Miss Bailey's Spring Half Term Letter 2023

Dear Families, I always enjoy arriving at Half Term, with a chance to reflect on the happiness and successes of the past six weeks of the new term. It would be fair to say that the New Year has been good to us all so far and I’m delighted to see our community moving ever forward. I love my days and time at the school, and I have had the chance to welcome a wealth of visitors in 2023, many bringing years of experience with them and a chance to better understand the good work we do here at Godstowe, and the feedback has been outstanding. Whilst we must look inwards and host at home, so too, must we wave the flag for Godstowe and visit other schools and I have had the chance to visit a wide range of senior and local prep schools, seeking partnerships and a chance to diversify and enrich our school offering and reputation. These relationships help build a better future for Godstowe and inspire the road ahead.

Yesterday, I waved off the ski trip for girls in Middles to Fourths, who left for Mont Tremblant in Canada. What an excited and happy group of young skiers and what anticipation for the British Airways flight to Montreal! I hope they enjoy making lasting memories in this beautiful resort over the half term break. It has been very good to welcome so many of you to our first two Positive Parenting Workshops and thank you to those who came to welcome the very talented James Shone last month. I was delighted to welcome our Board of Governors to school on Wednesday, as we gathered for our ‘Look Ahead Day’. It was a chance to reflect, share expertise and plan ahead – all very inspiring. I am pleased to say, that I shall be launching a Godstowe Parent Survey before we break for the Easter holidays in March. We have commissioned the help of RS Academics who have worked with the school in the past and I look forward to releasing more information in the coming weeks. Thank you in advance for the support I know you will all give to completing this important piece of school feedback and research.

10th February 2023 It has been a flurry of activity since we returned in January.

I wanted to pick out some highlights to give you an insight into what has taken place recently.

Lodge and Nursery especially enjoyed our International Week with all classes looking at Chinese New Year, enjoying the different meals from around the world, and I loved taking the Lodge assembly that week where we celebrated Burns Night and Chinese New Year. With an environmental theme, the Upper Thirds presented their assembly to the younger children and Lodge have launched their new worm farm, which has been a real hit!

The pyjama mufti day and the new slide have also been greatly enjoyed by all.

Miss Bennett and Mrs Humphries have championed a new initiative called ‘Behaviour Building Blocks’ as a focus on Manners across Form I to Fourths. The aim is to build a community weekly focus on key areas, and it has made a real impact in recent weeks. I have noticed a marked improvement and collective effort and responsibility towards reaching the set goals.

The Lowers have been working hard behind the scenes towards their Production, 'Project Planet' which has an environmental theme. The production team are aiming not to buy any costumes but reuse what we have, borrow from friends and family, and only purchase from charity shops. I have seen some of the rehearsals and we are in for a real treat on 9th and 10th March in Main Schoolwatch this space!

Godstowe paused to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on 27th January. This included a multi-faith prayer being read out by Rebecca S, one of our Jewish students.

The Upper Third tutor groups each performed an assembly on the environment to either Lodge, Lower School or Upper School which were interactive, informative, and enjoyed by presenters and the audience alike. 'Godstowe's Got Talent' was launched for pupils and we look forward to watching their auditions after half term. This has created an excited buzz around the school!

The Fourths have their mock exams when they come back from half term, but then a Games Night with Caldicott to look forward to on Monday 27th February which will be a great opportunity to let off steam with our Year 8 friends with Headmaster, Mr Banks and his team.

As we know, we have enjoyed marked success across many areas of sport this term. This week, our Under 13 Netball Team attended the IAPS Qualifiers hosted at Cranleigh School. We are pleased to say that they ended up coming away as plate winners. On Saturday 21st January the IAPS National Cross Country Championships were held at Woodbridge School in Suffolk. Many of our families ventured out to join the girls, and some travelled five hours to join the event! This was the national final for all prep schools and 12 girls were chosen to represent Godstowe, making up two teams for the Under 13s and Under 11s. We are delighted to confirm that the Under 13s came 2nd and the Under 11s won the championship, making them the best prep school cross country team in the country. This is an amazing achievement! At the Buckinghamshire Cross Country Championships this week, Godstowe came 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the County Champs in our Year 5/6 team and we are awaiting the results of our Year 7/8 team. We also have 15 girls who have now been selected to represent Buckinghamshire in the National Championships in March.

Mrs Thompson was proud to take 8 girls from the Middle Thirds to Shrewsbury School this week who had entered the Shrewsbury Essay Competition. This year’s title was, ‘Poetry Contains Truth’ and had to be 500 words. Having familiarised themselves with the work of Sir Phillip Sydney, they had to construct an argument to support the title and create a reference list. We are pleased to say that all 8 received a commendation and we were invited to ‘Something special is happening…’, an Awards Ceremony at Shrewsbury, and for some tea and English workshops.

