Godstowe News: Summer Term 12/5

Godstowenews

Summer Term

12 May 2023

Onee of the fantastic creations you'll see at our Art and Design Exhibition

A letter from the Headmistress

I do hope you all enjoyed the Coronation weekend, last week and it was refreshing to watch the service, concert, volunteering efforts on the Monday and to see the nation coming together Here is to the next chapter and may it be a long and prosperous one for King Charles III and Queen Camilla!

Since our return from the second bank holiday, it has been an exciting week across the school and I seemed to give out a record number of Music, Sport and Mathematics awards this morning in assembly We were treated to assembly musicians in Middles and Form I, and it was probably the first time I had heard the Flintstones theme tune on the guitar! We are working towards our Summer Open Day tomorrow and our Tour Guides from Uppers and Fourths are primed and ready to go To those of you coming to see our esteemed Fashion Show and view the Art and Design Exhibition tonight and tomorrow, we look forward to seeing you all there and I can assure you, that it is looking fantastic and I shall write more next week in celebration of the annual event. I am most looking forward to my inaugural Show and Exhibition tonight

I continue to tour senior schools and attend conferences and my time spent in Bristol, Ascot and Oxford recently has been really interesting, with many budding partnerships and ideas to follow I am at Shiplake and with our Friends at Wycombe Abbey in the next week, amidst all the events at Godstowe A reminder, please, that our whole school photograph takes place on Tuesday 16th May and I hope to see our boys and girls looking smart and smiling for 2023! Have a good weekend, everyone!

Claire Gillett, Head of Lodge Hannah Smart, Head of Nursery

It has been another very busy and exciting week at Lodge, with trips for Beginners and Kindergarten and an interactive workshop for Transition. The children are especially proud of their work being displayed in the Art Exhibition this weekend! Do remember to follow us on lodge at godstowe on Instagram to see more of our activities as they happen!

This week Nursery have been learning about the jungle and deserts. We have been exploring animals that live in these habitats. The children enjoyed making binoculars and rain makers, as well as completing some jungle stamp counting tasks. In cookery the children made lemon vegan cupcakes and had lots of fun learning to grate lemons! Our sound of the week was ‘ w ’ so we made whales

Beginners we were very excited to go on our school trip to Amersham Field Centre in Mop End on Wednesday! We hunted for minibeasts, made magic potions, a home for some animals, listened to a lovely woodland story and looked at lots of beautiful bluebells! We also really enjoyed singing on the minibus and having an indoor picnic lunch! Back at school we have continued our leaning about different sorts of minibeasts and in Maths we have been starting to think about doubling What a busy and exciting week!

Kindergarten children took along the sunshine with them when they visited the Oxford Botanic Garden on Tuesday. By looking at the variety of outdoor and greenhouse plants on display, they were able to add to the work already done in the classroom, on foods we get that come from the Rainforest and the parts and functions of plants. In preparation for next week’s topic in Maths, Multiplication and Division, the children have been learning to count in 2s, 5s and 10s. Continued practise during car journeys would be very useful!

Transition took part in an online Art Workshop on Wednesday, run by the National Gallery The children had an opportunity to sculpt a character from a story based on some National Gallery paintings using air drying clay and they also drew a background for it. It was wonderful to see how well the children used their imaginations to create their characters, as well as following the instructions from the online guide to improve their skills. In our Science lesson this week, Transition children have been learning about the life cycle of a chicken, and enjoyed identifying and labelling the different parts of an egg using magnifying glasses!

SomethingSpecialishappeningatGodstowe

Another fantastic week in Main School. Whilst everyone has been quietly working away, there have been some rather loud noises coming from the JK Theatre Our Estates Team have been putting up boards, staging and sorting stands, whilst Mrs Sloggett, Mrs Lee-Metcalf and Ms Mushtaq have been carefully carrying precious items from the Art and DT studios

There have also been some Uppers and Fourths practising their walks and poses ready for their "time to shine".

We hope as many of you as possible get to experience our Art and Design Exhibition and Fashion Show. Every child at Godstowe from Nursery to Fourths has a piece of art, or two, and some even have 3D designs they have made on display for you all to see

Here is a little sneak peek at some of the amazing creations

Key Dates for next week

15th May 16th May

8 15am Lower School Coffee Morning, Sports Hall Gallery

pm Whole School photograph

4 15pm U10/U11 Athletics vs RMS (away)

17th May

Sports team photographs

4 30pm U9 Tennis vs RMS (away)

2 30pm U11 Tennis vs MGS (home)

18th May 20th May

4pm U12 Tennis vs John Hampden (home)

U12 and U13 Athletics vs Queen Anne's (away)

Sensing Cranedale

By Reshawna

I was led into a wondrous place, Where rocks glistened on the sandy shore, And seabirds glided, free to navigate, The sapphire sky, scattered with stars we all adore.

