Godstowe news
Summer Term 10 June 2022
Key Dates for next week 12th June IV Form Expedition to Wales departs 13th June Field finals for Lowers and Uppers Middles Residential departs New Boarders' parents meeting 15th June 4.30pm Student Recital in Recital Hall
Fourths enjoying their Leavers' BBQ
A letter from the Headmistress Dear Parents, It has been lovely to have everyone back in school after half term last week, looking refreshed and ready to speed through the last few and very full weeks of this academic year. We started the week with Online Safety talks by Karl Hopwood for Middles and Uppers and their parents. It was great to see the girls really engaging with the talks. There has been lots of sports events taking place this week with Field Finals and our first Cricket match of the season. I have really enjoyed seeing girls outside with their coloured polos on earning points for their School Houses in advance and ready for Sports Day. We've been very close to breaking some school records which makes Sports Day even more exciting! Our IVs have finished their final exams at Godstowe and have all worked really hard. It was great to see them in Assembly this morning with their Leavers' Hoodies, ready to start their Leavers' Programme with a BBQ today. There is great excitement about the dinner with the Year 8 boys at Caldicott tomorrow evening which is then swiftly followed by the departure for the adventurous trip to Wales on Sunday. We have a busy weekend with the Swimming team off to IAPS and our New Boarders' Induction on Sunday. I hope you have a fun and restful weekend and enjoy the sunshine.
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16th June 3pm Boarding Open House 17th June 11am Lodge and Nursery Summer Concert 12pm Lodge and Nursery Sports Day, races starting at 1.15pm EXEAT - timings on page 17 of red calendar.
Sports Fixtures 13th June Yr 5 and Yr 7 Athletics London Prep Schools, TVAC (away) 15th June 4.30pm U8-U11 Swimming vs High March (home) 5pm Tennis at at Wycombe Abbey (away) 16th June U10 Tennis vs High March (home)
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Claire Gillett, Head of Lodge
Hannah Smart, Head of Nursery
This week Nursery have had a fun packed week. The highlight of the week was undoubtedly the trip to Bucks Goat Centre. The children had an amazing time meeting all the animals, even holding and feeding some. They also got to meet Barnaby the Fox, who was enjoying his lunch. They enjoyed lots of songs on the bus, both on the way there and back! Other highlights this week have been saving the superheroes who were locked with padlocks by counting the spots on their capes to match the number on the padlock key, cooking superhero pizza’s and the start of learning how to run in a race, ready for Sports’ Day next week. The sound of the week was 'y' and we made yachts. In Beginners, we have started our new topic all about exciting journeys, starting with learning about under the sea. Our learning this week has been centred around the story 'The Rainbow Fish'. We have done some lovely writing about how we can be a good friend like the rainbow fish, we made a story map and we even received an exciting letter from the Rainbow Fish and completed a creative project inspired by the story. In Maths, we have started learning about doubling, and have been practising doubling numbers using concrete resources and remembering to add the same number again each time. We have also been practising our songs and our races in preparation for next week's concert and sports day. A busy and fun week all round.
Kindergarten continues to learn numbers up to 100, focusing on place value. We have been practising counting forwards and backwards, as well as having races to prove that it is faster to count in multiples of 2, 5 and 10 than in 1s. Please practise counting, all of these ways, forwards and backwards! Fairy Tales, and in particular the story of Cinderella has been the subject of this week's Literacy lessons. We started by looking at five different versions and the children then gave a brief description before choosing their favourite (Cinderella's dress in the latest film version was a big hit!). In History, we have started learning about the Aztecs and the role of archaeologists in helping us understand more about this civilization. Transition H led the assembly this week as they used their knowledge from their History lessons to act out the story of the Fire of London. The children have been thinking about why the fire spread so quickly and how the buildings are stronger and more fire resistant once they were rebuilt. In Maths, we have been starting a new topic on money. We have been looking at the different coins that are used, and adding them up to make various amounts. It would be lovely if the children could practise identifying coins and making different amounts of money at home this week. We are very much looking forward to a busy time next week, preparing for our Concert and Sports' Day on Friday 17th June.
