Inside Heathfield enews issue 29

Issue Number 29 w/c 10th November 2014 - w/c 17th November 2014 St Nicholas’s Stalls On Saturday 22 November Heathfield’s annual St Nicholas’s Stalls took place.

Following Heathfield tradition, Mrs Heywood opened the doors together with the youngest girl in the school, Sophie (Form I), to the excitement of the Heathfield girls, their families, staff and Old Girls. Austen’s choir welcomed everyone with festive cheer whilst De Valois welcomed visitors of all ages into their Santa’s Grotto. 28 independent stall holders attracted buyers with their array of goods and the HPA offered a selection of sandwiches and soup with a glass of champagne. The Sports Hall was a hive of activity as the four Houses worked tremendously hard to raise money for their chosen charities. Austen was supporting the Dyspraxia Foundation and Aspire, De Valois was fundraising for Hadassah UK, Seacole had chosen Christina Nobel Children’s Foundation and Somerville selected UK AIDS trust.

Money raised on the day will also be donated to the school charity, The Honeypot Charity, along with Flip’s Fund and St Saviour’s Priory. In the Sports Hall there were stalls of donated goods, bottle and sweet tombolas, raffles, silent auctions, bauble bobbing, a lucky dip, face painting and much more. As ever the event was a huge success, wonderfully supported by our evergenerous parents. We are proud to have raise around £15,000 – a staggering total and a great testimony to the hard work of girls and staff.

Mrs S Frost, Marketing Manager

Issue Number 29 w/c 10th November 2014 - w/c 17th November 2014 The Year of Reading; December 2014 The English department is launching a series of initiatives to extend and enhance “The Year of Reading.” Every girl in the school now has the opportunity to participate in a period of silent reading at the end of every working day. We meet in the Library and either Mr Grey or another member of the teaching staff supervises the group. The more we embed a culture of reading within Heathfield, the more successful every girl will be. At present, each session is arranged informally, but from the beginning of next term the girls have the opportunity to earn merits for themselves, and their Houses, by committing themselves to attending twice a week as part of the after-school activities programme.

In addition, Book Clubs will be running every fortnight for all pupils; the dates are in the school calendar and these groups will provide an exhilarating platform for discussion and debate, facilitating the growth of each girl’s imagination.

All pupils from First to Third Form have been given a Reading Log and we look forward to using these records as a way of celebrating progress and achievement next term. Reading lists are available on the intranet and we would be most grateful for parental support with all of these projects. Ultimately, the girls “are what they read.” A love of books is sure to be the beginning of boundless possibilities.

Mr A Grey, Subject Leader: English

The Women’s Education Partnership Volunteers On 21 November 2014, 9 girls from the Sixth Form went to the Athenaeum club in London to help with the reception of the Women’s Education Partnership. We all arrived at the club, suitably awed by our surroundings and were shown around the club, to the smoking room where we would later be guiding the guests to meet the directors of the charity Mr Hullah and Mrs Bristow. Mrs Bristow, one of our school’s governors, spoke to us about the aims of the charity and how they were working hard to educate women in the Sudan and South Sudan. When the guests began to arrive we guided them to the smoking room, giving them the choice of the lift or the three flights of stairs (most of them chose the lift, much to our relief). After imparting all we knew about the charity, we stood outside the room, armed with pamphlets about the charity to give to the guests as they left. It was a very beneficial and enjoyable experience and we hope that it was also very beneficial for the charity. Governor Penny Bristow also came to Heathfield to give an assembly to the girls about the work of The Women’s Education Partnership. This allowed all the girls to hear about the fantastic charity and all their wonderful work. http://www.womenseducationpartnership.org/ Mr J Hart, Director of Sixth Form

Issue Number 29 w/c 10th November 2014 - w/c 17th November 2014 Ninety Nine Words writing competition Winning Entry by Sophie (Form V Student) We speak with a copied tongue.

We move with a borrowed energy.

We seek sparingly, a stone flung from the mighty hand of Them, or Him, or It, barely skimming the ocean surface.

The time must come when we will sink, inevitably. Fading, quite neatly, into comfortable oblivion. Cushioning ourselves in soft, tender ignorance.

Such is the mundane sentence.

I may flicker, but before I will burn.

I may fade, but before I will flare.

I will climb out of the habit that the world has become and gaze with the wonder I had when I knew nothing.

Join me.

Heathfield girls flourish through reading boldly, widely and ambitiously. The winner of our Ninety Nine Words writing competition is a glowing example. Sophie (Form V) loves words. She explores authors who present a subtle, vivid and complex view of the world through the most sensitive, nuanced language. Challenged to compose a piece with a strict word limit, imagining that this statement was “All You have Breath For,” Sophie’s outstanding contribution has inspired us all, students and teachers alike.

