Inside Heathfield issue 69

Issue Number 69 23 October 2017

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I simply cannot believe we are at half term already. It’s been as busy as always; I have been out and about speaking at Cottesmore and Hall Grove prep schools as well as at Tatler Live in London on the subject of ‘Boarding versus Day’. In November I head to the International Schools’ Show where I will be sharing views on Single Sex versus Co-educational schooling which I am greatly looking forward to.

As usual, in school we have been stretching and challenging your daughters on all fronts.

Our focus on attracting the best speakers continues with Dame Martina Milburn from the Prince’s Trust sharing her life and vision with us. Our A Level students have been delighting in stage visits to ‘Jane Eyre’ and 'Euripides' as well as our own production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ which Forms II and III played out in an outstanding performance at South Hill Park Arts Centre for Shakespeare in Schools. It was in turn hilarious and moving. Your daughters have wonderful senses of humour! It was a terrific evening and really well supported by parents. The girls are also terrific ambassadors for the school as our Open Morning proved. We had double the number of visitors from even last year and Daisy, our Head Girl, gave an extraordinary speech as she shared with our visitors what Heathfield has done for her.

Interest in Heathfield is growing - we have already had to close one of our assessment days and the other is filling up fast. A terrific team effort from your daughters and all of you who are clearly spreading the word that the kind of education your daughters receive here enriches their lives. Thank you all so much and I wish you a very restful and happy half term with your daughters.

With very best wishes, Mrs Gardiner Legge, Headmistress

Form III Forensic Investigation On Tuesday lunchtime Miss Jackson was poisoned in the dining room. It was quite dramatic as she had a big row with another member of staff beforehand.

Form III then had to investigate her murder doing a range of experiments. We all took part in all of the experiments - some were more exciting than others! At first we were a bit hesitant about what to do on some of them just in case one of us got things wrong. During the blood tests, we cringed at the thought that we could possibly be using real blood, even though the teachers kept reasurring us that it wasn't!

When it came to finding the murderer, it became absolutely clear as to who had done it as almost all of our findings led to just one person, Miss Livanis. By being organised, working fast yet effectively and working together in our free time we managed to add extra elements into our presentation like the slide of the photo of the different suspects. We were very proud of our presentation and all the notes we had collected.

Auriel Goschen, Form III

Athena Society The Athena Society has had a very successful term so far and has welcomed new members Hum (Form V) and Alia (Form IV). On Wednesday 11 October, the Athena Society once again collaborated with Eton’s Feminist Society, hosting an event at the Marten Library, Eton. Alia gave a thought-provoking speech to the very large audience. She detailed her experiences with Islamophobia and discussed the question of feminism’s place within Islam as a religion. Kerry from Eton then gave the crowd an interesting insight on an Etonian’s view on feminism and abortion.

It was an extremely successful event with over ninety-three boys signing up to attend. Next half term, the Athena society will be hosting a follow-up event at Heathfield to discuss the topics further. We are hoping to host a collection of whole school events in the upcoming months, which we reveal in November.

Gabi de Ferrer (LVI) Chairman of Athena Society

Sixth Form Theatre trip On Tuesday 10 October Mrs. Fowler-Whale and Miss Jackson took Lower and Upper Sixth English Literature students to see Jane Eyre at the National Theatre to support their exam texts. The play was superb and the girls loved the intensity of acting and music coupled with the simple staging.

Although disappointed that some key plot points were missed, such as Jane becoming Rochester’s financial equal, we all understood that for creative and practical reasons the

novel had to be shortened, especially as the play already ran for over three hours. Overall, the girls were delighted with the skill and creativity of the performance which gave them plenty to discuss in their English lessons.

Mrs Charlotte Fowler-Whale, Teacher of English & Highly Able/Scholarship Coordinator

Windsor Festival Schools' Programme Congratulations to all our pupils who entered in the 2017 competition. There were over 350 entries from all the senior schools in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Heathfield's results are:

Art: Sculpture: Alex LVI: Cigarette Skull, Highly Commended Art: Textiles: Ellie LVI: Flat Textiles Tryptych, Commended Art: Textiles: Beatrice LVI: Flat Textiles Piece, Commended Art: Textiles: Sophia Form V: Denim Outfit, 2nd place Photography: Lisa UVI: Tribe, 1st place Photography: Isobel UVI: Camouflage #1, 3rd place A fantastic achievement, well done!

Form II Tutor Tea Form II celebrated the end of a successful and busy half term by enjoying a Tutor Tea together. It is very difficult to arrange a time when the girls are all free as they are so busy after school with their individual activities and Oliver! rehearsals. It was wonderful to find a time, albeit briefly, to sit down all together with Su, Ms Kendall and Mrs Worrall.

Form I also enjoyed their own Tutor Tea together, with both boarders and day girls. Games and activities hosted by Ms Battleday and Miss Johnson followed.