I was led into a world beyond my reach, As waves crashed on the jagged cliffs, And the wild wind howled with its gusty screech

Gazing at the shifting skies, With colours merging in a painter's haze, Kittiwake, Kittiwake, bawling its name, Echoing their mournful cries, And seagulls, shags, Soaring through the clouds ablaze.

I was led into a land of magic, it seems,

Where the balmy air danced with the untamed, The salty sea scents filled all my dreams, A world of tranquil calmness, yet unchained In this dream of mine, I found my heart's desire, A place where mild and serene never tire

Boarders'Corner

Godstowe boarders are encouraged to take an interest in the world around them, from watching the news everyday, researching a particular news article that has caught their attention and supporting charities both locally and nationally Here is a short summary about how the girls are supporting two particular charities this year

Each week, the boarders take part in the ‘TwoCan Tuesday’ initiative that was introduced in January 2022 The girls support the One Can Trust, a foodbank based in High Wycombe, by donating two cans or packets of food such as tinned tomatoes, soup, biscuits, noodles and rice By donating food on a regular basis, the girls have become more aware of the needs and struggles of those in our local community

Every year, the boarders take part in a big sponsored event For the last couple of years, these events haven’t been possible due to the restrictions put in place during the pandemic so for many girls this will be the first time they have taken part in a sponsored event at Godstowe. On Sunday 25th June, the Godstowe Boarding community will be swimming the channel!

The girls are looking forward to the challenge and they will be joined by part-time boarders and school staff to swim 1360 lengths of the Godstowe Pool!

We will be raising money for the charity I Can & I Am, and we are delighted that their founder James Shone will be visiting Godstowe that afternoon to support the event. The charity offers tools and inspiration to move forward with a sense of purpose, and a feeling of 'I can achieve' and 'I am of value' Two years ago, they were donated a fully converted double decker bus by the company Howdens They now visit schools around the South West of England and have worked with over 8,000 young people.

To enable the charity to continue this great work, we ’ re helping them to raise the funds to cover the costs of a 2nd bus so that they can take their messages even wider. You can find out more about I Can & I Am by visiting their website www icanandiam com and by watching this video (2 mins) about the I Can & I Am bus https://www youtube com/watch? v=b8mc6SGqwO0

If you would like to support our Swim the Channel event, please click the link below to go to the Just Giving page, where you will be able to donate

Godstowe Boarders Swim The Channel

U13/U12 Tennis at Queen Anne's

Our U13 Tennis team and a handful of U12 players (18 girls) travelled to Queen Anne’s last Thursday. The weather behaved itself and we were able to play 3 matches each The girls really benefited from this match experience and their confidence grew throughout the evening. The final scores were U13A lost 4-5, U13B lost 4-5 and U13C lost 4-5, so very close matches for each team and a most enjoyable evening Well done to all.

Div10 Swimming U9-U11

On Tuesday 9th May Maltmans Green welcomed a host of schools for the first of two finals of the Div 10 With it being a final it was officiated accordingly with a starter, stroke judges and timekeepers.

The girls gave a great account of themselves and were in good voice to cheer on each race With the final complete we await the results of the other gala and times with placings being announced in the coming weeks. Well done to all the girls involved

U13 Tennis at Wycombe Abbey

24 girls from our U13 Tennis Team managed to dodge the rain showers on Wednesday to play Wycombe Abbey Amongst them were 4 Uppers and 1 Middle (Ella I) playing up an age group or two The results were as follows:

U13A lost 1-8, U13B drew 4-4, U13C won 7-2, U13D drew 4-4. So over all the result was a draw, well done girls!

U8/9 Cricket at RMS

On Thursday 11th May, our cricket team of Form I and IIs joined together in an away fixture versus Royal Masonic School It was an all round exciting experience and the girls had a great time in their first match. The weather held long enough for us to complete the game, with growing confidence throughout the match, some wonderful batting and running between the wickets, as well as committed fielding The girls, their parents and our staff enjoyed the game, despite the result Godstowe scored 227-5 and RMS 267-4. Our captain, Ingrid, was nominated as Player of the Match. A special mention should also be made for Ingrid, who volunteered to stand in for the opposition team Well done all!