Mr A Grey, Subject Leader: English

We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place Armistice Day is unique in Heathfield life as it is the only time in the academic year when the school gathers twice in the same day in Chapel. Mr Valner led the 8.30am service which gave an excellent context to the 100 th Anniversary of the start of the First World War, the significance of poppies, the power of silence and the hope that WW1 would be the war to end all wars. At the 10.45am service there was a reflection on the 1965 smash hit We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place by the Animals. It was the most requested song by soldiers in the Vietnam War and has seen an increase in record sales in every war and conflict since then. Thus we remembered those men and women who were so afraid and desperate to get out of that place. Those who managed to get out but were irreparably damaged and those who never got out of that place, making the ultimate sacrifice. We will remember them.

Fr Tim Tregunno, School Chaplain

Seacole Weekend, 15th and 16th November 2014 On Saturday after some energetic matches at Guildford High School there was a series of workshops which Houses attended to prepare for St Nicholas’s Stalls. While one House made posters for the day, another made lavender bags, another made fudge and finally one group made body scrub to sell on the day. Everybody worked very hard to make, package and decorate their goods as part of their effort to support their chosen House charity. Some groups were still busy at 8pm and finished just in time to settle down and have some well-deserved down time.

On Sunday, everybody appreciated a slightly later start and brunch before Form III upwards headed for the South Bank in London where they visited the famous Tate Modern gallery and in particular the Tuttle Exhibition. For many the highlight was an opportunity to take in the London skyline and have a wander around the newly opened Winter Festival, before the return to school. Form I and II had a swim in the pool before a picnic lunch with their housemistresses and a trip to the cinema to see Nativity III or Maze Runner.

Mrs J Kemp, Head of House – Seacole and Teacher of Science

Issue Number 29 w/c 10th November 2014 - w/c 17th November 2014 A Level Photography Trip On Tuesday 18 November, the Upper Sixth Photography students went on a trip to London to visit two exhibitions.

The first exhibition we went to see was the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. This was a small exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery displaying amazing and diverse portraits by various photographers all competing to win the competition. We each chose images from here which linked with our personal topics and would inspire further progression in our coursework.

The second exhibition was the Horst: Photographer of Style Exhibition at the V&A Museum. We were all very excited as we had heard so many great reviews. It certainly lived up to our expectations! We were taken on a journey through his photographic career in fashion. However, we especially enjoyed seeing the huge, colourful Vogue magazine covers that Horst had taken photographs for.

After a long afternoon visiting exhibitions, we settled for an Italian supper together before we headed back to school. Overall, it was a very enjoyable trip and we’d like to thank Miss White for taking us.

Alice, UVI Form Student

AS Photography Trip On Wednesday 12 November we went on photography trip to London to visit the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the Natural History Museum where we were able to gather primary research to strengthen our knowledge of basic camera controls.

We found photographs with a slow and fast shutter speed, small and large depth of field as well as a panning shot to be included with our own images depicting these controls. We were then able to buy postcards of our favourite images in the gift shop. Next we arrived at the V&A where we were able to see the Disobedient Objects Exhibition which showed the ‘powerful role of objects in movements for social change’ where we found pieces that related to our personal topics. We were also lucky enough to visit the Horst: Photographer of Style Exhibition, again sourcing work relating to our personal topics and giving us all inspiration with our own work, whether it was from his most famously known colourful fashion shoots in Vogue, the glamorous black and white photographs of the 1930’s or his more cultural shots. After visiting the three exhibitions we were all in much need of a well-deserved Italian dinner. The trip was a great success and much enjoyed by everyone.

Daisy, LVI Form Student and Head Girl

Issue Number 29 w/c 10th November 2014 - w/c 17th November 2014 Music and LAMDA Concert On Friday 14 November 2014, girls, staff and parents gathered in St Mary’s Theatre for Heathfield’s termly Music and LAMDA concert. The concert opened with Heathfield’s Orchestra performing The Sound of Music by Rogers and Hammerstein II. There were fourteen performances in total which included a range of theatrical, dance and music pieces. Performances including Darcey (Form III) acting An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde, a Grade 6 Classical Ballet study by Georgina (Form III), India (Form V), Kitty (Form IV) and Cece (Form IV) performing a grade 6 Free Movement Dance Study. To conclude the evening Anoushka (Form IV) demonstrated a dance piece she choreographed for her Dance GCSE solo composition based on the professional work Faultline. This was followed

by Inside Out by Imelda May performed by Heathfield’s band The Remedies. The evening was a huge success and enjoyed by all. Thanks to all the staff and girls who put so much effort and into making the evening so enjoyable.

Miss S-M Kong, Assistant Director of Music

Daisy represents the South West Regional Lacrosse A team Huge Congratulations to Daisy (LVI Form) who has now been selected for the South West Regional Lacrosse A team. Initially Daisy was selected for trials out of 150 girls and then went on to be selected from 50 girls to make the Berkshire U19A team. Daisy is now one of the top 18 players for her age group in lacrosse in the South West Region.

Ms W Reynolds, Director of Sport

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