newsreview Spring 2013
KEHS KING EDWARD VI
HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
Sarah Evans
We have had two magnificent firsts for the Performing Arts Centre this term. Everyone who has attended concerts since the PAC opened, has recognised its stunning potential as a music venue but a few of us did have nagging doubts about how it would work as a drama and dance space. All these worries were blown away by the amazing production of West Side Story in the first half of this term and our lovely dance production in March. It is a space that is versatile, technically sophisticated and flexible, lending itself to the large casts that make drama and dance productions so special. And what casts both productions had! I am endlessly delighted by the outstanding talent we have in school. The girls, of course, are selected to come here because they are academically gifted but in the creative arts their abilities are second to none. As well as acknowledging how brilliant the girls are, can I also say a huge thank you to parents, who are so understanding of all the late nights and demands that are made on their time as well as their daughters! I hope you will feel the end product has been worth it! Another new venture this term has been the participation of a group of girls in the UV in the Arkwright Scholarship competition. The Arkwright
Trust offers highly prestigious national scholarships to young people who want a career in engineering. Until this year, it has been only open to those taking a GCSE in Design Technology but for the first time this year they recognised that this was not a qualification actually needed for engineering at university or beyond, something we have always known, as girls go off every year from KEHS to read engineering without it, on the back of success in subjects like Maths, Physics and Art and Design. The Arkwright Trust have made it clear that they are interested in creative and sharp, logical thinking and in work girls have done outside school. Two of our girls have got through to the final round and we wish them success at this next level. But it did make me think that parents may like to encourage girls over the Easter holiday to get involved in practical design problems around the home! Get your daughter to mend the lawn mower or the washing machine. Let her work out a way of
remotely controlling the central heating or conserving energy. It will be fun for them, useful preparation for future Arkwright scholars and may help you too!
AcademicNews
Success Across The Board Economists Win Business Competition In The Physics Department! This has been a busy term for the Economics Department. On Tuesday 26th February, Francesca Clough, Abigail Johal, Emma Newman, Kirsty O’Donnell and Julia Wilson attended the National ICAEW Business Game Competition at Aston University. The girls were given the task of examining a business scenario and advising the ‘company directors’ on the best course of action. The girls performed very well, winning their regional heat, and will go on to compete in the national final in June.
KEHS Girls Come ‘Top’ In Chemistry Competition The Spring Term has been a busy one for the Chemistry Department. Our Fifth Form team won the First Round of the National ‘Top of the Bench’ Chemistry competition. Adelaide Yue, Leenah Abuelgasim, Hibatullah Abuelgasim and Krystal Law took part in the annual competition, run by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Girls in the Fifth and Sixth form have also been taking part in a series of Chemistry Master Classes. These sessions, which are part of our work as a Teaching School, have been designed to give the girls the opportunity to learn in a new environment with pupils from other schools, and test out their knowledge in a range of stretch and challenge activities.
Our Sixth Form Physicists took part in British Physics Olympiad last term. The Olympiad is a paper that is designed to stretch and challenge the top young physicists in the country. We are delighted to say that three of our girls have now received awards for their efforts. Sarah Vanhouse and Asiya Siddiqua received Bronze First Class awards and Aimee Salt received a commendation. Our Upper Fourth Physicists also took part in the University of Birmingham’s Annual ‘Big Physics’ Quiz. All of the girls did wonderfully well, particularly Kavita Dau, Jasmine Coldrick, Barbara Kent and Mohona Datta who came second overall! It is not just the girls who have been successful this term. Dr Tedd, Head of the Physics department, has been awarded the 2013 Royal Astronomical Society Patrick Moore Medal. Dr Tedd has received this award for his outstanding work in astronomy education. Dr Tedd has spent over 20 years teaching Physics and throughout that time has used astronomy to inspire school pupils. You may even remember the solar reflector he set up for the Transit of Venus in June last year. Charles Barclay of the RAS Education Committee stated that “space scientists and astronomers owe him a great deal for nurturing talent and appreciation of our subject in young people over more than two decades”. It is wonderful that Dr Tedd’s hard work, passion and dedication is being recognised nationally. We can think of no one more deserving!
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AcademicNews Laura Reaches National Final You may remember from the Autumn edition of the KEHS News Review that Laura Cooper of U4E won the regional heat of the Cranmer Awards. On the 28th of February, she travelled to York to read an excerpt from the 1662 Prayer Book in the national final. We are pleased to say that Laura finished in fourth place. Well done Laura.
