Inside Heathfield enews issue 21

Issue Number 21, w/c 21st April 2014 & w/c 28th April 2014 New Website and Video Launch Heathfield launched its brand new website on Tuesday 29th April 2014, boasting full tablet and phone compatibility as well as desktop PCs using all manner of browsers. The new site, built using WordPress tools, promises easy navigation no matter what device is used, and rapid access to the information that prospective girls and parents as well as current girls and parents need from us.

The brief was to make a site that is very clean and easy to read, compatible with and resizing to all modern device screens and with very straightforward navigation. A key feature of the home page is the wonderful new school video which was shot with the new site in mind. The rising importance of social media was also kept in mind, with links to all the key social groups including the Heathfield Fellowship of Old Girls group on LinkedIn. Key news & events and the allimportant school calendar are all easily viewable, and there is a parental portal directed at keeping parents fully up to date.

Since the launch both the website and video have been extremely well received.

Mr M Taylor, Director of IT & Miss S Lloyd, Marketing Manager

Lacrosse Tour to the USA The US lacrosse tour set out for an intensive 10 days on the East Coast. The tour started in the capital, Washington DC, and a night in Georgetown. After a morning of sightseeing which included Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and The White House where the President was giving a Press Conference and where we saw snipers on the roof tops, we made our way to Bullis School for our first match. After the girls had got over the initial 'shock' / excitement that they were playing in a stadium on 'Turf' we got down to business. A 5-6 defeat was certainly a respectable score line. We then moved on to our first set of hosts for the next 2 nights at St. James's Boarding School. After a morning spent in Arlington Cemetery, we headed back to St. James for our game, again on turf. The opposition proved to be too strong and we lost 4-11. Thursday saw us travel to Baltimore and having visited the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum, we arrived at Vincent Pallotti High School. The first half saw us down 6-7 but the team rallied in the second half to come out victorious 18-9.

After the game the parents put on a 'cook out' where the girls were able to mix together before going home with their hosts. Friday morning was spent at Baltimore's Inner Harbour before returning to Pallotti to pick up our hosts and go to support them in their afternoon fixture.

On Saturday we left Baltimore and travelled to Philadelphia, home of the infamous 'Philly Cheese Steak' and of course the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Friends Delaware School is much smaller than the others we had played and their lacrosse programme is developing and as a result we won the game 18-0. Sunday was a rest day and the opportunity for the girls to shop in The King of Prussia shopping mall, the second largest in the States! On Monday we travelled to Long Island and our last game of the tour against Friends Academy which was a tough game; at 3-9 down at half time the team really had to dig deep, eventually winning the second half 6-2 but we lost the game 9-11. After supper with our opposition we headed to the 'Big Apple' and our Manhattan hotel.

Tuesday was a special day: Daisy’s 16th birthday which we celebrated with a cake (thank you Mr and Mrs Horowitz) a moving trip to Ground Zero and a quick final shopping spree before heading to Newark airport and our trip home.

A huge thank you to Miss Kay and Miss Wells for accompanying me and making the trip such a success.

Ms W Reynolds, Director of Sport

Issue Number 21, w/c 21st April 2014 & w/c 28th April 2014 Junior Maths Challenge On Thursday 1st May ten students from Forms I and II were selected to take part in the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge. It is a national competition, held in hundreds of schools throughout the UK on the same day. The top 1200 students in the country will be selected to take part in the prestigious Junior Mathematical Olympiad competition and the top 40% of students will receive either a gold, silver or bronze award. The paper gives students a fantastic opportunity to think independently and use their creativity to answer interesting and unique questions that they wouldn’t normally encounter. The Mathematics department are thrilled to have 10 students taking part in this competition and are particularly impressed to see three students from Form I challenging themselves against older students throughout the country. We wish them all the best and look forward to finding out their results soon.

Mrs Z Benjamin, Subject Leader of Mathematics

Intermediate Maths Challenge We recently received the results from the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge and are incredibly proud that three of our students in Form V received an award for their performance. Christy received a Bronze Award, Lina received a Silver Award and Kate received a Gold Award. Kate’s score on this competition was high enough for her to qualify for a further round of the competition, the Pink Kangaroo. She once again performed excellently in this competition and narrowly missed out on being in the top 25% of students in the country who took this paper. The Mathematics department would like to pass on their congratulations to all of the girls who took part and also to those won awards for this competition. We are really proud!

