Easter 2017 Issue 1
Stimulating Science Week During British Science Week in March we hosted and attended a series of talks on ethics in science, the last of which was given by Katherine Wright, from Nuffield Council for Bioethics, who gave a thoughtprovoking talk on ethics and cosmetic surgery. Girls across the school enjoyed a huge variety of activities during the week including coding, Molcraft (Minecraft, but with molecules!), the Bath Science Festival, the National Science Poster competition and a lecture by the Young People’s Trust for the Environment on climate change. Hands-on activities during lessons included wiring plugs and making bouncy balls.
One highlight for the department was the excellent DNA technology workshop at Bristol University attended by our UVI Biologists. It gave the girls an insight into working in a university laboratory with professional teacher-lecturers, using specialist technical tools as well as revising aspects of their genetics course in a novel way. They predicted their phenotypes for a ‘taste’ gene and then analysed their DNA to identify their genotype using a series of complex processes. St Mary’s students shared the workshop with pupils from Clayesmore and Kings Bruton.
Mini Messiah 100 voices in tuneful accord: one Tuesday evening in February, the Chapel rang out to the sound of the combined Chapel Choirs of St Mary’s, Sandroyd School and Knighton House School in a performance of Handel’s eternal masterpiece Messiah. Ranging in age from 8 to 18, the singers sang the choruses with tremendous confidence, delivering the biblical messages home to a warm and enthusiastic audience. The whole was accompanied by an orchestra of nine (including trumpet and drums for the barnstorming Hallelujah Chorus) and the solos were sung beautifully by the pupils of St Mary’s. This was an evening of sensational music-making and one that will linger in the pupils’ memories for a very long time. We’re looking forward to developing the next chapter of this project next year!
The design brief was to take a book or a story as an inspiration and produce a three-dimensional illustration using old recycled books. Scenes from classics such as ‘Treasure Island’, ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘Oliver Twist’ sprung up from the pages of the old books, as well as contemporary fantasy novels featuring dragon caves and the streets of London. The entire display of St Mary’s work was presented in the form of an installation – a reading corner where each book appeared as if it had stories spilling out of its pages with the books lit with (nonflammable!) tea-lights. It was wonderful to see our girls’ work displayed alongside creative pieces by students from 11 other schools in the South West.
Library of Ideas
We were thrilled to be awarded Best in Show at the Salisbury library ‘Library of Ideas’ exhibition where LIV Design students displayed their projects during February and March.
From the
I am delighted to introduce this first Beech Tree Newsletter; it will be issued each Christmas and Easter. At the end of the Summer Term we will produce an annual Beech Tree Magazine; a substantial publication which will record all that has taken place during the academic year. This will be a treasure for current and old girls. Spring naturally heralds transformation and growth in schools. Not only have we moved from a winter landscape to one bursting with new life, but the girls also seem to grow and blossom so much during this time. Our current Upper Sixth are preparing for imminent A Level exams, and spreading their wings beyond St Mary’s. It is an exciting time for them all. Meanwhile, the Lower Sixth girls have transformed just as much and are ready to take on the leadership roles expected of them. Every day they grow in confidence and commitment to their studies and passions. I was very pleased that our successful ISI Inspection this term has allowed us to review and further improve our learning and teaching. It also recognised why our girls achieve so highly across all fields. Events this term have offered house shows, concerts, trips and lectures. The girls have excelled in the dance production and at high level sport. These are all opportunities for the girls to learn about themselves as well as the world around them. Seeing this happen first hand is a real privilege. You will note that our new crest features the Loreto Shield and three beech trees which represent the watchful eye of the blessed Trinity as well as being integral to the Beaufoy family coat of arms. The trees in a line also mimic the school drive and the colour change, from pale to intense, mirrors the growth and development offered to our girls.
