKINSON A fond farewell to Mrs Atkinson who, over the years, has helped many girls to reach their potential in the Learning Support department. She will be hugely missed but we hope to see her back in her capacity as Specialist Teacher Assessor.

RAE BURNS Rae joins us as the new Newby Housemistress from Cheltenham Ladies College where she was a deputy Housemistress. Rae has many years of experience in boarding and pastoral care as well as having worked as a bursary assistant, her own children have been boarders and she brings an understanding of the needs and priorities of boarding families. Rae will continue to provide a happy, safe, vibrant environment for Newby girls.

HONORIA CONOLLY Honoria, who has an MPhil in Hebrew Studies from Cambridge and a Masters in Hebrew and Degree in English from Oxford, will be on site from January assisting with the teaching of Religious Studies.

PALOMA Paloma will be joining us in January as a boarding GAP to help in all aspects of school life and in particular weekend activities.