Comenius Project
The Comenius Project is an international initiative designed to develop and share knowledge between European countries. Dr Tedd has spearheaded this initiative at KEHS since 2009, organising numerous international visits and extracurricular activities. During the week of the 18th of March, we welcomed a number of visitors from across Europe to the school to take part in our Comenius Week. KEHS is currently working on a joint project with Italian school Scuola Secondaria di Primo Grado ‘G.G. Belli’ and Dutch school Open Schoolgemeenschap Bijlmer. The T.I.M.E. Project (Time Investigation and Measurements in Europe) is a cross-curricular venture that encourages girls to look at the nature of time and space. The week began with an Opening Ceremony in the PAC, which was attended by pupils from all T.I.M.E. schools, KEHS school governors, staff, parents, Miss Evans and even ‘Albert Einstein’ himself! Space artist David A Hardy was one of the speakers chosen to address the crowd. Other events included a visit by the Explorer Dome team, who brought their inflatable planetarium and gave spectacular presentations on stars and the universe. We also welcomed star gazers from the Birmingham Astronomical Society and invited girls to help Mrs Huxley build a miniature Stonehenge out of cake! The event was a spectacular success and we look forward to future visits by the Comenius team.
Economics University Lecture
The Economics department visited the University of Birmingham on January 29th, where they attended a lecture by David Smith, Economics Editor of the Sunday Times. Mr Smith spoke about the financial crisis and the changing shape of the world economy. His views on the monetary challenges facing Europe today and the solutions to stop-start financial recovery were particularly interesting to the girls. His fascinating talk certainly sparked their interest.
Girls Reach Second Stage In Arkwright Scholarship Selection We are pleased to announce that two girls from the Upper Fifth, Alice Handy and Annette Choy de Leon, have reached the final stage of assessments to be awarded one of the esteemed Arkwright scholarships. The Arkwright Scholarships Trust offers highly prestigious national scholarships to young people who want to pursue a career in engineering. As the Trust takes only students of the highest calibre, the girls are currently undergoing a rigorous selection process to demonstrate their strengths. They will soon be taking part in intensive one-to-one interviews, where they hope to distinguish themselves from the huge number of other talented applicants. It is the first year that KEHS has been involved in the programme, which has just expanded to include students who have not taken Design Technology GCSE. We wish them the very best of luck.
Religious Studies Making Learning Fun! Lecture Series
Sixth form students Rosemary Walmsley and Charlotte Bocking have embarked on a project to encourage young children to improve their academic ability. The girls are currently making the first of a series of videos for primary school children. Their first video will look at Mathematical problems like fractions. Future videos will look at Science and History. The girls’ unique take is designed to make the subjects both challenging and inspiring to younger students.
We have also had a number of guest speakers from international universities who have visited the RS department. Professor Marius Felderhoff, a notable systematic theologian from the University of Birmingham, delivered a paper on philosophical approaches to life after death. The Reverend Dr Mark Earey from Queens Theological College spoke about Christian approaches to eschatology. Regius Professor of Divinity at Selwyn College Cambridge, David Ford, came to discuss his work. The girls also attended a lecture by Professor Lynne Rudder Baker of the University of Massachusetts, where she discussed ‘our place in theism’. It is fantastic to foster links with international academic institutions and offer this kind of enrichment to sixth form students.
Spring 2013
Dr Janina Ramirez Visits KEHS Dr Janina Ramirez, historian, broadcaster and Oxford academic, spoke to Fifth and Sixth Form Historians on Wednesday 20th March. You may be familiar with Dr Ramirez’s work, as she has presented several television programmes and series on the BBC over the last few years, including ‘Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons’. Dr Ramirez gave a fascinating talk on ‘Illuminating the Dark Ages’, which really kindled the girls’ love of history. If you would like to learn more, her most recent television programmes, ‘The Art of the Vikings: Secret Knowledge’, and the series ‘Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years’ War’, are still available to watch on BBC iPlayer. The History department has also recently launched its own Twitter Feed. Follow the department to read recently published historical articles and events @ KEHSHistory.
Canning House Essay Competition Rosemary Walmsley has received a commendation in the Canning House Essay Competition. This national competition asks applicants to write an essay demonstrating their linguistic flair. Rosemary wrote an excellent piece in Spanish on the contribution of Latin America to the modern world. It is now available to read in full on the Spanish Departmental Blog page.
