Inside Heathfield issue 68

Issue Number 68 4 October 2017

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I can’t believe it’s already three weeks into the new term and yet the girls have truly embedded themselves into school life.

The Lower Sixth have risen to the challenge of their work and their Prefect roles with typical Heathfield panache. Each one had to present their action plan to the Head Girl Team, Mr Hart and myself and the requisite success criteria, objectives and aims are worthy of any company out there. The Third Form History groups took a poignant trip to Ypres where they laid a wreath and listened to the Last Post at sunset – a reminder in this centenary year of Passchendale of the sacrifices made for our lives today.

I have talked repeatedly of our ambitions for your daughters and it is great to read of the younger girls’ trip to The Marist to understand what is involved in making an Oxbridge application even in the Third or Fourth Form. In a school like Heathfield where we focus so much on where the girls’ individual talents and skills will take them we feel it is vital for the girls to understand all the possible opportunities available to them.

It is always lovely to catch up with our parents too on the side of the lacrosse pitch or at the New Parents’ lunch – an innovation this year and we hope to invite more of you to future school events as we know how important our parent partnerships are.

With very best wishes, Mrs Gardiner Legge, Headmistress

Form III History trip to Ypres The Form III trip to Ypres and the Battlefields which took place on 29 and 30 September took our study of the First World War out of the classroom and into the landscape in which it was fought. It began with a 6am start, a packed lunch and a channel crossing not that dissimilar to those who travelled this route a century ago.

Once in Belgium we visited Tyne Cot Commonwealth and Langemarck German Cemeteries; the multitude of headstones and inscriptions spoke of the destructive power of the war but the purpose of these places was to rescue these men from the anonymity of modern industrialised warfare and in a book of remembrance students searched out relatives whom they knew resided in these places. At Langemarck while standing before a concrete blockhouse our guide read the account of a British officer of an attack on the same blockhouse over a century before. As with so much here the location enabled the past and present to overlap.

We travelled to Ypres. Originally a mediaeval town, it had been largely obliterated by the First World War barrage but had been rebuilt a facsimile of the original. Yet the war was not totally erased; at the entrance to the town the monumental Menin Gate sat astride the road and carried the names of those lost in the battles of Ypres. Here every evening the poignant ceremony of the Last Post is performed and here Heathfield students laid a wreath along with others in memory of the fallen.

After a well-deserved night’s rest we sallied forth the next day to the Essex Farm Dressing Station famously associated with the surgeon-poet John McCrae. Here students stood in the buildings where wounds had been staunched and where McCrae’s friend had died inspiring his iconic poem of the war. Within the graveyard stood the headstones of a soldier of fifteen years and grouped stones commemorating those who had died together. We travelled on to where the first gas attack in History had taken place; again our guide provided a contemporary account of the battle seen through the letter of a widow of one of the casualties. The line of the battlefront was traced but the appearance of the landscape was now very different. Finally, we arrived at Poperinge and the Passchendaele Museum; as with so much here as if to rescue the landscape from the destruction of war, areas in Poperinge had been rebuilt as they once were. Only within the museum was the machinery of war laid out: its weapons and broken casings faded insignias and printed material. In the gardens a reconstruction of a trench system and a chance to traverse what for so many had been the

sort of place they lived in the days of the war.

As we travelled back to Heathfield late on Saturday the visit had lasted less than 48 hours but had covered a lot of ground. This part of the world evinced a curious tension between repairing the destruction of the War and remembering what it cost, an attempt by the present to come to terms with the effects of the past.

Dr Christopher Bradshaw, Subject Leader History & Politics

Google Talk at Eton College On Monday 25 September, the iGCSE ICT girls attended a talk at Eton College with Susan Zhang from Google. Susan, a Creative Technologist at Google UK, uses machine learning and ‘programmatic advertising’. A Computer Scientist, she describes herself as a Technopreneur and has founded a number of business start-ups in Australia.

Susan spoke about some of the technology behind the services offered by Google as well as talking about the organisation itself and the opportunities open to those that work at Google. The audience also had the opportunity to experience a live demo of the Virtual Reality goggles, Google Cardboard, which they were then allowed to take home.

The iGCSE ICT girls were joined by a number of Form V, LVI and UVI girls, all of whom found the talk enjoyable and the girls asked and answered plenty of questions. Susan’s energy and enthusiasm for Computing was infectious and she was very keen to encourage the subject, especially to the girls.

Mrs Rushi Millns, Head of ICT, Careers and Outreach

Baroness Susan Fielder talk at St Gabriels On Thursday 28 September, Fredi, Jasmine, Naima and I had the opportunity to attend the talk: “Where classics meets Neuroscience” by Oxford professor, Baroness Susan Greenfield.