More exciting news to follow after half term, on an announced winner from Godstowe!

In the Art department we have been preparing 2 girls for their 13+ Art Scholarships. They have been working hard in their spare time on their excellent pieces for their portfolios. Rhea S has submitted her digital portfolio to Marlborough and has got through to the second phase which will be taking her actual portfolio to Marlborough College. We wish her luck with her Art Scholarship after half term.

We had 12 candidates try for the 11+ Godstowe Art Scholarship. It was wonderful to see the work that they brought in their portfolios and to see the artistic talent from them all during the art exam that they took part in.

We were very proud of all the girls that tried for the scholarship and results will be announced after half term.

Artwork of the Week has featured some beautifully finished pieces of work from all ages this term. It is lovely to hear the ‘gasps’ from the school when the pieces are displayed in assembly!

The Art Department and the Art Monitors have been working hard on the scenery for ‘Project Planet’ the production by the Lower Thirds in March and without giving anything away they have been surrounded by farm themed images and scarecrows!

The general trend within the prep school world sees the number of full boarders in decline and, conversely, flexiboarder numbers burgeoning. This is not so at Godstowe, where boarding continues to thrive. Approximately 100 girls board over the course of each week. Full boarders continue to come from a variety of cultural backgrounds, and it is lovely to see the girls integrate.

Our International Week (23rd - 29th January) culminated in an Asian Fusion Feast on Sunday followed by a presentation representing 11 acts from 7 countries. This was a prime example of the girls coming together, in mixed groups of different ages, to represent their cultural heritage. Some girls chose to work with their friends rather than girls from their own country, which was lovely to see.

Many new friendships have subsequently been formed and the vibe around the school is buzzing.

The boarders have also enjoyed bowling and shopping in Guildford - always a favourite - baking goodies, fun free swims, numerous sessions of their favourite Sports Hall games bonanzas, trips down to the Eden Centre to buy reading books, bubble tea, and to replenish tuck supplies, alongside an injury free trip to Rush!

Click here to watch this week's Boarders' Video 4th and 5th February 2023

This has been a busy and exciting time for our young musicians. 50 soloists have performed in 2 student recitals and more than 20 girls have performed in assembly.

Godstowe Symphony Orchestra spent an afternoon at Queen Anne’s School, rehearsing and performing together with their Orchestra. The scheme, which was the first of its kind for Godstowe, was a fantastic opportunity for our orchestral musicians to sit side-by-side with the QA students. The concert, which included music by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, was a great success and we look forward to returning next year!

Chamber Choir, which is made up of 50 girls from Uppers and Fourths, performed at Wembley Arena as part of a huge choir consisting of 5,000 school children. Our singers have been preparing 10 songs and dances since September. They performed on stage to a large audience (including 70 Godstowe parents), singing, dancing and even beatboxing! Guest artists included Heather Small, The Beatbox Collective, violinist Anna Phoebe and street dance specialists Urban Strides. It was certainly a night to remember!

After half term, all 70 girls from Middles will be taking part in the Heathfield Prep Choir Competition 2023. They will be performing ‘Consider Yourself’ from Oliver and ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen. A few weeks later, they will head to Liverpool for an exciting 4-day music tour, with performances at Chester Cathedral, Liverpool Cathedral and St Peter’s Church, Woolton. They will also be visiting the Beatles Museum, the British Pop Music Museum and The Titanic Museum. Their concert programme consists of 10 contrasting songs and our singers are excited to perform together in these venues.

After half term, 30 musicians will take their ABRSM music exams, ranging from grade 1 to grade 8, on a variety of instruments. The exams take place in Godstowe’s Recital Hall.

We are all really looking forward to our Spring Concert in the JK Theatre, where all our choirs and ensembles will perform together. It is always such a highlight in the musical calendar as it brings the whole school together as one.

This gives a small insight into our busy, happy, and successful school and I will mark the second half in my next letter when we break for the Easter holiday. I am so proud of all the team and this was spotted and commented on by our visiting ISI Inspection Team in January. Once the Regulatory Compliance Report for Godstowe has been officially published, we look forward to sharing this with you after the holidays. It was an excellent inspection week, and we welcomed a collaborative and highly experienced team to Godstowe. I would even go as far as saying we enjoyed the process from start to finish!

And now to the holidays! Enjoy your family time away and we look forward to hearing your news on our first day back on Monday 20th February. Have a wonderful week away, everyone.

All good wishes, Kate Bailey