Minerva 2 - Spring 2019

MINERVA SPRING 2019

OHS artists mentored by alumna Amy Isles Freeman

CONTENTS Languages at OHS Chemistry Olympiad World Book Day Cyber Finals National Sporting Success

From the Headmaster

We are frequently told that the stark alternative for future generations is to be programmers or programmed, so it was with relief as well as delight that we learned that a team of OHS girls had battled through once more to the final 10 schools of the GCHQ CyberFirst Competition, from a field of 3,000. While the results are as yet unknown, reaching the national final for the second time in three years is a huge credit to everyone involved.

Meanwhile, it was with eyebrows raised that I read the emotive recent headlines about the ‘decline’ of language teaching. Evidently the writer had not ventured into one of our Prep School Mandarin lessons or our Senior School Spanish, German, French, Italian, Mandarin, and Russian classes! If we add in Greek and Latin to the mix, we truly are bucking the national trend, and I am delighted that our results at GCSE, A Level and national Olympiads reflect the linguistic abilities and hard work of our teachers and girls.

As ever with OHS, this term has given us a surfeit of wonderful stories to discuss in Minerva. Highlights include a visit from Amy Isles Freeman, a performance of Carmen at the Oxford Playhouse, success in the Science Olympiads, exceptional university offers for our Sixth Formers (22% Oxford and Cambridge plus two Ivy League offers and 90% holding offers to Russell Group universities) and captivating talks from both the Saïd Business School and the Brontë expert, Professor Helen Small. There have been notable sporting successes, too, with County Championship wins in hockey, netball, cricket and Cross Country, and our Senior Footballers reached the national semi-final of the ISFA Cup competition at the first attempt.

Climate change has been much in our thoughts, both in our Green events and with February being the warmest on record. I trust that you will enjoy a relaxing Easter break with your families and that the weather will be clement for your holidays at home or abroad.

Ad lucem PDH 2

NEWS

Classics students were thrilled this term to receive a visit from Professor Matthew Nicholls of Reading and Oxford Universities. Professor Nicholls is a firm believer in the concept of bringing the Roman world to life, either by visiting historical locations or through the awardwinning 3D digital reconstructions he has pioneered. Dr Nicholls thrilled students with an explanation of his reconstruction of Ancient Rome; if you wish to take a look at one of Dr Nicholls’ digital reconstructions, please scan the QR code below for a tour of the Colosseum.

Later in the same week, nineteen students from Years 9-12 travelled to Oxford University’s Classics Faculty for the Classical Reading Competition, in which they recited Latin and Greek verse and prose, often from memory.

Competition was stiff and standards were high, but the girls acquitted themselves

ars poetica picturaque admirably, with Belle Singleton and Hebe Robertson (both Year 9) winning first prize in Junior Greek Dialogue and Fiona Macrae (Year 12) winning second prize in Senior Greek Prose.

Positive Energy

Found in Translation The study of languages both ancient and modern continues apace at Oxford High School, as evidenced by the seventeen girls from Years 10-13 who entered the UK Linguistics Olympiad this February.

The UKLO tests fundamental language skills as well as codebreaking ability, with this year’s questions requiring students to decipher phrases in Braille and write large numbers in Gumatj, an Aboriginal Australian language.

The following ten girls won certificates for their achievements: Bronze: Cecilia Hutchinson, Rebecca Hore, Ellie Righton (all Year 12), Ruth MacGregor and Izzi Millar (both Year 10); Silver: Aidene Quek (Year 11), Hettie Nicholls (Year 12), and Celina Sherlock (Year 13); Gold: Elizabeth Anderson and Alice Travis (both Year 12). Further congratulations to Year 12 students Hettie Nicholls and Alice Travis who entered ‘Juvenes Translatores’, a Europe-wide translation competition.

Both girls finished in the top 10% across Europe, gaining Special Mention Awards, which they received at a ceremony in Europe House, London at the end of March.

Artist and wood-turner Amy Isles Freeman (OHS 2010) first made a splash in the contemporary arts scene at the London Design Fair in 2014. She has since sold her work at Liberty’s as well as via her Instagram account and through Birdsong, a fashion website devoted to the ideal of ‘no sweatshops, no photoshop.’ Politically engaged, she describes her work as being ‘all about joy and power’ in its celebration of women.