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Weekly Awards
Boarders' Corner
Walker House
Boarders of the Week Highlands Turner Walker
Annointed E Eleanor B Alice G Yimika O Sofia W Victoria N
Sports Stars of the Week Yasmin S Saskia W Una H
Rose A Essie J Mencia AdE Victoria P-M
Friday Badges IC IH IM
Fifi H-C Anjola I Elissia N
Accelerated Readers Paige R
100% AR Readers Lower School Charlotte F Sadie B Upper School Poppy H Mercedes C
Typing Awards Beginners Intermediate Advanced
Annika N Harmony C-T Eleanor E Ai-Li C
House Points 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Seacole Franklin Pankhurst Adlington
In the absence of being able to write about our weekend (since it was half-term), my mind immediately went to the Jubilee. For many of the boarders, the Jubilee has been new territory, lots of the girls are international and so this was their first experience of such a grand-scale royal event and for some of the youngest boarders, they weren’t even born for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012! We had lots of discussions amongst the boarding community about what the Jubilee is and, on a deeper level, how it celebrates the progression and achievements of the world over the last 70 years. I couldn’t help but notice a few parallels between the Queen’s reign and “the reign” of the current generation of Godstowe girls… Throughout the Jubilee period there has been a large focus on looking back at all the happy memories throughout the Queen’s life as a monarch. Similarly at Godstowe, we have been reflecting with the girls on their lives here at school. Sadly, the Fourths will be leaving us in a few weeks time, ready to move on to their Senior Schools and though they will be missed, we are all looking forward to spending their last few weeks reminiscing about their first memories of Godstowe, from their first night in boarding to their first sports fixture and many more I’m sure. It’s not just change for the Fourths though, as the Lower Thirds will be split between the two senior houses and say goodbye to their time in Walker House. These changes are ones which we have confidence the girls are more than ready for. In Walker, the Lowers have recently received house jobs each, including Snack Sergeant and Cloakroom Colonel. These tasks will help them prepare for their senior houses where the girls are expected to help sound the house a little more. Meanwhile, the Fourths are hard at work with the assessments which began on Tuesday. This coming weekend they are looking forward to their social with Caldicott School. We have been hearing all about their glamorous dresses and heels and with the help of the boarding staff, I hear rumours there is to be a presocial pamper session. On the theme of reflection, we also had our summer term boarding council meeting with representatives from each house, along with Ms Green and Ms North. The meeting was a great success and the girls conducted themselves excellently, bringing up their concerns in a respectful and sensible manner. We look forward to implementing some of their ideas in the near future!
Boarders' Video - 21st-22nd May /GodstoweSchool
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Sports Results
Rebecca Turner, Director of Sport
Athletics On Wednesday our U12 athletics squad took part in an athletics fixture held at Wycombe Abbey School. It was a glorious afternoon in the sun. The girls competed in the field to begin with and did well against the other schools. Once we were on the track the Godstowe girls really were in their element. We placed in the top 3 in every event with our two relay teams coming home in 1st and 3rd place. A fitting finish to the afternoon's events. Well done to all the girls involved!
Tennis
Renaming our Health Centre Last half term, the School Nurses asked the Lowers' to come up with a theme and then names for the rooms in the Health Centre. Congratulations to Lucia T, whose theme was Space and suggestions for names were "Sun, Moon and Stars".
Field Finals 2022
A keen group of FI and FII girls enjoyed some friendly tennis matches this week at Maltmans School. Our girls were superb and played wonderfully, displaying great technique. It was a chance to develop their skills at doubles play and to build confidence at scoring. Well done girls. You did Godstowe proud!
The rain held off on Tuesday for the MIII’s Field Finals morning. It was fantastic to see every girl compete for their house in two events. Personal bests were achieved but sadly no records were broken this year. Thank you to the parents who came out to support.
Cricket
The afternoon saw FI and FII compete in their respective Field Finals afternoons. Again, it was a fabulous event with the girls showing great sportsmanship throughout the competition. Personal bests were achieved by many but sadly no records were broken, although we came close during the FII long jump finals.
On Wednesday 8th June two Godstowe teams travelled to Pipers Corner for the first cricket match of the season. All of the girls played confidently and displayed some outstanding fielding and batting skills. Both teams lost narrowly but for a mixed age group team playing against older girls they should all be very proud of themselves
The IV's girls competed in their last ever Godstowe Field Finals today. It was fantastic to see the girls in such high spirits following their CE exams. Every girl competed in their preferred event with some taking on the challenge of two. Personal bests were achieved and celebrated in true style which was a delight to see. Unfortunately the school records stand for another year but well done girls. We are looking forward to the UIII’s and LIII’s Field Final Events on Monday. Refreshments for parents are provided and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.
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