Giving thanks and recognising our Contributors
On behalf of our school community, I would like to express our deepest gratitude and heartfelt appreciation for your unwavering support, dedication, and generosity. Your contributions, both in terms of donations and personal involvement, have had a profound impact on our girls, allowing them to thrive and explore education in a truly remarkable and inspiring manner. Through your generosity, you have provided invaluable resources, innovative programmes, and enriching experiences, shaping their educational journeys. Your active involvement as ambassadors of Marymount school has fostered a strong sense of community, inspiring excellence and personal growth. We are profoundly grateful for your belief in our girls’ potential and for creating opportunities that will positively impact their futures.
Thank you for being an integral part of our school community. Your generosity, involvement, and advocacy have touched the lives of countless students, leaving an indelible mark on their educational experience. We are immensely grateful for your continued support and look forward to your partnership as we continue to inspire and empower our students.
Anna Pańczyk Marymount parent and Governor Chair of the Admissions, Marketing and Development Committee
Marymount is committed to fulfilling its mission and vision ‘that all may have life, and have it to the full’. The invaluable support of the entire school community greatly contributes to this ongoing effort.
During the 2022-2023 academic year, the community successfully raised over £26,000 for the Annual Appeal. This was a significant achievement, especially in light of the challenges faced by Marymount families. The funds raised will be used to:
• Evolve the campus to keep meeting the needs of students in a rapidlychanging educational landscape
• Provide bursaries to students whose families who not otherwise be able to afford a Marymount education
• Support mutually-beneficial, student-led community service projects
We are grateful to the many families who contributed to the Annual Appeal from every corner of the globe. Your generosity underscores the strength of the Marymount community, and the significant role each of you plays within it.
Our community has come together in many ways to support the Annual Appeal. Families have made donations at events, given online, or even pledged a regular gift. Governors, Parents’ Association volunteers, and alumnae also give their time and expertise to help guide the school, and our students, towards important decisions for their future.
To learn more about how you can help, please visit our website or contact the Development Office on devdirector@marymountlondon.com.
Marymount is a registered UK charity #1117786. As such, we continually invest all our resources into making the world a better place by educating young women to be confident, curious and kind global citizens, who contribute meaningfully to their communities.
Leaving a gift in your will to your chosen charity not only costs you nothing today, but can also reduce the burden of inheritance tax to your family. To find out more, speak to an independent financial advisor.
100% of the Senior Leadership Team supported the Marymount Annual Appeal 2022-23.
Grade 7 had the highest participation with over
70% taking part!
Over £4,000 was raised over the Advent period thanks to the incredible ‘Legally Blonde’ School Production
40%
Over 40% of current Marymount families supported the Annual Appeal
Past Marymount parents raised nearly 10% of the total by donating their deposits to Marymount
Funds raised will be used to support our service partnerships, including the work in our Day of Service, and to fund a future bursary in Grade 6.
First and foremost, I love the discipline associated with sport. The idea that each day you can continue along this journey to success; the learning curves when things don’t go to plan and the ability to reorganise oneself to improve.
Sport ultimately provides me with the freedom to express myself. Whatever is happening around me, the sheer joy of sweating and busting oneself just feels amazing. Nothing beats waking up in the early hours knowing that you’ve worked out whilst most people are still sleeping. The knowledge that today’s set is going to be better than yesterday’s. Knowing that you are improving the quality of your life at every moment, the fact that success follows failure and therefore having the confidence to challenge oneself at every opportunity. Finally the happiness one recieves from the achievements and winning.
My greatest sporting achievement at Marymount was coming second in the sports festival in Rome whilst in Grade 8 where we competed in Volleyball, Basketball, Swimming, Tennis and Football (although I didn’t do all of them) and competing in the Netherlands and the ISSA tournament in Barcelona for football where I received the honour of MVP (Most Valuable Player).
It is so essential that the school continues to compete at Sports events and demonstrates a level of competitiveness beyond the classroom. The new sports hall is a good stepping stone for providing the students the chance to train more seriously in a better and cleaner environment. It will hopefully inspire more students too participate in sports and create more camaraderie for those not competing to watch and support in the viewing stands.