Sixth Form Seminar Lunch
Sparking Your Intellectual Curiosity This term, Vice Principal Susan Pallister and Harry Kavanagh have been focussing on Intellectual Curiosity. Ms Pallister has created a website for girls, which provides them with some excellent tools for wider reading and developing their intellectual strengths. The site offers links to a number of online resources recommended by staff, including over 325 free courses from world leading universities like Oxford, Harvard and Princeton and a series of online debates. You can visit the site yourself at http://susanpallister.wordpress.com/. The intellectual curiosity initiative was presented to parents at our annual Curriculum Evening. There were also some interesting and informative presentations by the English and Biology departments.
Young Historians’ Podcast Competition The BBC History Magazine and the Historical Association have organised a competition for budding historians. The Young Historians’ Podcast Competition set students the task of creating a podcast of three minutes or less on the subject of their historical hero. We are delighted to say that two of our girls have been shortlisted. Rosemary Walmsley looked at Queen Margrethe I of Denmark and Ariane Laurent-Smith chose Pitt the Younger. It is fantastic that two of our students have been shortlisted, which means their entries are amongst the top ten podcasts in the competition. Their entries will be assessed by a panel of historians comprising Dan Snow, Helen Castor, Tom Holland, Lucy Worsley and Saul David. We look forward to hearing the results!
Emily Lawry, Aimee Salt and Sarah Vanhouse each gave a presentation at this term’s Sixth Form Seminar Lunch. They spoke to members of staff, parents and school governors on topics they had chosen. Guests learnt about propaganda in Ancient Rome, neuromorphic technology, and the physics behind Schrödinger’s cat. The presentations were very informative for all those involved, not to mention excellent public speaking practice for the girls.
David Ford-Professor Of Divinity At Cambridge University Visits KEHS On Wednesday 20th March, David Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity and Director of the Cambridge University Inter-faith programme, visited school to meet the Upper Sixth A Level Religious Studies students. He presented a most enlightening paper on Christian approaches to life after death, encouraging students to discern what is ‘foundational’ about belief and what is endlessly debated as “part of God’s variety, a God who is not totalitarian”. He urged speculative and experimental approaches, teasing out meaning through variety and ambiguity. He asserted: “death certainly isn’t the last word about reality”. In addition, Professor Ford collated comments from the girls to be put to Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, following his enthronement on 21st March. Students felt that the new Archbishop should act decisively on gay marriage and women Bishops, fostering equality in all things. They urged continued work for peace and dialogue between religious communities. The challenges were perceived to be how to hold tradition alongside modern trends, how to persuade the government of the importance of Theology and Religious Education, and the interplay between consensus and conviction.
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SportingNews Dutch Junior International Birmingham U16 Badminton Tournament Badminton Champions We are pleased to announce that Joshwey Bong of L6D was selected to represent England in the Dutch Junior International Badminton Tournament. On Tuesday 26th February Joshwey travelled to Amsterdam, where she competed as part of the England team. Joshwey played extremely well, ultimately finishing in the final 16.
Some of our younger girls have also had successes in badminton. Our U14 and U16 Badminton Teams played in the Birmingham Winter Schools’ Games this term. Jasmine Randle, Jaahnavi Sikand, Priya Basra, Manvir Dobb, Araadhna Sinha, Monica Kulkarni, Neelam Deshmukh, Anya Latthe, Shruthi Rayen and April Wong all played brilliantly. The U16 team then went on to win the Birmingham finals and won the bronze medal in the National Tournament. Araadhna Sinha has also had success winning the gold medal at the Warwickshire Schools’ Badminton Association Tournament. She will now compete in the regional finals in June. Competitive badminton is a new addition to the KEHS extra-curricular portfolio and the hard work of our teams has clearly paid dividends.
Shreya Is Britain’s Youngest Fencer! Shreya Anil in the L5th represented Great Britain in the European Cadet Fencing Championships in Budapest this term. British Fencing commended Shreya for being the youngest member of the Great Britain squad. She performed brilliantly in both the individual and team heats of the women’s sabre. At the end of March, she will compete in the Public Schools’ Fencing Championships and will go on to the Junior World Cup in Croatia in April. We wish her continued success.
Becky Wins The Antrim McCain Cross Country Challenge Sixth former and cross country runner Becky Straw travelled to Northern Ireland this term to compete in the Antrim McCain Cross Challenge. Becky did extremely well, ultimately winning the race by a clear margin of four seconds! This is a fantastic result and a great build up to the World Cross Country Championships later this year.
