Godstowe News: Summer Term 5/5

Today has been a triumph at Godstowe – full of colour, history, events, picnics, brief rain showers and the feel good factor!

This weekend looks set to be an event we shall all remember, and I am glad that we have celebrated in style today and gained a greater understanding of what lies ahead tomorrow for the Coronation of King Charles III Both Lodge and Main School girls were treated to lively and informative assemblies about the ceremony and symbolism of the Coronation and Mr Emm and Mrs Martin educated the Main School girls on the history and Music of the event. In true Godstowe style, we were out on the field for a British Picnic, beautifully assembled by Chef Adrian and his team with pork pies, delicious sandwiches, sausage rolls, salmon bagels, prawn filos and fresh ice creams. We dodged the rain beautifully and it was good to see all the school out enjoying the relaxed and fun atmosphere I have to say, our girls and boys are so appreciative when we go the extra mile and thank you to the school team who have carefully planned all events and decorated the site and building with bunting and flags.

Have a super long weekend and enjoy the history as it unfolds tomorrow morning. I shall be thinking of you all See you next week

A letter from the Headmistress

Middles IAPS Netball National Finalists with King Charles

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

Lodge has had a very busy Coronation themed week! We have been very excited to see all the red, white and blue bunting and other decorations going up around Lodge, and especially to see King Charles himself appear on Friday morning! It was lovely to see all the children dressed in their red, white and blue Mufti outfits. Thank you for the donations towards the Stokenchurch Dog Rescue - it’s not often we have a dog visiting our assembly, as we did on Wednesday!

Lodge learnt a great deal about King Charles at their assembly on Friday morning, and the children now know what to look out for when watching the Coronation. For lunch today, we set up Lodge Hall to look like a street party, and thank you to Chef Adrian for all the delicious dishes which we enjoyed.

Over the week, each year group has been celebrating the Coronation in different ways In Nursery the children have been busy preparing for a royal tea party, baking scones, making crowns and writing invitations There have been lots of royal themed arts and crafts and we have even been weighing and comparing different jewels!

In Beginners, the children designed golden handprint crowns and decorated them beautifully. They also used their collaborative skills by creating a group collage picture which you can find on display in the Beginners building

In Kindergarten, each child created a Coronation Wreath, containing a decorated picture of The King and then went on to design a suitably grand Coronation Robe, using a combination of paints and crayons

In Transition, the children have had fun making bunting to decorate the classrooms. They made crowns to wear at lunch time, and also enjoyed creating some large scale stamp collages, using the profile of King Charles

We hope you all enjoy this historic occasion over the weekend, and we look forward to seeing the children back on Tuesday, with a trip for Kindergarten, and one for Beginners on Wednesday

OurCoronationCelebration

Girls in Main School were treated to a fantastic assembly by Mr Emm. He spoke about what will happen during the Coronation service tomorrow and how King Charles III will be annointed

All throughout the school there have been lots of Coronation themed activities Rocks have been painted in Craft Club, Lowers have solved Royal themed puzzles, Form I have been writing "Facts Fit for a King" and making "Coronation Collages" Lots of artwork has been created and our own stamps are hanging in Reception

At lunch there was an amazing picnic lunch organised by Mrs

"In our patriotic clothing, we all made our way to the Recital Hall for a special assembly. It was like a sea of never ending colour Mr Emm was so engaging that it felt as though the whole school was in a history lesson As we sang ‘I Vow to Thee My Country’ and ‘The National Anthem’, our voices echoed through the Recital Hall. The hairs on my arms stood on end

Lunch time started with the whole of the main school making their way to the field. We gathered under gazebos in our house teams Under each gazebo were tables with towering mountains of cupcakes, goujons, quiches and more There was a buzz of excitement in the air and even the occasional rain shower didn’t dampen our spirits. We had a lot of fun doing the multi-year conga together It was an array of colour I had a feeling of happiness deep within me Godstowe is like home " written by LIIID

Boarders'Corner

Summer’s Special

Few seasoned borders will dispute that the summer term is by far in a way the best in the school year. The temperature rises, the days are longer and more importantly, the tennis nets are up!

After supper, the girls take to the school grounds. Gone is the need to make one ’ s entertainment in the Sports Hall; the girls can now spend their time in the woods, playing rounders and tennis, or simply lying on beanbags chatting with friends

Boarders also enjoy the opportunity of inviting their day girl friends over for a sleepover on a Friday or Saturday night, another way of trying to mirror the home environment. With teeth brushed and pyjamas on, the girls spend the majority of the evening outside, coming in only when it is time to head off to bed

This term also sees some of the best trips take place The highlight for most is the annual trip to Brighton, which sees the girls eating copious amounts of seafood from the various beachside vendors. They also have the opportunity to go for a dip in the azure waters of the English Channel, as well as spending the afternoon on the pier enjoying unlimited fairground rides, finally doing battle with the seagulls as they enjoy a fish and chip supper out in the open.

With so much to look forward to, why not come and join us?

Key Dates for next week

8th May

EXEAT - Bank Holiday

9th May

8 40am FoG AGM, Sports Hall Gallery

Kindergarten trip to the Botanic Gardens, Oxford IV French and Spanish speaking exams (all week)

IV French listening exams (all week)

10th May

Beginners trip to Mop End National Gallery Art workshop for Transition

4 30pm U13 Tennis vs Wycombe Abbey (away)

4.30pm U12 Athletics

Invitational at Wycombe Abbey (away)

11th May

4 30pm U8 and U9 combined Cricket vs RMS (away)

12th May

6.30pm - Art and Design Exhibition, JK Theatre

13th May

7 30pm - Fashion Show, JK Theatre Open Morning 12 15pm Fashion Show

SmartwatchesatGodstowe

At Godstowe, any watch that connect to the internet is not permitted in school and the same applies to watches that display photos.

We have included a helpful guide from National Online Safety on the next page.

IAPS Swimming

On 10th March 16 girls from Lowers to Fourths took part in the swimming IAPS qualifying. With all results sent out, revised and confirmed it is a real pleasure to have all 16 swimmers qualify in at least one event or more. Well done to : Anna C, Honor D, Olivia D, Lucy B, Theodora BS, Lottie D, Juliette M, Katie M, Ella T, Eleanor H, Amy Costa -DS, Bella Ol, Ava P, Annabelle W, Poppy S, and Isla H

We look forward to the finals being held at the London Aquatic Centre on June 3rd 2023

FII Athletics Festival

On Tuesday, all 53 girls in Form II travelled to Maltman’s Green School, who kindly hosted us for an afternoon of athletics All of the girls thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to take part in high jump, long jump, speed bounce, javelin and a sprint race with their friends from Godstowe and the girls from Maltman’s Green

MIII Cricket

The sun was shining brightly on Godstowe on Wednesday afternoon when two teams of MIII’s cricketers welcomed Upton House. All four teams played a competitive game of pairs cricket and displayed some impressive batting and bowling skills that meant the fielders were kept busy as well as enjoying the sunshine.

StokenchurchDogRescueMuftiDay

On Wednesday, Godstowe welcomed Old Godstowian Macy R back to school to tell us about Stokenchurch Dog Rescue Macy led a fantastic assembly for both Main School and Lodge and spoke to the children about her love of animals and how best to approach a dog.

Today all children arrived at school in red, white or blue to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III We were asking for donations to the Dog rescue and are pleased to announce that we have raised almost £1000 Thank you to everyone who has donated. If you would still like to donate, please do so via the link below.

Godstowe raises money for Stokenchurch Dog Rescue