Written by Isabella, Grade 12“Having our own space to practice, have team meetings or even use in our free time is exceptionally meaningful and useful. From the incredibly innovative gym that made our training sessions much more manageable with the ability to blast music from the TVs, to the beautiful and modern locker rooms that we used as our haven from all the noise during matches - the new Sports Hall has made all the difference for me. I have even found myself studying in the viewing section for my final IB exams, as that is where I found some peace and quiet. The new Sports Hall has truly become an invaluable addition to the Marymount London campus.”
Ola, Grade 12
Marymount Sports Tournaments, 2023
What do you love about dancing?
I love the way that dancing makes me feel. I use it as an escape from things, whether worries or stresses, and to feel alive and free again. Dancing can be used to express oneself in all shapes and forms, and I love the way that it is not limited in terms of rules and movements, but can differ from person to person. There is no right or wrong step but is all about the personal reflection of one’s mind. Whether I’m dancing on stage or in front of my mirror at home, dancing allows me to let go and release all of my emotions and is also something I know that I can carry through with me anywhere, at any time.
What has been your greatest dance achievement so far at Marymount?
I would say my greatest dance achievement has been in performing a solo for the dance showcase this year, something that I’ve always been nervous of doing, or being selected as Vice-Daptain of Dance for the school musical. In these experiences, I have been able to come forward and step out of my comfort zone to lead a bigger role in these performances. I feel that this has not only boosted my confidence in front of others but also my leadership and responsibility skills.
What would be different if you didn’t have the Dance Studio?
If I didn’t have the Dance studio, I would not have a comfortable place to come to, either for class dance lessons or just to practise. I feel that I would not have taken part in as many dance-related activities at school as we wouldn’t have the suitable environment and that the options and opportunities for dancers would be very limited. However, with it here, the classes and clubs have been able to develop and flourish, growing even stronger.
What difference has the Dance studio made to others at Marymount?
Dance at Marymount has allowed for so many students, from all of the different grades, to come together and connect. It has built a community for many, and has allowed for new friendships to be built and for new experiences to be enjoyed. Not only has the Dance studio helped with the IB Dance curriculum, in which students are able to fully participate and expose themselves to the world of dance, but it has also provided a space for people who want to to try something new. The Dance studio is a place at Marymount for anyone to come to and because of it, more people have been able to come together to share their love for dance.
Written by Tess, Grade 9“The classes and clubs have been able to develop and flourish, growing even stronger.”
Dance Showcase, Summer 2023
Service, as defined by the IB, is “an unpaid and voluntary exchange that has a learning benefit for the student.” Although the IB’s definition of service is accurate, I believe that it does not fully encompass the importance of service. There is much more richness to service than what it may appear to be. Acts of service are beneficial on both the sending and receiving end; it makes you a better person and the world a better place. Service is important in both the instigation of personal and community growth.
On a personal level, I believe that service provides more than a learning benefit. It allows for individual growth and character development. I personally feel that I am able to learn the most about myself through acts of service. Having had Service as Action as a part of my MYP course for five years of my life, I can say that service has played a significant role in shaping my character and in who I am as a person.
This past academic year, I have collaborated with my peers to initiate numerous service projects. During the last Christmas fair, a few of my friends and I organized a fundraising project for the charity Project Peru. We were able to raise a total £400 for the charity’s mission to help communities suffering from extreme poverty in Peru. Through this service project, I was able to develop skills in communication, organisation, and most importantly, it allowed me to gain awareness of global issues that are present in our wider community.
In the summer, I volunteered at a clinic in Iquitos, Peru for a week. Although I was only helping in administration and taking measurements for patients, I believe that this opportunity allowed for personal growth. Through this volunteering, I became aware of my own strengths and weaknesses as a person and gained skills that I would have otherwise not been able to gain.