Development Of Excellence Winter Cricket Squad Congratulations are also due to Helena Meads of U5E, who has been selected for the Warwickshire Girls Under 17/Under 19 Development of Excellence Winter Cricket Squad for 2013. It is wonderful to see her expand her sporting repertoire and progress to such a high level.
U12 County Hockey Champions On Thursday 7th March, our Under 12 team competed in the County Hockey Tournament. They played outstandingly well, winning all five games convincingly. Congratulations to all the girls involved on becoming County Champions and bringing home the County Trophy.
Spring 2013
Swimming Gala On Valentine’s Day, KEHS hosted a Swimming Gala for local primary schools. Children from schools around the region were invited to compete for the King Edward’s School Shield. All of our guests thoroughly enjoyed the gala, which was organised by girls studying Sports Leadership.
The Winning Edge KEHS has launched a new sporting initiative. The ‘Winning Edge’, run in conjunction with At Home Fitness, is a club designed to give promising young athletes a physical advantage to help them become the stars of tomorrow. The club is open to sportswomen aged 12-18 who have already demonstrated sporting potential at a regional or national level. Each member receives a personalised strength and conditioning programme and weekly training sessions to help them become stronger, faster, more flexible and develop endurance.
U12 Netballers Bring Home The Silver Medal Our Under 12 netball team played in their first tournament on Wednesday 13th March. They played extremely well in the Birmingham County Schools’ Tournament, fighting off strong competition from 12 other teams and ultimately missing out on first place by just one goal! This is an excellent first step for the team and we wish them continued success.
ArtsNews A Night At The Movies The KEHS 2012-2013 Dance Production began on Tuesday 12th March with a matinee performance. This year’s theme was A Night at the Movies. Yet again, all of the dances were absolutely first class! Congratulations to all of the dancers and to director Mrs Smith for putting on such a fantastic show.
Choral Society And Symphony Orchestra On Sunday 10th March at 3pm, the KEHS/KES Choral Society and Symphony Orchestra showcased a term’s worth of hard work in the annual Choral and Orchestral Concert. Once again in our stunning Ruddock Hall, the Choral Society opened the concert with Haydn’s Missa Brevis, accompanied by a select group of strings. Intensive rehearsal during the recent weekend residential at Cleobury Mortimer had paid off and the performance was both engaging and highly professional.
After a brief interval the Symphony Orchestra took to the stage, accompanying James Kuo in a breathtaking performance of Glazunov’s Violin Concerto. This was followed by Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, taken from his ballet of the same name, which the Symphony Orchestra tackled with both gripping excitement and an impressively mature finesse. Many congratulations to all involved on another incredible display of talent and musicianship.
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ArtsNews West Side Story This year’s senior production of West Side Story was absolutely fantastic. The combination of beautiful singing and spectacular dancing was a real treat for all those who saw it. This year, the cast performed an abridged version for local primary school children who loved the performance and were thrilled to have their pictures taken with the cast. Grace Mupanemunda and Sophie Hamilton-Foad in particular gave absolutely breathtaking performances as Anita and Maria. The atmosphere in the Performing Arts Centre was palpable, with tension seeping through the audience as the conflict between rival gangs the Sharks and the Jets worsened. The first senior production to be held in the new Performing Arts Centre certainly was one to be remembered!
KEHS Girls Join National Children’s Orchestra
Philomena Plays in Lunchtime Concert Philomena Lip, former pupil of Hallfield School, performed in our Lunchtime Concert on Thursday 14th February. She was joined not only by girls and staff from KEHS, but also by a small group of pupils from Hallfield School. We know that the Hallfield pupils really enjoyed her performance and were inspired by it.
Young musicians Isabel Russell and Alice Beardmore have each been offered a place with the National Children’s Orchestra. This is an impressive achievement for both girls. It will be the fifth year that Alice has been part of the orchestra, which is a platform for the best young musicians in Great Britain.
Steinway Inaugural Concert The music departments of KEHS and KES held a joint Steinway Inaugural Concert this term to mark the acquisition of a Steinway Grand Piano, one of the finest instruments in the world. This beautiful piano was chosen from a number of excellent instruments at the Steinway factory in Hamburg in November. Adelaide Yue had the honour of giving the piano its debut. She played exceptionally well and gave this beautiful instrument the welcome it truly deserves.