Short-Term Memory Investigation
headmistress Last term the LVI Psychology students undertook a research project looking at short-term memory capacity. They wanted to see if the study carried out by J. Jacobs in 1887, where he used number sequences to analyse people’s recall ability, was still valid today. Jacobs concluded from his study, 130 years ago, that on average people could remember between 5 – 9 digits. The girls decided to explore Jacobs’ findings further and investigate whether they could identify a gender difference when carrying out their own research. Using 18 of St Mary’s staff, the girls used the same techniques as Jacobs had done all those years ago. Each staff member (12 female and 6 male) was given 7 separate digit sequences to remember, each increasing by one number, and they then had to try and recall the sequence in the correct order. After completing their research and analysing the data the girls released their final report earlier this term. The conclusion was that the average shortterm memory digit span of female members of staff at St Mary’s was 6.9 whereas for the male staff members it was 7. This difference was so minimal that there is considered to be no gender difference in short-term memory digit span and that Jabobs’ theory is still valid today. Including the staff in the project was in interesting exercise for everyone involved and the LVI can now claim to have had their first piece of research ‘published’ – congratulations girls!
Were you
Born to Write?
Just after the Christmas holidays, librarian Min Edmonds struck upon the idea of launching a writing competition for young people in North Dorset. With national competitions like BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words growing in popularity, we thought the St Mary’s Shaftesbury Born to Write competition would be just the thing for budding writers close to home. Over sixty entries from students aged 11-16 at nine schools were submitted, with which we were delighted in this first year of the competition. From the wildly fantastical, to minutely observed domestic pieces, there was a huge variety of writing submitted and Miss Edmonds was faced with some tough decisions. Her fellow judge, and former Booker Prize judge, Fay Weldon helped make the final decisions and came to St Mary’s to present awards to the competition winners at the end of March. Overall winner was Delphi D from Knighton House, with our very own Penelope A winning the younger category and Bryanston’s Saskia L winning the older. The presentation event was an inspirational evening with a further 15 students from several schools being recognised with Highly Commended certificates.
Welcoming the Montessori to St Mary’s At half-term we were honoured to have Semley Montessori move onto the St Mary’s campus. Having lost their previous premises, this ‘outstanding’ Montessori was struggling to find a new site and faced the risk of closure. It was set up 30 years ago by Sandy Flower, mother of our Biology teacher Sadie Flower, and we were very pleased to be able to offer the old swimming pool site as the Montessori’s new home. The area has already been transformed into an enclosed garden and play area, and chatter and laughter can be heard pouring over the walls. Having little ones on the estate is such a treat for us all and we hope they will be very happy here at St Mary’s.
New GAP students Lara Creagan, Emma Simmonds and Georgia Wilson arrived in January and have endured the cold weather to see spring emerge at last. They have already made themselves crucial to the St Mary’s team, spending their weeks contributing to school life in a multitude of ways, and in their spare time and holidays experiencing British and European life and culture. We couldn’t do without them!
Spring 2017 Chaplaincy Report It is official! We have a Mini Vinnies Group at St Mary’s. Our LIII girls embraced the opportunity to launch the group, an offshoot of the St Vincent de Paul Society, at the begining of the year. Beatrice C has been elected President and Fleur H is lead co-ordinator.
Speakers’ Corner
The past term began with retreats for LIV, UIV and UV. LIV’s retreat theme was HiddenTreasure (God’s Masterpiece). Girls wrote affirmations for each other in their booklets and received their very own treasure box containing a priceless treasure together with a pearl and quotes from Scripture and Mary Ward introduced during the day in our Closing Liturgy.
The girls’ evaluations sum up all that they gained from the retreat:
What have you discovered about yourself? ‘That I am kind and thoughtful.’ ‘I am a treasure and I am priceless.’ ‘I have discovered my self-worth and others’ qualities.’ Our Confirmation Sessions began in January and will culminate in the Catholic and Anglican confirmation celebrations next term. LIII, LV and UVI will also enjoy a retreat in the coming term, and we will be preparing to say farewell to our UVI girls with a Leavers Mass among the many other celebrations.
During the Spring Term we’ve been lucky enough to welcome, once again, a huge variety of visiting speakers. Their high calibre, and the diverse subjects they come to speak about, mean that we don’t feel quite so tucked away from things in our corner of Dorset. In February the parents of Jimmy Mizen, a young teenager who was killed in an unprovoked attack, came and spoke about their experience of forgiveness. The Mizens gave a brave, powerful account of their experiences. Book Week brought us the much-loved author Ali Sparks, who gave a hugely informative and entertaining talk to all girls in LIII to UIV, as well as some visitors from Sandroyd, including the all-important message that a visit to her local library changed her life. Later in the term we hosted a presentation by Charles Mayhew from the Tusk Trust which protects wildlife in Africa and, a complete contrast, an insightful talk about the relationship between science and religion was given by Father Andrew Pinsent to Sixth Formers and guests.