The talk gave us insight into the importance of exercising our brain in order ‘to see meaning in the world’. Baroness Susan Greenfield is a writer, broadcaster and a member of the House of Lords, who has taken a keen interest in Classics, Neuroscience and Psychology.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and learned a lot about the effect of social media on the brain, Alzheimer’s and how ancient Greeks, such as Sophocles, already had a deep understanding of how the brain functions. I would like to thank Mr Sykes for taking us to this amazing talk.

Paige Hutcheon, LVI, Science Prefect

Oxbridge talk at the Marist On 19 September, Minty, Olivia, Maddison, Lila and myself had the pleasure of attending an interesting and enlightening talk held at The Marist School about life and at the two best universities in the world, Oxford and Cambridge. The talk helped us all understand and get an in-sight into what university is all about – and in particular at Oxbridge. The talk was given by Dr Joe Organ, Oxford University’s School and Publications Officer, who led us through the process from choosing A Levels to life in a university, answering all our questions along the way.

During the talk, he spoke about what Oxford and Cambridge University look for from applicants, and how we can both meet and exceed those expectations. Not only did he talk about the education side of university, but he also spoke about the social side, and what impact going to university can have on someone’s life. We all found his presentation very helpful and informative, not only did we learn about Oxford and Cambridge University, but we also learnt about Russel Group universities, and how we should always consider a wide range of universities, rather than sticking to a small group, and how there are different universities that are better at teaching certain subjects. Dr Organ showed genuine interest in all our future choices, giving us advice, and allowing us to ask him any questions we thought of after the talk.

Dr Organ also spoke about what comes before university – passion for our subjects. He explained to us how much hard work counts, how much GCSEs count and how much our passion for a subject counts. We all left the building glowing with confidence, ready to face the future of university.

Overall, we found the talk both extremely helpful and uplifting, and now that Dr Organ had answered all our questions and addressed all our worries, we returned to school ready to face our GCSEs with even more confidence.

Alia Kurdi, Form IV

A night at the Opera and Ballet On Wednesday 2 September we were excited to welcome Jay Francois-Campbell to Heathfield along with a huge suitcase! Once opened, the suitcase revealed deep red satin, sequins, gold embroidery and layers of stiff tulle netting - ballet costumes!

Jay Francois-Campbell is a theatrical tailor, with over twenty years of experience, who makes the costumes for The Royal Opera House. Jay works with the celebrity opera and ballet performers and came along to talk to the girls about her work and how she became a Master Tailor. The message from Jay was very positive and she encouraged the girls to touch all the costumes and samples. The girls were impressed to hear the long list of famous names she has dressed, such as Pavarotti, and the prestigious shows she had worked on, from The Lion King and Les MiserablĂŠs to the opera Artaxerxes and its magnificent coronation costume. Jay emphasised the importance of exercising resilience and a can-do attitude, especially useful when the opera prima donna declared that blue was not her colour and required a completely new costume two hours before the start of the show.

A big thank you to Jay Francois-Campbell for taking time out of her busy schedule to come and inspire our girls!

Mrs Rushi Millns, Head of ICT, Careers and Outreach

Form I enjoy exploring the New Forest National Park On Monday 25 September, the first school day after their first Exeat, Form I departed from Heathfield for their first ever curriculum trip!

The morning consisted of learning geographical fieldwork skills, such as drawing a field sketch and completing traffic and land use surveys, in Beaulieu. The girls were an obvious attraction to donkeys and ponies who came to help.

The day was made extra-special due to it being Bella’s birthday. Blowing bubbles and eating

chocolates added to the picnic fun in the forest.

The afternoon focused on Lyndhurst where a visit to the Verderer’s Court was a highlight.

Suzie, the Museum’s educational Officer, presented an informative talk on Land Uses and Conflicts in the New Forest National Park. Now the work in the classroom begins!

Mrs B Mason, Head of Humanities Faculty & Subject Leader - Geography

European Day of Languages 2017 On Tuesday 26 September, we celebrated the European Day of Languages. In Chapel, Father David highlighted the wide range of languages spoken across the globe and the importance of learning languages in order to increase our understanding of other cultures.

A prayer was read in French by Maria and one in Spanish by Maia. Elsa then sang beautifully the Oscar-nominated song from Frozen, Let It Go in 25 different languages! It was a lovely way to start the day’s celebrations. During lunch, the girls played a number of

quizzes and the winners were Angelina, Charlotte, Clare, Emma, Frederikke, Jasmine, Judith, Vasilisa and Victoria.

During the week, girls were invited to share opinions on the importance of learning a language. The girls wrote on a display board why they thought learning a language was important and what tips they would give to those who want to learn a language.

After school on Friday, Form I pupils had a chance to play piñatas until all the sweets fell out. Not everyone was lucky but the sweets were shared out and they all had a lot of fun.

Well done to everyone for joining in and let’s continue to encourage all our students to enjoy this amazing life skill.