Spring 2013
KERB School Radio Pride & Prejudice: The Several new podcasts have been added to our school radio site, KERB. Girls in the Thirds have the opportunity to learn how to write and produce their own radio broadcasts, which are then published online. The girls are encouraged to talk about a topic that really interests them. In the latest releases, ‘The Smuffles’ (also known as Meriam AlHabib, Elise Chang and Sana Fayyaz) tried to break the world record for the most words read in 30 seconds. Our other team, ‘SAY’ (Amelia Cleasby, Anya Duxbury and Selika Jain) invited listeners to try their quiz to find out “if you really are a good best friend”.
KEHS Celebrates World Book Day Staff and pupils came together to celebrate World Book Day on 7th March. All of the girls were given a £1 World Book Day Voucher to spend on a book of their choice, including many of the titles in the visiting Scholastic Book Fair. As a special celebration, each department has provided recommendations of books that girls of all ages may wish to read. Suggestions include A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen, How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran and Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. All of the recommended titles are available in the senior library.
200th Anniversary
You may have seen the recent resurgence of stories about Jane Austen in the press. This January, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the publication of her most famous work, Pride and Prejudice. This is a book very close to our hearts at KEHS, not only because it is on the A Level syllabus but because of the significance it has for all intellectual women. In a recent assembly, Alison Warne spoke to the school about the feisty and faulty character of Elizabeth Bennett, suggesting that we may learn lessons from her actions and her spirit. Sarah Shore-Nye has also written a blog discussing the relevance of Austen in 2013 and her own turbulent relationship with the novel. You can read it on the English Department Blog page!
Staff And Sixth Form Reading Group On 13th March, the Staff and Sixth Form Reading Group met to discuss their latest choice, Anna Karenina. Anna Karenina was written in instalments in a local Russian publication between 1873 and 1877. Thought by some scholars to be ‘the perfect novel’, it touches on numerous themes. The group chose to focus their discussion on two areas: character and society. Opinions were varied, with some girls empathizing with Anna and other becoming infuriated by her whimsical changes of mood. Over the Easter break, the girls will be continuing their theme of female leads by reading Madame Bovary. We look forward to hearing their thoughts.
Author Alex Scarrow New Edition Of Visits KEHS High Profile
Author of the Time Riders series Alex Scarrow came to KEHS on Wednesday 13th February to talk to the girls about his work. We were also joined by a group of Year Seven pupils from Selly Park Technology College. The Time Riders series follows a group of children who police a world where time travel threatens to change history. The girls were treated to a video trailer and were able to learn about
the inspiration behind the series. We look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Pirate Kings, which is released this month.
The latest edition of High Profile has now been published. High Profile is an academic magazine produced twice a year by girls in the 6th form. This year’s team of Sundas Butt, Lauren Fraser, Aayushi Jain, Anika Rahman, Rubicka Kumari, Emily Morris, Holly Pritchard and Rosemary Walmsley are to be congratulated for producing such a fantastic edition. Their articles include: The Lost Art of Handwriting, The Many Faces of Shakespeare, Introducing the Romantic Poets, The Aztecs, High Speed Rail, The Evolution of the Fairytale, An Interview with Mrs Thompson and Buy One Get Two Free. The girls have also covered events from this year, including the spectacular junior production of Alice and the Italy trip. In addition, there is a Bad Science book review and their tips for interesting holiday destinations. It is available to read online on the school website now.
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Spring 2013
Mumbai Dreamz On Friday 8th March, the Parents’ Association held their annual Mumbai Dreamz event. This Indian-themed evening was once again extremely popular with parents and girls, who all thoroughly enjoyed the food and entertainment provided. The sari tying competition and Indian dancing in particular were extremely well received! A special thank you to the Parents’ Association for putting on another wonderful event.
Lower Sixth Charity Week & Red Nose Day On Friday 15th March, KEHS chose to raise money for the Red Nose Day appeal by holding a special non-uniform pyjama bottoms day. Staff and pupils all looked exceptionally comfortable as they went around school dressed in a selection of pyjamas, night gowns and onesies! A spectacular cake sale was also held in the hall. All proceeds will go to Comic Relief. This was followed by Lower Sixth charity week, which began on 18th March in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. Events included a yellow cake sale and a yellow accessories day. The highlight of the week was perhaps the brilliant teachers’ sports day, featuring all your favourite childhood games like the egg and spoon race! The staff also participated in a fantastic teachers’ catwalk, showcasing the height of teacher ‘haute couture’! The Lower Sixth are to be congratulated on the success of their charity week. All proceeds will go to help Marie Curie care for 29,000 terminally ill cancer patients in the UK this year.
KEHS KING EDWARD VI
HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS