Godstowe News: Autumn Term 2/12

Godstowenews

A letter from the Headmistress

It was wonderful to see you all at the Christmas Fair last weekend and I have subsequently heard that we have been quite the talk of the school Christmas fair network, with many saying that this was not only the best one at Godstowe for many years, but also in the local area! What a wonderful day out and thank you to FOG and all who led this for our school I felt very proud to be at this event and I would like to especially thank Mrs Ladkin Brand, Mrs Wiseman Clarke, Mrs Grainger and Mrs Bradbrook for their hard work This was quite a feat and appreciated by us all! The Kindergarten and Transition Nativity was absolutely stunning this morning and well done to the Lodge Team who worked hard to deliver this outstanding performance

This week I have had the pleasure of reading and listening to some excellent poetry. As is the tradition every year at Godstowe, the Head has the privilege of choosing the three Christmas poems for the Carol Service from Middles, Uppers and Fourths The standard was exceptionally high this year and I know our congregation will greatly enjoy the final selection at our service on Friday 9th December. I then received a lovely invitation from Mrs Moore to visit Form I to hear their Christmas Poems Over the last few weeks they have adapted their own versions of ‘The Night Before Christmas’ and have worked collaboratively to produce beautiful class poetry, using wonderful imagery, rhyme and colour They certainly made me feel festive! However it was the poems that they had written with a deeper Christmas message that really moved me and these lovely pieces will stay with me for some time If you get the chance to ask Form I about their ‘Think!’ poems, please do Whilst we shall be lucky to feast, stay warm and celebrate together over Christmas, they highlighted all those who will not be so fortunate quite beautiful and well done from me!

Hang onto your Christmas hats the last week is in sight and what a week to behold see you all there!

A great performance from Kindergarten and Transition

Gillett,

Head of Lodge Hannah Smart, Head of Nursery

We have enjoyed two special assemblies this week in Lodge

On Monday, we were joined by Amanda from CH & Co who spoke to us about how it is good for the environment to eat different food each season and she encouraged us to not waste food On Tuesday, Robyn from All Saints Church shared different versions of the Christmas story with us, getting us in the festive spirit.

Nursery have been continuing with our Christmas theme this week We have also had a large focus on personal, social and emotional development, particularly being good friends, being respectful and good turn taking. The children have enjoyed lots of small group activities that encourage working together and taking on board each others ideas Some of our favourite activities this week have included adding to our Number Zoo, with an Amazing Eight Spider, baking cranberry star shortbread biscuits and making our very own calendars to take home for the New Year.

Beginners we have been completing some addition work in Maths and have been introduced to the addition sign We have written about the part we played in the Nativity and even had a go at writing the words we said on stage! We have also been very busy making Christmas cards for the many people who help us at school and we will be delivering them very soon. We were so lucky to be able to watch our friends and siblings in Kindergarten and Transition in their dress rehearsal and we enjoyed it so much. What good role models they are!

Thank you to all the Transition and Kindergarten parents who came to our Nativity

This week Kindergarten children have brought their history topic on toys to a conclusion by focusing on the Nutcracker; its historical origins as a German toy, as well as being a character in a story, which was then transformed into a ballet. Using their comprehension skills, the children have been writing about the characters, setting and storyline To complement this work in literacy, the children then went on to make salt dough Nutcracker Christmas decorations in art Finally, they are learning to ‘crack’ addition and subtraction word problems in maths.

Transition has been very busy practising for 'Are we nearly there yet?' We are so proud of the way they have learnt their lines, added actions to the songs and focused well during the rehearsals They have really worked together as a team, and have loved performing to the rest of the school and their families this week. Congratulations to them all for their wonderful performances!

We are very much looking forward to our festive jumper day next Wednesday, and our PK Awards and Christmas lunch next Thursday.

Claire

This weekend was jam packed with lots of fun and exciting activities that allowed the Godstowe community to embrace the Christmas spirit Saturday started off with yummy and warm pastries that the girls could enjoy at the boarding houses This was followed up with some much loved brunch where all the houses could come together and relax After our lovely brunch, the annual FoG Christmas fair began, and excitement was in the air! The girls greatly enjoyed their time browsing through the stalls with their families and tucking away into some delicious tuck. The most popular tuck was the candy floss machine! After all that excitement, Highlands house had a movie night in the common room, embracing the Christmas season, while in the art room the girls could write Christmas cards to all their friends here at Godstowe!

After our FoG Christmas fair fun, was the anticipated trip to Windsor! To begin our Windsor adventure, we all stopped off at creams where we all enjoyed a fabulous hot chocolate! All the houses then made our way into the Windsor wonderland fair, and although a little tricky, we all managed to get into our skates All of us had great fun on the ice! To finish off our day at Windsor, off we went to Browns and enjoyed a delightful and mouth watering 3 course meal where all the houses mixed and had fun spending time together It was lovely seeing all the Godstowe girls having fun at Windsor!

is just around the corner OH!