Mrs Lesley Worrall, Form II Tutor and Head of Lower School

Bronze Assessed Expedition 14-15 October After a successful Open Morning, seven Form IV and three Form V girls embarked on their Final Assessed Expedition for Bronze Duke of Edinburgh. They had forgotten how cumbersome it is to walk with a rucksack, but an unseasonably warm afternoon made for an enjoyable trek along the river towards Marlow.

Arriving at the campsite just before the sun set, the girls worked quickly to get the tent set up and to start preparing and cooking supper. To finish the meal, marshmallows were melted on the open fire as the warmth of the day started to wane.

Dawn broke to a misty fog hanging over the campsite but the tents were packed away and the girls were keen to get going on their second day. The girls managed the day well, apart from the odd wrong turn, finishing with a gentle stroll up the valley to Skirmett, yet another beautiful village in the Chilterns.

The Assessor from Inspired Expeditions, Charlie Metcalfe, was pleased to congratulate all the girls on passing their assessed expedition. Well done!

Sport Much has happened on the Sports front since the last newsletter. The U12 team drew their first Lacrosse match against St. Bart’s, the 1st Netball team have beaten St. Mary’s senior team and the swimmers have smashed long standing records in the pool!

The 1st lacrosse team spent exeat playing in the South West Schools’ tournament at St. Swithun’s. After a tough round of morning matches the team were placed in Division 1 for the afternoon games. After losing their first match to Westonbirt they went on to beat Malvern St. James 5 – 1 and Cheltenham Ladies’ College 3 – 1, this meant they were in the semi-finals where they played Peter Symonds College. An extremely closely fought, highly competitive and exciting match saw the teams tied at the end of full time 3 – 3. This meant the game went into extra ‘golden goal’ time whereby the teams keep playing until someone scores. Unfortunately, having had a couple of chances themselves, Peter Symonds College broke away after 8 minutes to score the winning goal. Despite losing, I am extremely proud of the progress the girls have made over such a short period and would like to thank all the parents for their support – it really does make the world of difference and it is very much appreciated. The 2nd team are also to be congratulated on their 9 – 9 draw with Wellington’s 1st team, especially after making a slow start going down 1 – 4 in the first 10 minutes!

In the pool, the swimmers competed against The Marist, Hawley Place and St. George’s. The U14 team narrowly lost out on first place by one point but huge congratulations to Ksenia who broke the Individual medley record that has stood since 2014. The highlight so far in the pool this term must be the performance of the Senior team who finished in 1st place: Aisha, Amelia, Emma, Floria, Hum and Impi broke three School records which have stood since 2007.

Well done to all those girls who have taken part and worked so hard.

Miss Wendy Reynolds, Director of Sport

Equestrian On Friday 6 October, Heathfield pupils were invited to Ascot Racecourse by the charity Racing to School.

Racing to School's Education Programme engages young people at racing-related venues.

Each girl was given a workbook that focused on numeracy, literacy and problem solving and contained a range of resources that supported the delivery of interactive and outdoor learning.

During the day, girls were toured around all aspects of the racecourse from the weighing room to the fences, parade ring and the finish line. The day was a huge success.

Mrs Gill Glimmerveen, Equestrian Co-ordinator

Restart a Heart Day 2017 Every year in the UK 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting.

Currently only 10% of these people survive. In Norway where CPR is taught to all pupils at school the survival rate is 25%. With this in mind the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have launched an initiative to ‘Build a nation of Lifesavers’. Part of this initiative is ‘Restart a

Heart Day’, an event where schools all across the UK train as many pupils as possible in how to perform CPR. On Sunday 15 October, armed with the training materials kindly provided by the BHF, I set up 10 manikins in the assembly hall and set about teaching CPR to girls across all year groups. The event was very well attended and the girls approached it with their usual enthusiasm and gusto (there may have also been the odd snapchat or two with the dummies!). I am very pleased to say that as a result of this event we now have 73 girls in our school who are trained in CPR. The girls will receive a certificate for their efforts. I have submitted this number to the BHF and it will be added to their total for the whole country.

Sr Emma Warrington, Nursing sister

October open events Heathfield held their first Sixth Form open evening on 4 October. In addition to external families, Form IV and V pupils and parents were also invited. Everyone who attended found the event to be informative and useful and resulted in 50% of the external attendees registering for the Lower VI in 2018.

In addition, we held our termly open morning on Saturday 14 October and we opened our doors to a record number of families – 64 in total. Families really enjoyed their tours around the school guided by our wonderful pupils. Without exception, every family remarked on their fantastic tour guide stating how warm, confident and eloquent they were and how much they were all enjoying life at Heathfield.

There was a fantastic buzz around the school and there was standing room only at the talks in the theatre once the tours had finished. Mrs Gardiner Legge spoke to a packed audience but there is no doubt that the Form I girls and in particular Head Girl Daisy stole the show.

A very big thank you and well done to all the girls involved, both tour guides and speakers.