Amy visited us in February, giving tutorials to exam groups from Years 10 to 13, as well as drawing workshops and a talk about her working methods and how to negotiate a path between artistic freedom and mainstream success.

What has been the single biggest influence on your art?

It was a 2013 exhibition by Dorothy Iannone, without doubt. Her work was so funny and I’d never seen an exhibition which was funny before – especially by a woman. It coincided with a time in my life when my eyes had been opened to feminism and I really wanted to reflect that in my work, but couldn’t relate to the anger my favourite female artists were using to talk about gender. So when I saw the power of humour in this exhibition, it really clicked. I went away thinking about so many things I’d never thought about, all because I laughed! That initiated my current thought process, which is that if I can make stuff that makes people smile and feel welcome, then I can communicate without anger.

How do you deal with being a woman in the world of fine art?

So I have a confidence issue – most people do. But I’ve learned to develop an alter ego which I bring out whenever I need to stand up for myself. So if I turn up to an art fair, let’s say, and they’ve put me in the wrong place, I say to myself and the women around me, just pretend that you’re a straight white man with the confidence of a straight white man, because then people will respond to you like a straight white man. It’s amazing how well it works! People expect you to bend when they push you, but if you stand up straight and say ‘this isn’t right’, it changes everything.

you want, then don’t get distracted by other stuff. A lot of my friends got jobs and now they’re finding it really hard to get back into the creative life. It’s amazing and bananas being in the studio all day, but the real beauty of it is that every success you have in there is without compromise: it’s all yours.

Carys Bufford, Katie Chambers, Marianne Tambini and Eva Sedgwick-Coward (Year 13)

What advice do you have for OHS girls who want to go into entrepreneurial or artistic careers?

Do it! If you’re at this school, it’s likely that you’ll have support starting out, so, as harsh as it sounds, it’s more achievable for you than other people. Sadly, the art world is elitist, always has been; artists tend to be more affluent because they can afford the lifestyle, and that’s just going to get worse. I mean, there are kids out there right now who aren’t just going to miss out on going to art school, they’re not even going to be offered Art GCSE. When you consider that art and music are the only way a lot of people have for expressing their emotions, that’s criminal, a mental health crisis in waiting.

So don’t forget that. Also, if this is what 3

NEWS

NEWS

World Book Day This March witnessed another fantastic World Book Day throughout the school, with events occurring throughout the week to celebrate our school’s love of reading. Highlights included a fascinating workshop from polymath and Head of Maths, Rachel Burton, on how to create hand-sewn notebooks, as well as the ‘Pick a Scroll’ competition and the ever-popular costume competition.

All of these generated a wonderful excitement around school, as well as many supportive ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the older girls as the dressed-up Year 7s and 8s filed shyly into the Hall for our World Book Day assembly. We also received a visit from bestselling author Julia Golding, who seemed practically unstoppable as she delighted the girls with creative writing workshops, Q&A sessions, stories from her own life, booksigning, competition judging and an informal conversation with our Book Club over tea and biscuits!

World Wise Quiz Frobscottle and Swudge We enjoyed a bumper World Book Day at the Prep School this year inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Roald Dahl fun started right from assembly, when Willy Wonka himself (though he looked a bit like Mr Dawson) requested that the girls add sweets, lolly pops and edible trees to a model of the chocolate room from Charlie. After that, everyone took part in the book parade then got stuck into a series of Charlie-related activies, including a debate of ‘TV or Not TV?’ inspired by Mike TV, the making of Dahl dioramas and a riotous ‘Taste of Dahl’ with actor Anthony Pedley, who

Reader, She Married Him For the English Department of a girls’ school, the adjacence of World Book Day and International Women’s Day seemed a moment too perfect to miss. Thus, as World Book Day drew to a close on Thursday 7th March, the English Department welcomed a packed audience of students, parents, governors, and librarians into the Lecture Theatre to celebrate one of the uncontested jewels of our library: the 1847 first edition of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. The evening commenced with a talk from Michael Welch, Senior Valuer and Auctioneer at Bonhams, on the peculiarities which make an edition such as ours so highly prized. We were then joined by Oxford University’s Merton Professor of Language and Literature, Helen Small, who delivered a captivating, quicksilver thesis on the forces shaping Charlotte Brontë’s magnum opus and the delicate synthesis of radical Romanticism and Conservatism which makes it such 4

Starter for 10

played the BFG in the London stage show. As Mr Dahl himself might have commented, ‘How very sweet and jumbly!’

a powerful and enduring novel. After refreshments, we then heard two short speeches by Marianne Tambini and Katie Chambers (both Cambridge-bound to study English next year) on the changing significance of the novel and its ongoing dialogue with feminism, before a relaxed Q&A session.