Thoughts were further provoked when Katherine Wright from Nuffield Council for Bioethics came and spoke to the girls about ethics and cosmetic surgery. Even our LIII had an external speaker to visit this term when Peter Littlewood, (Director, Young People’s Trust for the Environment) came to teach them about the habitats and adaptations of animals and plants as well as our impact on our environment.
Maths Challenge Excellence In December Julia Z and Beth M (both UVI) were invited to the UK Mathematics Kangaroo Challenge, having scored so highly in the first round. Both Julia and Beth achieved a Merit in this second round- the highest possible score. Huge congratulations, girls!
The results from the Intermediate Maths Challenge (taken by those in UIV, LV and UV) were once again extremely impressive; 2 Golds, 5 Silvers and 8 Bronze awards. These tests require real lateral thinking and flexible mathematical ability- congratulations to all who took part!
TRIPS ROUNDUP
The girls have had a busy term gallivanting around the country, and indeed Europe, on exciting and educational school trips! Sixth Form skiers found enough December snow to enjoy the slops on their trip to Austria during the Christmas break and in half term our LV and UV international jetsetters practiced their Spanish and salsa dancing in Salamanca. Our Theatre Club, English, Latin and Classical Civilisation students have had the opportunity to experience some wonderful theatre this term with trips to the highly acclaimed Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time, a ground-breaking performance of The Tempest by the RSC in Stratford and Socphocles’ masterpiece Antigone at UCL. The LV Latin and UV Classical Civilisation students made the most of their time in London by fitting in a visit to the British Museum to admire the Elgin Marbles. Some of our Sixth Form had a Chaucer Study Day and the LVI English group spent the day enjoying lectures on one of their set texts, The Great Gatsby. Our UVI Art Historians explored the National Gallery and got up-close and personal with Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait and the UIV Historians descended on the Imperial War Museum. Other trips included the LVI attending a Philosophy and Ethics conference in Exeter, the LIII having an informative visit to Bath as part of the Science Festival and the Medical Ethics Group meeting Professor Robert Winston after they had attended an enthralling lecture he delivered on ethics.
A Unique Day in the St Mary’s Calendar At St Mary’s we mark Mary Ward Day with a High Mass and we were privileged to have Sister Ann from the Bar Convent in York with us. Until nearly 15 years ago Sr Ann was part of the order of CJs who lived here at St Mary’s. She was Mulwith house mistress and there are many members of staff and former students who remember her with great affection. Mary Ward believed very much in felicity or joy, and this is reflected in our coming together as a community. The celebration goes hand in hand with honouring Mary Ward’s legacy and raising money for charity; this year money was raised for the Mizen family.
Classics Competition St Mary’s hosted the Salisbury Classical Association’s Reading Competition on March 7th. Pupils from a number of Wiltshire and Dorset schools competed across the 11 categories in performing a selection of classical literature in Latin and Green, As Ever, Saint Mary’s ended up with a pleasing haul of medals (actually book-tokens)congratulations, Julia (LVI), Ella and Ioanna (LIV) and Francesca (LV). Also to our team from the Lower III, who took a prize in the Junior Latin Play competition!
Cross Country News Juniors and Inters travelled to Kings Park, Bournemouth to compete in the County Cross Country where Theo and Fleur put in two great runs finishing in the top 40, Ella finished inside the top 30 and Georgie finished strongly in top 40 in the County.
Game, Set and Match!
Three teams represented St Mary’s in the Clayesmore Prep Cross Country relays for a classic mud-run and 25 girls competed at Bryanston where Fleur finished 17th out of approximately 70 runners and Inter girls placed 7th, 10th and 14th.
Ian Griffin, tennis coach at St Mary’s, has achieved the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) highest coaching qualification. This Level 5 achievement qualifies Ian as a ‘Master Club Coach’. During the coming term we will look forward to benefiting from Ian’s training, and he will also be establishing a Tennis Academy at St Mary’s in the coming months. Top class!