Anna Morgan, Director of Marketing & Admissions

Tatler Live Mrs Gardiner Legge was invited by Tatler to speak at their third Tatler Live event held in London on Monday 9 October. The purpose of the day was to provide parents with clear, helpful advice about the numerous schooling options available to them. Other Heads who spoke included Simon Henderson from Eton, Lucy Elphinstone from Francis Holland School and Dr Richard Maloney from Uppingham, to name but a few. Marina spoke for 15 minutes about the virtues of the boarding option and later spoke at length to different parents and the other Heads during the breaks. A fantastic opportunity to promote Heathfield.

Anna Morgan, Director of Marketing & Admissions Photo: Tatler / Lara Arnott Photography

The Twilight Walk for The Brain Tumour Charity On Sunday 15 October, Harriet Hooper (Form V) completed a 10k charity walk in Windsor for a charity called The Brain Tumour Charity and Harriet would really appreciate your support.

Two years ago, the mother of one of her close friends was diagnosed with a brain tumour and proceeded to endure cranial surgery to have it removed. Fortunately, the tumour was benign and in a relatively accessible place, so her recovery from this invasive procedure has been good.

Other people are not so lucky and it is the biggest cancer killer of adults and children under 40. This area of cancer research only receives 1% of government funding.

Please support Harriet and this great cause. If you would like to donate, please visit www.justgiving.com https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rowlins? utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fundraisingpage&utm_content=Rowlins&utm_cam paign=pfp-share

Prep School 180th Birthday celebration Miss Feilen was invited to attend Prep school Windlesham House's art exhibition, put on as part of their 180th birthday celebrations. Miss Feilen said: "The range of work was terrific and there are clearly some talented individuals at Windlesham House School. The exhibition was extremely busy and I was delighted to meet with both staff and parents."

Mrs Eve Feilen, Subject Leader - Art & Design

New App for Heathfield We are pleased to have successfully launched the new School Gateway app to parents recently, providing them with details of their daughter’s timetable, achievement, behaviour and attendance as well as recent school reports, calendar and term dates and school news.

We are even able to send in-app announcements and invite parents to complete surveys. The app is available for Android and iOS platforms.

The take-up has been impressive with over 70 parents already activated after only a few days. This is a key initiative in our continuous improvement of communications with parents.

Mr Martin Taylor, Director of IT

Visit us at the Independent Schools' Show in November Heathfield School will once again be exhibiting at the Independent Schools' Show in Battersea Park on the weekend of 11 and 12 November.

You will find us at stand 501 (same as last year) and Mrs Gardiner Legge will be talking in the Saturday Forum at 3pm.

Please visit the Independent Schools' Show website: http://schoolsshow.com/ for full details about how to get there, tickets and parking.

Anna Morgan, Director of Marketing & Admissions

Somerville Weekend – 14 & 15 October Saturday began with a very successful Open Morning. After lunch, wheelchair basketball was on the agenda for all of Forms I, II and III. Gordon Perry, a former national coach, was on hand to teach the fundamentals to all the students and some members of staff. Everyone quickly learnt to steer the special chairs with greater or lesser mastery and within an hour they were able to play a competitive game. It was a new, educational and fun experience for everyone.

Form IV departed for their Duke of Edinburgh expedition in fine spirits and much encouraged by a positive weather forecast.

After the wheel chair basketball, the younger forms began preparing for their socials. Forms I and II were hosted by local prep school Papplewick who put on a great evening with their usual charm and grace. The girls really enjoyed themselves. At Heathfield, Form III hosted a social for boys from Harrow. Following dinner together, the boys and girls headed to the SMaT for two hours of dancing and making friends.

The Sixth Form enjoyed a special supper in the Lower Sixth common room where they were joined by Mrs Gardiner Legge and the Director of Boarding, John Gale.

On Sunday morning, the older forms enjoyed a lie in until 10:30am. After brunch, Harry Potter, disguised as Mr Benjamin, arrived on the lacrosse field to teach Quidditch. Forms I, II and III quickly learnt how to play and in a short time Muggle Quidditch was alive at Heathfield. The usual chasers, snitchers and quaffles were soon running around the field with broomsticks replaced by lax sticks held between the players' legs. The weather was unseasonably warm and sunny and this helped to make the Quidditch a great success.

After tea, Sister Emma ran classes teaching the students CPR in the assembly hall which was extremely well attended. An incredible 57 students trained in this worthwhile life skill.

Mr John Doyle, Head of House - Somerville

20 - 30 October - Half Term 6 November - Internal Assessment Week 8 November – 11+ Assessment Day 11/12 November - Independent Schools Show, Battersea 12 November - Bonfire Night 6.30pm start 15 November – 13+ Assessment Day 22 November – Scholarship Day 25 November – St Nicholas' Stalls 11 December – Parent's Christmas Drinks, London SW3, 7pm 14 December – Christmas lunch 15 December – End of Term 8 January – Start of Lent Term

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