The school edition of Jane Eyre is now housed in Reception, so do come and see this treasure of the school library for yourself!

We are thrilled that 1 in 4 of all current Year 13 students has been successful in receiving offers from Oxford, Cambridge and Ivy League universities for courses in everything from Economics and Management to Biochemistry, Computer Science, English, Geography and Spanish. Equally impressively, 90% of our current Year 13 students are once again on track to receive holding offers from Russell Group universities. Putting it all together, the academic aspirations of our

Going for Gold The Chemistry Olympiad is the nation’s leading chemistry competition for A-level pupils, famed for its rigour.

Indeed this year’s paper has been described as the hardest ever written!

girls could hardly be higher, with UCAS statistics suggesting that our girls are twice as likely to receive a Cambridge offer as students from the leading girls’ schools nationwide. Indeed, with 1 in 5 of all OHS applicants since 2011 securing offers from Oxford and Cambridge, OHS is the most consistently successful girls’ school in Oxfordshire and holds its own comfortably alongside other leading local schools.

Huge congratulations, therefore, to the many Year 12 and 13 students who competed and won medals. For bronze, these were Ella Hobbs, Anoushka Patel, Jessie Tang, Mara Smith (Year 13) and Emily Wenban-Smith, Kathy Su, Becky Hore, Jessica Saunders, Jacky Hyder (Year 12). For silver, congratulations go to Hannah Gray, Tasha Milliken, Gabby Sherwood, Emma Vincent, Margaret Lister, Misha Iyer, Evie Coxon (Year 13) and Liza Sheremetyeva, Emily Curtis, May Rainbird and Lydia Cross (Year 12). There were also, incredibly, two gold awards

This year’s Oxfordshire Geographical Association World Wise Quiz was held at Magdalen College School and featured twenty-one teams from across Oxfordshire, West London and Surrey. Each round was very challenging and exciting, and it was hard to gauge exactly how we were doing until the end, when the results revealed a win for OHS ahead of some very stiff competition! Huge congratulations to our winning team of Lizzie Caird, Becca Gill and Izzy Potter (all Year 10). As reigning champions, Oxford High School looks forward to hosting the competition next year.

this year, which went to Pip Knight and Gabriella White (both Year 13). Finally, our heartfelt congratulations to Gabriella White, who, in addition to receiving her gold award, was selected from over 7,000 competitors for the highly prestigious Round Two. This entails an intensive, four-day training camp at the end of March, from which a final team of four will be selected to represent the UK at the International Olympiad in Paris. To reach this stage is a phenomenal achievement and we wish Gabriella all the very best at the training camp.

Suite Française The French department has been very busy of late. Towards the end of last year, they departed with a coterie of enthusiastic Year 10 and 11 students to the beautiful Loire region of France, where they enjoyed a week of pastrymaking, theatre workshops, chateaux visits, lessons in the local Lycée and time with French families. More recently, Sixth Form French students embarked on a day of French activities closer to home, under the aegis of Alliance Française. The day began with a seminar on French cinema at the Alliance Française offices in Oxford before a lunch ordered and conversed across in French at the Pierre Victoire restaurant. Finally, their taste buds reeling, students repaired to the Ashmolean for a French-themed trail around the museum, learning about French artistic movements and cultural ephemera.

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PREP SCHOOL

PREP SCHOOL

An Interview with Mrs Williams At the end of her first term, our new Head of Prep School, Jessica Williams, was joined by three Year 4 students – Daisy Hare, Alice Fairfax and Maia Mardas – for a chance to reflect on how her first few months at OHS have been and what Mrs Williams plans to do next.

Is it stressful being a Head? It can be busy being a Head and it gets stressful because you want to do the right thing.

I am lucky, however, that I have an excellent team of staff to support me.

Also, I find it always helps relieve any stress to remember that everything we do is really about the girls: you’re the important ones and it’s you who make this so much fun and so worth it.