I believe that service is essential, not only for personal growth, but for the growth of communities as a whole. Through acts of service, we develop skills that cannot otherwise be gained, and we learn things about ourselves that would have never otherwise crossed our minds. There’s nothing we lose from acts of service, only things we can gain. I believe that service should be an integral part of everyone’s lives.
Written by Urim, Grade 11The SGIC is the Student Goals Implementation Committee. As an RSHM (Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary) school, we are part of a wider global network of schools sharing common goals that illustrate our values based on the mission of the RSHM and the work of Fr Gailhac. This committee’s main objective is to implement and embed the RSHM goals into school life.
Being a part of the SGIC helps Marymount students to partner in a meaningful way with our sister school in Zambia, and our neighbouring school, St Joseph’s in London.
What does this mean? For our sister school in Zambia, the committee has been very active in fundraising to help the students and staff in St Joseph’s with their fundraising efforts with local projects such as St Michael’s primary school and the RSHM founded school, St Mulumba’s, which is a special educational needs school for children with disabilities. The money we raise together has helped buy musical and IT equipment for St Joseph’s, helped develop infrastructure for St Michael’s, and money was also used to buy braille paper at St Mulumba’s for those children who are blind.
In addition, through the use of Zoom, we are able to have many meetings with our peers in Zambia, where we discuss our upcoming fundraising projects, share ideas, and listen to the service initiatives that they are doing, hear about their culture and also some of the challenges they face.
In addition, SGIC also works with St Joseph’s, a local primary school in Kingston, where we participate in a very active Saturday School Programme run by the SGIC with the help of our amazing Marymount faculty. This is a 10-week programme where we rotate the subjects of English, Maths, Science, Drama, and Art around a chosen children’s book.
The children are encouraged to learn new skills, and we can share our beautiful campus and resources. It is a privilege to help these younger children and see how they learn from our lessons and also how they enjoy the school facilities, which we may take for granted at times. All those involved find this an incredibly rewarding experience and we are able to put our skills of communication and collaboration into action as we work together as a team to deliver the lessons.
At Marymount London we are encouraged this year to be ‘one in service’. The SGIC encourages us to have a social and moral consciousness of global inequality and recognise the human need to serve others with a sense of joy and purpose.
Written by Elisa, Grade 11In November of last year, a few other girls and I signed up for the "Ham Pond Clean-Up" as part of a CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service) experience. The main goal of this event was to fulfil our responsibility of care towards our local environment. This CAS opportunity gave us the chance to earn some extra activity hours while also giving back to our local community by ensuring a clean and healthy environment for all the diverse ecosystems that call it a home.
As winter approaches, locals from the Ham community are invited to help organise and clean the pond for the upcoming spring and summer season. For many years Marymount had the honour of being invited to help with the pond’s seasonal maintenance, however the pandemic interrupted this wonderful tradition, therefore when I saw the announcement in the Marymount Bulletin that this CAS opportunity would be returning, I was very excited. At first, the idea of cleaning a whole pond in the span of just three hours seemed quite daunting and overwhelming, as I must admit I certainly am not a gardener myself, however getting to meet new people and working with friends across different Grades was truly such a wonderful experience that I will never forget.
I believe that I, like all the other girls who participated in this Ham Pond Clean-Up, can agree that even these small actions have a big impact on our local environments and have truthfully inspired us to get more involved in preserving our unique and diverse wildlife.
Written by Sophia, Grade 11
“These small actions have a big impact on our local environments and have truthfully inspired us to get more involved in preserving our unique and diverse wildlife.”
The new Multi-Faith Prayer Space, which opened this year next to our Spiritual Life Office, started off in 2022 as a CAS project for two Grade 11 students. They believed they could create a space that would act as an extension of the existing Chapel, providing extra room for prayer and reflection. What happened next was better than they could have ever imagined!
“We wanted it to be the Home of Faiths, from the Arabic phrase Beit el Deen which also describes the Kaaba in Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims,” says Rowan, whose Creativity, Activity and Service* project with her friend Najla was the starting point for a welcoming new space on campus. “Our original aim was to put a proposal to the school as part of our CAS programme to provide an additional space on campus to help foster each student’s personal relationship with God. When we spoke to Mrs Burke, the Director of Spiritual Life, she mentioned that it had also come up in discussions in her Grade 9 class. It was then that we saw potential in making our idea a reality.”
“Once the ball started rolling, Najla and I put our proposal to Mrs Giblin [Headmistress] and Mr Marcou [Senior Deputy Head] and, with their support and that of the newly-formed Campus Ministry team, the new space was built and introduced within this academic year.”
Rowan is joined by Isabella. Both are now in Grade 12 and are members of the student Campus Ministry team. Alongside the rest of the team, they are proud of the effect this new space has had on students and staff on campus.
“Students and staff regularly use this as a space to reflect and build their own relationship with God, which is the first goal of an RSHM school. The Chapel is a beautiful space to be mindful, and this building is a complementary space which also gives room for different forms of prayer used in different religions,” says Isabella. “We have used similar decorations – like the stained glass window effect - to bring the two spaces together. The different symbols in the room also reflect the myriad of faiths in our school and celebrate each one, in-keeping with our RSHM school goal to create unity through diversity. Students and staff are also talking openly about different religious customs when they cross paths around this new space. It is truly a celebration of the rich cultural mix in the school.”
Asked whether the new building has met its objectives, both students smile. “100%, it’s better than I ever expected,” says Rowan. “This project started small and grew very organically within the community. In five years’ time, I hope that it will look completely different and reflect what future students and staff want and need. This isn’t just for us, today: it’s for each generation as it comes through the school.” Isabella adds “I agree, I want it to continue to evolve and meet the spiritual needs of the community going forward. I can’t wait to see what it will look like.”
* The Creativity, Activity and Service programme is one of the three essential elements that every student must complete as part of the IB Diploma Programme. CAS enables students to enhance their personal and interpersonal development by learning through experience.
Marymount Science Week, which we have been celebrating for five years now, is a unique opportunity for our students to get further immersed in Science and Technology initiatives in School and beyond. It always coincides with British Science Week, whose theme for the year is “Connections”.
Our chosen theme was “Science: connecting and serving without borders”. This came about as a way of tying together the theme of British Science Week for 2023 with our School goal focus for this year “One in Service” and with the celebration of the 220th anniversary of the birth our founder Fr Jean Gailhac, which is being commemorated across all RSHM Schools under the theme “Jean Gailhac: a heart without boundaries”.
We therefore sought to put together Science activities that would reflect both our international mindedness and our focus on service. We came up with the following three:
Specific activities we completed during Marymount Science Week include:
Practical Science sessions took place with the reception year of Coombe Junior School (at Marymount and in their School) - furthering our connections and partnerships with local state schools. Marymount students, under teacher supervision, conduct Science demonstrations to 30 reception pupils of Coombe Junior School.
A virtual Science Assembly was held with Rev Richard d’Souza SJ, from the Vatican Observatory, on the connections between Faith and Science. Rev Richard delivered an online session to the whole school on areas of conflict and cooperation between the Church and Science, and on the qualities of a successful Scientist. In advance of his talk, we sent Fr Richard questions prepared by Grade 6 and Grade 10 students on the topic of Faith and Science.
Dr Michelle Allan hosted medical career talks for Grade 10 and 11 students interested in Medicine - furthering our provision of career guidance and inspiring students through excellent female professional role models.
Students of Grades 6-8 spent some of their Science lessons working on a poster about “Scientific connections” - furthering the interconnectedness of curricular areas and fostering creativity in Science. The Art and Science department judged the best posters and sent the five winners to the national level competition.
Some highlights of Science Department activites outside of Marymount Science Week are below:
• Science Trips in the UK and abroad
• Extra-curricular Clubs and activities in: Science Coding, Astrophysics, Chemistry
• Competitions: British Physics/Chemistry/Biology Olympiads
• Zambia lessons: Grade 11s students providing peer tutoring online to students of St Joseph’s RSHM School, our sister School in Zambia
Written by João Barroca, Chair of Science
“Did you know 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced every year? And that, on average, we use less than 70% of our clothes? The clothes swap allows us to share what we have and prevent needless landfill.”