Mrs Z Benjamin, Subject Leader of Mathematics

Rushall Farm Project Form I were asked to produce a report about their visit to Rushall Farm, adhering carefully to the guidelines. Several prizes were awarded with Amber receiving first prize, Boots receiving second prize and Mencia third prize. Additional prizes were awarded to Sophia who received the journalist prize, Ana a prize for the most original individual element after she annotated photographs depicting different aspects of the day, and Mercedes received a prize for her soil testing and recording. All of the girls received a selection of prizes plus merit marks. Congratulations!

Mrs B Mason, Head of Humanities Faculty

Barcelona Project Awards After Form III returned from their cross-curricular trip to Barcelona, which took place in the Lent Term, they completed a project which investigated tourism in Barcelona and the surrounding region. Five girls achieved over 90% and a prize for their impressive efforts.

Congratulations to Ella, Olivia, Emmy, Georgie and Agatha.

Mrs B Mason, Head of Humanities Faculty

Issue Number 21, w/c 21st April 2014 & w/c 28th April 2014 ‘Why and how Britain went to war in 1914, and why it wasn’t over by Christmas’ This was the title of a thought-provoking presentation given by Brigadier Allan Mallinson at Heathfield School on Tuesday 6th May. Allan Mallinson is one of Britain’s foremost military historians and defence commentators; he is also a former Heathfield parent. Having gained 35 years’ experience in the Army, he retired with the rank of brigadier in 2004 and has become a prolific writer. His latest book, 1914: Fight the Good Fight – Britain, the Army and the Coming of the First World War has been well received and was chosen by Simon Heffer in the New Statesman as one of his books of the year.

In his talk to the girls, staff and parents, Brigadier Mallinson firstly outlined the historical and political background prior to Britain stumbling into war in August 1914. Being a former serving Army officer, his descriptions of the preparations for war were both detailed and enlightening, enhancing our understanding of the tactical military operations. However, the recurring questions were: What if Britain had been better prepared? What if those in government had listened to the alternative strategies proposed by the young Winston Churchill? Could this conflict have had another course and outcome? In answering these, together with numerous perceptive questions posed by enthusiastic students, Allan Mallinson certainly gave us an invaluable insight into the historical, political and military background of the First World War, together with a detailed account of the opening weeks and the reasons why the war was not ‘over by Christmas’ as so many believed it would be. As Winston Churchill said, ‘No part of the Great War compares in interest with its opening’.

Mrs K Bramley, Librarian Talk by Professor Kate Jeffery On Tuesday 29th April, we were privileged to welcome as our guest speaker the eminent neuroscientist, Professor Kate Jeffery, from the Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences, University College London.

Professor Jeffery’s research centres upon how information is represented in the brain, and particularly the ways in which we are able to process spatial cognition, such as how we find our way around, know where we are and remember our experiences. During her talk, entitled ‘Unravelling the map in the brain’, Professor Jeffery vividly explained, for both scientists and non-scientists alike, how one area of the brain, namely the hippocampus, is particularly important in spatial memory and central to navigation. She described how neuroscientists and psychologists over the past century have discovered that animals, including humans, have an internal ‘map’ of space, located deep in the brain. She also told us that the hippocampus is one of the first regions of the brain to suffer damage in Alzheimer’s disease, leading to memory loss and disorientation. In contrast, individuals who rely on an excellent spatial memory, such as taxi drivers, have enlarged hippocampi. With further research and a greater understanding of the workings of this map in the brain, scientists are getting closer to understanding memory and we hope that the next step will lead to better treatments for those suffering from memory disorders.

Professor Jeffery’s talk was truly stimulating. The girls were enthralled by her presentation, prompting them to ask numerous perceptive questions and inspiring them to consider a scientific career in the future.

Mrs K Bramley, Librarian

Slap in the Face On Sunday 4th May, eight girls from Fourth Form were confirmed into the Roman Catholic Church by the Bishop of Northampton at Eton College. The Chapel was full not only with supporters but also with beautiful music from the Eton choir. In his sermon the Bishop reminded each of us that to truly witness to Christ is never easy, taking great strength and bravery. As a symbolic gesture of the need for fortitude he (gently) slapped each of the candidates on the cheek. I am pleased to report that none of our students took the opportunity of slapping Bishop Peter Doyle, aged 70, in return.

Fr T Tregunno, School Chaplain

Issue Number 21, w/c 21st April 2014 & w/c 28th April 2014 The Electric Run 24 Heathfield Form V girls and HPA Chair Mrs Cave took part in the Electric Run at Wembley Park on 26th April on behalf of Breast Cancer and Southampton Hospital. The Electric Run is the premier night time 5k experience where the participants are an integrated part of the show, which features immersive “Lands” of light and sound that transport the participant into an electric wonderland. Everyone entered fully into the spirit of the event, ensuring fluorescent paint, glow sticks and LEDs were used in abundance. Six of the Form V girls were invited up onto the stage with the DJ which made their night. The run was fantastic, a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all the girls involved. They raised an impressive £8,000 which was an incredible achievement and they should be very proud of their efforts. http://www.justgiving.com/HeathfieldSummerDay Mrs D Cave, HPA Chair

Spanish Trip to Andalucía Students from Forms III & IV visited Andalucía in Spain from 1 st to 5th May 2014. The objective of the trip was to speak and listen to Spanish which the girls took advantage of by video recording day to day conversations in Spanish. Another objective of the trip was to experience Spanish culture, visiting the beautiful Alhambra Palace in Granada and tasting Spanish cuisine, while also finding time to enjoy the beach!

Mrs Pullen, Mrs Marin and Miss Menon would like to express how happy they were with the girls’ behaviour on the trip and the enthusiasm they all showed practising the language.

Mrs A Pullen, Teacher of Spanish

Issue Number 21, w/c 21st April 2014 & w/c 28th April 2014 Ambassadors’ Dinner at the Lansdowne Club We were delighted to welcome the Heathfield Old Girls Ambassadors to dinner at the Lansdowne Club in Mayfair on Thursday 24th April. This was the first such dinner we have organised and it proved to be a roaring success. The evening started off with a brainstorming session which resulted in lots of new ideas being discussed and old ideas being reviewed. We look forward to taking some of the ideas forward in the coming months. After some lively conversations we went down to the ballroom where we were greeted by the sight of the beautiful long candle-lit table. Dinner was scrumptious, a real treat and it was lovely for everyone to catch up and reminisce about Heathfield. We could have all sat round chatting until the early hours, but commitments beckoned. Thank you to all of you who came and the support you are giving to the Fellowship and the school.

Mrs J Meeson, Teacher in Charge of HOA and Old Girls Co-ordinator

Austen Weekend, 26th April and 27th April 2014 It was another busy weekend for Austen when the majority of girls were involved in Tennis and Rounders trials in the morning while others completed their prep. After an early lunch Forms I, II and III went to London where they participated in the Ripley’s Experience in Piccadilly, witnessing extraordinary facts worthy of the slogan “Believe it or not”. Form IV were able to catch up with work or go to Windsor. Later that afternoon all of Form V took part in the 5k Electric run in support of Breast Cancer Care and Southampton Hospital in Wembley and they certainly deserve huge praise for their contribution to this great event. Then the whole school enjoyed a Chinese supper followed by watching Avatar in their common rooms.

On Sunday the Chapel Service was followed by games with the House Captains for the Juniors and an outing to Covent Garden for Form IV. The rest of the school sat down later for a hearty brunch. At 2pm Miss Reynolds hosted Netball matches with a visiting South African team and several of our girls played with their customary enthusiasm and competitive spirit. The afternoon flew by with cookery, crafts and textiles workshops for Forms I, II and III while Form V enjoyed a well deserved rest. After tea the juniors had free swim while the netball players went to the cinema to watch Divergent.

An enjoyable time was had by all.

Madame R Lankshear, Senior Head of House

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