Chinese New Year Celebrations The Year of the Pig was ushered in with great aplomb at Oxford High Prep School this February. The festivities kicked off with the Chinese God of wealth and some helpful pandas distributing the traditional red pockets before Year 6 took to the stage in their performance of the Lion Dance. Next came a musical interlude on the bamboo flute after which Years 3 and 4 wowed us with their knowledge of the Zodiac in a special Zodiac Kung Fu show. There then followed a traditional fan show (‘Lotus in June’) after which we heard ‘The Twilight Boat’ performed on the gu zheng, a traditional Chinese instrument. Finally, after some Beijing Opera by Years 3 and 4, the main event commenced with a deadly serious round of The Chopstick Game between parents and teachers. The celebrations ended with a beautiful performance of ‘Little Apple’ by Year 6, which left us all smiling at the wonderful memories of all the music and laughter we had shared.

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Did you enjoy school when you were a girl? I did, but I also enjoyed being at home where I used to play lots of imaginary games! I went to boarding school when I was eight and found that very difficult, as I got very homesick.

Is it fun being a Head? Yes! There’s a lot of variety to the job; I get to meet lots of people, share ideas and see the girls doing lots of lovely things. I particularly enjoy having lunch with the girls or

popping in to see what everyone is up to!

If you weren’t the Head, which year group would you like to teach? I used to teach a lot of Year 4 Science at my old school and I really enjoyed that, because Year 4 know how to do all the basic things, so they’re ready to have fun, and yet they still get really excited and love learning.

If you could change anything at OHPS, what would it be? I am enjoying listening to the excellent ideas the girls and staff have about how to help OHPS continue to go from strength to strength.

School Council had some really good suggestions that we are looking into and I am pleased that, as a school, we are all keen to try and be as environmentally friendly as we can be.

PSHE Week This term we devoted a whole week to a special PSHE programme. It all started with an assembly from Amnesty International, after which Year 6 continued their reflections on human rights by thinking about the one right to which every child should be entitled before illustrating it in the style of their favourite artist. We also received a visit from ‘Dogs for Good’, who told the girls how dogs can help in a whole range of situations. Year 3 had a special assembly on Fundamental British Values and the work of the UNCRC, which they

consolidated with drama workshops. We also received a visit from Lucy Mullins, the School Nurse, who spoke to us all about how to be healthy through healthy eating, exercise, staying hydrated and being mentally healthy. On Friday afternoon, each class finished PSHE Week with a different activity chosen by the girls. These ranged from Lego to painting, making music, taking part in a book quiz and even singing show songs!

Afterwards the girls talked about how good it felt to do an activity they enjoy.

Welcome to the Jungle Year 2 had a fantastic time this term visiting the Living Rainforest as part of their work on different climates. The girls were very intrepid, exploring the many different creatures and plants that live in the rainforest and learning lots of new and interesting facts along the way. Particular highlights included spotting the lazy sloth hidden amongst the leaves and meeting the poison-dart frogs. Having trekked through the hot and sticky rainforest, the girls enjoyed a well-earned play on the adventure playground. Great fun was had by all!

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? There are so many amazing places, it’s hard to pick. New Zealand would be interesting because you can ski or have fun on the beach – so much to do in one country. Since I love pizza, Italy would also be pretty cool!

GDST Y6 Netball Tour, Condover Hall This is the first year that Year 6 teams have been invited to the GDST Netball Tournament at Condover Hall – and what a weekend it was! The Saturday morning was devoted to netball, during which the girls faced some tough opposition and different styles of play yet proved themselves quick learners, finishing the morning with a win and a draw. The rest of the day was devoted to outdoor adventure in the vast grounds: zip wiring, abseiling and rope-walking, to name but a few. On Sunday, the girls started their day with an intense game against Blackheath that ended in a draw. Their subsequent 6-1 victory over Newcastle was by far their best match, and was enough to take them into the final.

Unfortunately, it was not to be, and the girls had to settle for second place after a 1-3 defeat against Shrewsbury. It was a fantastic weekend, however, which left the girls yearning for more and with their silver medals thoroughly deserved.

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BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

RSC Top of the Bench Chemistry Challenge Year 13 Drama Showcase

The Connection in Chaos Every year the National Theatre commissions ten new plays for young people to perform, bringing together some of the UK’s most exciting writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow.

Here at OHS, in our first year taking part, we joined over 300 youth companies in putting young people at the heart of the creative process. Our play, CHAOS, by Laura Lomas, gave the girls vast creative scope across everything from set design to lighting and sound, costume, direction and interpretation.