Mrs Françoise Rayner, Subject Coordinator - Modern Foreign Languages

Peris, Pupils and Parents’ Evening This was a new venture for the music department to showcase the outstanding talent of our peripatetic music staff. As Mrs Colley said afterwards, it was great to hear the staff perform, not just because they played so well but because they were all so friendly and keen to help and encourage the girls.

Many of our girls played duets and ensembles with their teachers too, which was a delightful opportunity for all involved, from Miss Woodruff playing in a flute trio with Emma and Franny, to Miss Jubert on the sax and then the drums with Harriet on the piano and then Sophie. Father David also gave his piano duet debut with Miss Kong, improvising variations in between the Orchestra’s famous Paganini Theme.

It was a good opportunity for parents to talk to all our musical peris and girls were encouraged to sign up for trial lessons on new instruments. I am delighted to report that we have already had requests for drums, harp and guitar. A wonderful evening and an excellent result!

Mrs Julie Dance, Director of Music

Drama – An 'Oliver' update!

Mrs Halcrow and Mrs Dance have now seen all the girls who came to audition for 'Oliver'.

Firstly, we would like to thank you all, and additionally say huge congratulations to everyone who will be taking part! We are so excited to have such a hugely talented cast of almost 40 girls and we have already started rehearsals.

The programme competition is also well underway. We would love to receive as many entries as possible, so all budding artists should definitely submit a design. We look forward to seeing a bumper crop of entries!

Mrs Lucy Halcrow, Subject Leader of Drama and Theatre Studies

Sport Both the U15 and 1st Lacrosse Teams played in the Berkshire Schools' Tournament on Wednesday 27 September. The U15 team lost to both Queen Anne School and Downe House but had victories over St. George's and St. Bart's to finish third. Excellent performances by

Maddison and Georgia in goal as well as Scarlett and Amelia who was named as most valuable player. The 1st team beat St. George's and lost to Downe House and Queen Anne School before playing St. Bart's: having played three matches in a row, legs were a little tired and despite having all the play for the first three to four minutes, the team could not convert their chances and lost. Georgie was named most valuable player with other commendable performances from Captain Ella, Boots and Alex in goal.

The whole team worked hard and we are looking forward to the SW Schools' Tournament on Saturday 7 October at St. Swithun's.

The U12 netball team beat Luckley House and the U14 team have beaten St. George's. We wish the U14 team luck when they play in the SE Berkshire tournament on Tuesday 3 October.

Miss Wendy Reynolds, Director of Sport

Equestrian Emma and Ultravox did extremely well in both the dressage and cross-country sections at Stonar last weekend, but unfortunately they had a couple of poles down in the show jumping which unfortunately dropped them down in the placings on this occasion.

However, they both really enjoyed the day as you can tell from the photo.

Mrs Gill Glimmerveen, Equestrian Co-ordinator

Seacole weekend, 30 September & 1 October During this ‘Friends’ themed Seacole weekend, activities were titled with the Friends characters in mind so Rachel Green’s favourite hobby translated as a trip to The Lexicon for Forms I, II and III with the older year groups signing up to join in.

There was Monica Geller’s Chef course (large American cookie baking) for Forms IV and up, Phoebe Buffay’s jewellery making for Forms I and II and Joey Tribbiani’s acting classes became the Midsummer Night’s Dream rehearsal. Rachel’s 30th birthday present of a scooter inspired us to invite a mobile skate park to come to Heathfield and all of Forms I, II and III had lessons on skateboards and scooters, trying out the ramps and tricks that the instructors showed them.

However, the biggest success was the silent disco on Saturday evening (or Dick Clarke’s Rockin’ Eve in Friends). All year groups were invited and all the year groups joined in, singing along to their chosen playlist on their headphones for 2 hours! Form III even returned from their trip to Ypres with enough time to join in for the last half an hour.

The catering, as always, was exemplary throughout the weekend, with a New York themed menu. Dessert on Saturday evening (amongst other things), if you dared try it, consisted of Rachel’s attempt at an English trifle. However, when Rachel made it, the recipe pages were stuck together and beef, peas and onion were added! Turning the Lower Sixth common

room into Central Perk on Sunday evening meant that everyone was able to relax a little and listen to Daisy’s rendition of ‘Smelly Cat’, drink hot chocolate and watch a couple of episodes of Friends.

Miss Karen White - Head of House, Seacole

4 October - Sixth Form Open Evening 7/8 October - Exeat 14 October - Open Morning 20 - 30 October - Half Term 6 November - Internal Assessment Week 8 November – 11+ Assessment Day 11/12 November - Independent Schools Show, Battersea 15 November – 13+ Assessment Day 22 November – Scholarship Day 25 November – St Nicholas' Stalls 11 December – Parent's Christmas Drinks, London SW3 14 December – Christmas lunch 15 December – End of Term 8 January – Start of Lent Term

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