The MYP (Middle Years Programme) seeks to develop students who are conscious of the world around them and empowered to effect positive change. It challenges students to learn beyond the walls of the classroom, demonstrate initiative, persevere, work collaboratively, and broaden their perspectives. This year, students have been exploring the meaning of service and the different forms that it can take. Encouraged to think beyond bake sales, students have been asked to consider how to engage in direct and indirect service, advocacy, and research that can be used to promote positive action.
On a bright Saturday in May, over 100 students arrived on campus to take ownership of their space, share stories and experiences with the residents of a nearby nursing home; create artwork for local domestic violence shelters, and sort through hundreds of donated clothes. The students were on campus for Marymount’s first Day of Service, a Saturday dedicated to facilitating service projects and making a positive impact on our local community. Most impressive were those projects initiated and executed by students. Enterprising Grade 6s asked the community to donate bottle caps for a work of activist art intended to raise awareness of global plastic pollution. The students collaborated to design a globe whose continents were made of different-coloured caps and wrote a thoughtful reflection on the importance of cutting down on single-use plastics. Grade 9 students, concerned by the number of unhoused people they encounter across London, organised a Blessing Bags initiative. They raised money and received donations of toiletry items to create 50 hygiene packs for the people served by the Chelsea and Fulham Methodist Churches. Keen knitters from Grade 10 ran a knit-a-thon for Project Linus, a non-profit that provides hand-knit blankets to sick, disabled, and disadvantaged children. They taught a group of students how to knit and crochet small squares that will be sewn together to create a full blanket.
- Marymount Student, Clothes Swap projectOther students ventured out into the local community to clean our Parish Church, St Ann’s. Equipped with rubber gloves and the church’s own feather dusters, students left the sanctuary spotless and ready for Sunday Mass. Still more walked to Galsworthy House, where they exchanged stories and life experiences over tea with the residents. One student returned gushing over the opportunity she had to exchange stories in Spanish with a resident who had not had the chance to speak Spanish in some time.
Back on campus, students washed and ironed and categorised clothes for a clothing swap to promote conscious consumption and advocate for more ethical practices around clothing production. The final hour of the Day of Service was dedicated to giving small groups of students the opportunity to “shop” for a single item of clothing. Students were asked to choose carefully and to consider how they might actually use the item they selected. The clothes remaining at the end of the Swap were carefully packed for donation to Refugee Action Kingston.
As their Service as Action Coordinator, I was proud to see the students engage with service that required them to undertake new challenges, learn new skills, persevere, and collaborate. The Day of Service gave students an experience that will allow them to begin reframing pre-conceived notions of what it means to be of service to others. Most importantly, they have learned that while true Service requires us to relinquish the expectation that we must receive something in return for everything we do, it affords us the opportunity to acquire something much more powerful: the knowledge that with a bit of time, energy, and effort, we can have a profound and lasting impact on the world around us.
Written by Zoë Hickox, Service as Action Coordinator
I hope that, amongst these pages, you have found stories that inspire, move and motivate. Being a Marymount student goes beyond graduation: it means living a life with purpose, curiosity and kindness.
As Sister Rosamund Blanchet, RSHM, so eloquently put it in her recent assembly, being human means taking part in a loop of grace. Grace, in the Christian sense, is understood as a generous unmerited gift or blessing given by God. Sr. Rosamund reminded us that this grace only becomes fully active when we give this away, using our blessings for the good of others. When we do this, we demonstrate our capacity for love, empathy, care and compassion which in turn fosters this in others. Through your support, you have certainly continued this loop of grace, and for this we are incredibly grateful.
Warm wishes,
Margaret Giblin HeadmistressThank you for your support of Marymount. Your gift makes a difference in the lives of our students. It is helping us in our mission to educate “students who question, challenge and contribute meaningfully as intellectual and compassionate global citizens”.