The results, so far, look astonishing, as a series of characters search for meaning amidst a symphony of dislocated yet interconnected moments. With a visiting NT Director commenting that, ‘You have created a striking ensemble performance of CHAOS with real moments of hope, connection and beauty,’ we hope our production will be selected for performance at the National after it is reprised at the North Wall in May.

I Spy Cyber Finalists The CyberFirst Competition is an allgirl event launched three years ago to combat the gender imbalance in cyber security. This year’s competition was the biggest ever, with nearly 12,000 Year 8 girls from across the UK stepping up to pit their wits against the top minds from GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre. Against unprecedented competition, Team CYB3R – consisting of Sara Hauser, Freya Little, Anjali Rameshwaran and 8

Katherine Scott – did phenomenally well to emerge as one of the top 10 teams after a gruelling sevenday sequence of challenges in cryptography, logic & coding, cyber security and networking. The next stage is the final, set to occur later this term at an undisclosed location in Edinburgh, where the girls will be called on to apply all their skills in a real-world scenario.

It was an emotional moment for all involved this term as our Year 13 A Level Drama students performed for the last time in their version of Stephen Berkoff’s The Trial. It was a tour de force performance, with Berkoff’s use of multi-roling freeing the girls to experiment with vocal pitch, pace and delivery, shifting their centre of gravity and deploying some of Berkoff’s bleak archetypes alongside Commedia dell’arte characters. Building on the work accomplished in their devised piece alongside the Kneehigh Theatre Company last autumn, the students were soaring here with a hitherto unseen freedom of expression and seemingly boundless talent. We wish all our A Level students well as they progress onto the next stage of their lives and hope that, on whatever stage they enter, they carry their love of theatre with them.

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s ‘Top of the Bench’ chemistry challenge brings together Year 9-11 pupils in team-based challenges designed to excite pupils about chemistry. This year, Helena Halford, Leah Khan and Freya Goodman (Year 9) and Amy King (Year 10) entered the regional heats and blew the organisers away with their practical skill and team-work, resulting in a place at the National Finals. The Finals took place in March at Birmingham University’s new Collaborative Teaching Laboratory, featuring 32 schools from across the country. Amy King notes that, ‘We felt privileged to use the high-tech equipment in the new laboratories and found the day itself highly interesting, especially the interactive quiz on plastic

Go Apiary

contamination of the ocean and the university’s cutting-edge biodegradable polymers. When the results finally arrived, we were thrilled to learn that we had come fifth.’

Once More With Feeling Oxford High School musicians have been in thrilling form this term. Our singers received high praise for their choral accompaniment to a semiprofessional production of Carmen at the Oxford Playhouse in March, while many individual players have also enjoyed notable success. At the Oxford Junior Concerto Competition in February, Claire Edmiston (Year 11) triumphed over students from Headington and MCS with a stunningly assured and virtuosic performance of Carl Nielsen’s Flute concerto.

Also this term, OHS girls from the Prep and Senior Schools managed to win four cups at the Oxford Music Festival.

The Prep Wind Ensemble won the

OMF Gwen Archer Cup (Ensemble Classes), Mika Tse (Year 10) won the Winifred Swan Cup (French Piano Class); Phyllis Conefrey, Mika Tse and Eva Wang (all Year 10) won the Louise Donaghy Trophy – Piano Duet and Trio Classes, and Eleanor Voak (Year 10) won the Praetorius Cup – Recorder Classes Open. As Eleanor commented, ‘The Oxford Music Festival provides a wonderful opportunity to receive feedback from professional musicians as well as to perform your favourite piece and hear others do the same.

We are very fortunate at OHS to have that privilege and, also, as Confucius said, to take in music “the kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”’

It’s officially Springtime in the OHS Apiary. On the first warm and sunny day of term, we tentatively peeked into both hives to check that the bees had survived the winter and were gearing up for the spring nectar flow. Happily, both hives are booming, with lots of newly hatched workers, lots of capped brood, and a steady flow of pollen coming in, indicating that the Queen is laying. We need to check that they don’t run out of stored food if there’s a prolonged cold snap, but early indications are very encouraging. Our other preparations include designing our bespoke OHS honey labels for what will hopefully be hundreds of jars of honey, and introducing the new Year 10 apiarists to the wonders of hive inspection, frame building and super construction.

Roll on summer!