Netball round up St Mary’s has had a superb netball season this year, which started with the U19, U16 and U14 North Dorset tournaments last term. The U14s were 4th, The U16s were 5th and the U19s were 3rd at County- great results, particularly for the U14s who are a newly created team. The U19s were phenomenal at County level, up against much bigger schools and teams with many club players in. They held their own and just missed out on qualifying for the South West matches.
During the Spring term, the U15s’ preparation and development from last year helped them to qualify for County finals this year and the U13s team played brilliantly in their North Dorset tournament, reaching the semi-finals. There have been so many committed girls that our U14s and U15s have had nearly three teams playing and, if girls have not started in the B team, they have had at least one opportunity to represent their school in a B team fixture. We were also able to field four teams at senior level. We have played matches across the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire and
Hampshire and everyone has kept the passion of netball alive throughout the season. Our 1st team won 8 of their 11 matches which is a real achievement. All our teams built their strength through the season, winning their last few games. To round off a superb season, there were two trips to watch Superleague netball at Bath University, which showed the power, dynamism and expert skill level in elite netball. Well done to all the girls who have competed for the school, attended regular practices and enjoyed being part of our teams.
Try Something New in 2017 Our campaign to get girls trying new sports got off to a great start with Archery and Lacrosse taster days just before the end of term. Impressive new talents were discovered when specialist coaches visited the school to introduce these sports to girls from all year groups. Uptake at these taster sessions was brilliant and we look forward to building on this in the coming term!
Girls’ Sporting
News
Alexa G and Anna P were selected at the beginning of the academic year to train regularly in the U14 Blandford Satellite Academy, which is the first step on the England Netball performance pathway. Well done to both girls for their commitment and passion for netball; academy coach Leanne commented that they are great ambassadors for St Mary’s working hard at every challenge and happily trying new things to support the team in different positions as required. Agatha D continues to make progress in her trampolining career. She recently qualified for the regional finals in Bath, for which we wish her very good luck!
Our LIV girls have been taking the Rookie Lifeguarding course during some of their curriculum time, learning vital safety skills in the water. Meanwhile, our older girls have been qualifying as full lifeguards, with 11 of them completing the Royal Life Saving Society’s NPLQ course this term. All the girls will join the St Mary’s lifeguard team, providing a service to our community and the public who use our pool.
DANCING THE NIGHT AWAY Our wonderful Dance Showcase in March was a huge success. We have a great many very talented girls at the school, some who are beginners and others who have been dancing for years. Rehearsals and preparation required lots of hard work and dedication, and nearly 40 of our students were able to take part in the show. Their smiles and enthusiasm demonstrated the enjoyment to be had from performing in an event like this one!
WEEKEND ACTIVITIES
Live Music at St Mary’s!
As always, the weekends have been packed with fun and exciting activities this term. As well as the numerous social events shared with Milton Abbey, Sherborne and Sandroyd there have been cinema trips, theatre visits and shopping outings.
During the Spring term in particular, live music doesn’t ever seem to stop at school. Each of the houses holds their House Concert, showcasing the musical, dance, dramatic and comedy talent in each house in a unique way. Parents are invited to come and watch and all the events raise money for the charities supported by each house. They are a wonderful comingtogether of our home and school families. Then there’s the St Cecilia’s concert, a highlight of every year. It’s organised by, and for, the girls and is a brilliant event that girls spend weeks preparing for in advance.
The cultural diversity in school has been celebrated with a fantastic International Food Fair, our stunning Chinese New Year Festival and a popular language taster event. Other weekend favourites enjoyed by the girls this term have been visits to a climbing centre, an ice skating trip, tie-dying workshops and some amazing street dance workshops. This has all been in addition to the regular entertainment including our regular Supper Club, Life Skills Sessions and Bake-Offs.
An Excellent Exhibition
This term the Campion Hall played host to a unique collaboration between the music, English and History of Art departments for Poets, Painters and Pianists which was a journey through the centuries, illustrating creative change through music, literature and art. Also at Campion hall was the second in our St Mary’s Music Society concerts open to the public. Mr Harris performed in the Harpender Duo’s fantastic concert of memorable piano pieces.
During March, work from both LV and UV Textiles students was on exhibition at the Shaftesbury Arts Centre. The exhibition was of work created in response to research on Natural & Organic Form using felting and free machine embroidery to create unique and individual threedimensional outcomes.
St Mary’s School Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 9LP enquiries@stmarys.eu +44 (0)1747 852416