The Christmas spirit and cheer is in the air Turner, Walker and Highlands all enjoyed a busy but exciting weekend at Godstowe

MainSchool

This week started off with a Nutritionist from CH&Co visiting the school Amanda was warmly welcomed into assembly and spoke to the girls about their Carbon footprint and how to balance their meals

We've had lots of drama performances this week too 7L performed their drama sketches to their parents, Middles were practising their pantomimes and we welcome Transition and Kindergarten to the JK Theatre for their Nativity this week All of Main School really enjoyed this Nativity, with the Three Kings getting a special mention There were lots of laughs and even bigger applauses when it was all finished. Well done!

There were even some performances in Music too Mrs Martin and Mr Button have been hard at work teaching all of the girls this term. Form I were excited to show us what they were doing. With scarves, shakers, bean bags and even pool noodles and pop its, the girls were able to stay on beat with Dambuster's March Manners has been a theme in our assemblies this week, Mrs Humphries spoke to the Lower School in her assembly about saying thank you, and Miss Bailey had a message for Main School girls ahead of next week's festivities: Please have Good Grace, Good Manners and Gratitude!

Thursday brought the first Christmas treat with Hot Chocolate at break time. Lots of girls rushed out to make sure they benefitted from the first hot chocolates Today, Godstowe adopted a Reindeer and there is a competition for all the form rooms to come up with a name. Miss Bailey will choose the name on Monday so keep an eye on our Instagram to find out more We were also treated to a special surprise at lunch Sushi! There was an option for every girl, and every staff member, to sample the delicious sushi that Chef Richay had made for us We even saw some of the Office staff going back for second samples.

We also had our first round of ChristmasCrosse A festive game for all of Fourths to play...with some very interesting outfits. Next week our Uppers get their chance to show off their skills too

We are very much looking forward to the end of term, and can't wait for Santa Fun Run, Christmas Lunches, Lower School Christingle and Carol Service It's going to be a busy week!

The charity monitors have been hard at work sorting and boxing up all your generous gifts for local refugee children More gifts arrive every day!

Evie S is Head of Charities: “It’s so great that we ’ re running this charitable project at Godstowe for the third year running We are a boarding school and girls come from all over the world, so we know refugee kids are just like us in lots of ways We love giving them a little treat to open on Christmas morning.”

A big thank you must go to all of you parents We wouldn't be able to donate to the WRP if it weren't for your generosity.

My Christmas wish for the world Which is one of the hardest wish I have made It is to make anyone who has a disability reach for their goal To go wherever they want, whenever they want

My Christmas dream is for my friends and family To live as they go along I wish for all the presents I have To be given to the people who need it most

My Christmas wish for Godstowe Is to have the Christmas tree up Support Charities, Go to church And most importantly, having fun

My Christmas wish is for my mum Because she has a disability and I really want her to get well, Enough for her to come on trips, like skiing and especially walking

My christmas wish is that my dad gets enough sleep And does not overwork himself

My Christmas wish for myself is that I pass my exams And get into a really good h l

BEBRASComputingChallenge

A few weeks ago, all girls in Upper School took part in the BEBRAS Computing Challenge.

There were over 360,000 pupils who participated in the challenge this year and we have exceeded our previous record with 20 girls appearing in the top 10% of the UK, which is a huge accomplishment! These girls have now been invited to participate in the next round taking place in January which is another online round taken at Godstowe

Congratulations to all girls taking part. A further congratulations to Rhea S and Georgina B who were 'Best in School'

SportsSnippets

Turner, Director of Sport

On Saturday, we were thrilled to welcome Olivia Thomas, ex Godstowe girl and England lacrosse player, back to Godstowe to coach our U12 and U13 lacrosse squads Spending an hour with each age group, Olivia used her expertise and experience to develop our girls’ skills, ending with a Q&A session Our budding lacrosse players came away inspired and ready to work hard to reach their potential

On Monday afternoon, the Lowers girls took on King’s Wood School in a home fixture under the floodlights In a very close match the girls played some excellent football, showing the skills that they had developed during this term’s football club It was end to end action, with a number of opportunities for the Godstowe team. Unfortunately, the girls went into half time 1 0 down. Not to be dispirited, a strong opening to the second half saw Martha equalise. With all of the girls in the squad getting game time on the pitch, chances continued to come Some great saves from the visiting goalkeeper kept it all square, until just before the end when a breakaway goal gave the lead to King’s Wood Still Godstowe pressed forwards, however we were not able to find the net again, despite some excellent play. Credit to all players in the team, but despite a player of the match performance from captain Honor we succumbed to a 2 1 defeat. Thank you to the parents and staff who came to support the girls, in what we hope to become more regular fixtures

The senior girls were all smiles Wednesday afternoon as they boarded the bus to Lambrook to get a taste of Wednesday afternoon fixtures Having arrived the girls went towards their respective courts to get the matches underway Lambrook combine their Year 7 and Year 8 to make 1st 6th teams so our U12 teams faced some rather tall opposition.

The matches were incredibly competitive and our girls played brilliantly. Although we did not come away victorious the girls had mini victories within their matches

A fantastic start to the season, girls! Keep up the good work!!

We were delighted to host RMS on Monday to play our U11B D teams. The girls put on a magnificent display of netball and were victorious in all three games As always these girls represented the school beautifully Players of the match were Nesia, Sasha and Lottie. Well done girls for such great team spirit and match play

Rebecca