Talk of the Town Congratulations to Debate Club members Amy King and Eleanor Voak (Year 10) and Olivia Rössler (Year 9) on their excellent performance in the English Speaking Union’s Churchill Public Speaking Competition. The girls triumphed in the first round and thus graduated to the Oxfordshire Branch Final. Here they acquitted themselves with skill and composure, losing out by (as the judges commented) ‘a whisker’ to a very experienced team from St Helen and St Katharine’s, but earning a richly deserved runners’ up prize.

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COMMUNITY & PARTNERSHIPS

CAREERS, ALUMNAE AND OTHER NEWS

It’s All Happening at the Zoo Peace in our Time?

This year’s Model United Nations saw Year 10 contribute towards a fantastic day of diplomatic machination and debate as they represented countries from Australia to Venezuela. The focus of the day was the global refugee crisis, which led to richer countries disregarding individual conscience as they sought to limit numbers while smaller countries, such as Lebanon and Uganda, pointed out that they hosted huge numbers of displaced citizens despite much lower GDP. Italy

Green Fair Just before February Half-Term, OHS held its annual Green Fair.

As outgoing Green Prefect, I wanted to ensure that the Fair raised awareness about, and provided specific strategies for the preservation of, the environment.

Happily, I think we achieved that goal thanks to a fantastic array of stalls including Beekeeping Club, The Body Shop and The Oxford Blue Bin Recycling League. Some form groups also ran stalls, raising money for charities including Greenpeace through the sale of homemade sweets, bric-a-brac and even some delicious homemade jam! There was a real buzz in the air during the event (not just from the bees!) and we hope it served to inspire the OHS community to do more to save the planet.

Hannah Gray, Year 13

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provided a reasoned commentary, North Korea stated that happy people need not leave their homeland and DR Congo was vociferous in its praise of strategic ally China. As ever, the United States found itself under pressure from detractors, while the UNHCR worked hard to speak impartially on behalf of refugees. With wonderful costumes, exquisite food and genuine conviction, it remains only to congratulate Year 10.

The third edition of OWLS, the quarterly journal of the Oxford and Wimbledon Leading Scholars, is now available, featuring a series of crossdisciplinary articles and discussions generated by the theme ‘Zootopia’.

Follow the QR code below to read this fascinating slice of research and reflection from OHS scholars.

Saïd Business School Visits OHS Our New Sixth Form and Arts Building Takes Shape The construction of the new Sixth Form and Arts Building has progressed in leaps and bounds since Christmas, to the extent that it is now possible to make out the structure taking shape amidst all the scaffolding. Headway has accelerated due to an unusually mild winter (only one snow day) and the ingenuity of Beard, our contractors, who have managed to continue use of their enormous cranes despite occasionally fierce winds. Director of Finance &

Operations, Sarah Arnold (pictured on a site visit with Matt Bowler, our Project Manager) commented, ‘Since the foundations were laid over Christmas, progress has been remarkable; it is hugely exciting for us all to see the building come to life, and we are very optimistic that we will be able to meet our handover date of December 2019”.

Careers Fair A huge thank you to all the parents and alumnae who came and shared their career stories at the Careers Fair this term. With fascinating talks on law, engineering, cyber security, the wine trade, start-ups for physicists and policing careers, the evening was profoundly valuable and totally fascinating.

SPORT

The Chemistry Between Us The second JEMS (Juniors doing Engineers, Maths and Science) morning of the year took place in in mid-March with the entire Science Department working together to make maximum use of the support we received from the Royal Society of Chemistry in ensuring that all 76 of our Year 5 visitors from primary schools across Oxford would discover the joy of chemistry.

Happily, Head of Science Dr Regardsoe commented that their chemistry skills

had visibly improved under the expert tutelage of organiser Maria Whittington and her tireless helpers from 8O. Two of the most arresting moments, aside from all the learning, were when one boy, asked if he was enjoying himself, responded, ‘I’m going to be a scientist when I grow up,’ and also the spontaneous but heartfelt friendships that sprang up between the Year 8 helpers and their charges. A wonderful morning, once again.

In early March, fifty entrepreneuriallyminded students packed into the Lecture Theatre to hear from MBA candidates at the Oxford University’s highly respected Saïd Business School. The event was put together

by Michael Gill, Associate Professor in Organisation Studies at SBS, but the inspiration actually came from Year 9 student, Hazel Gage, who contacted Professor Gill in the first instance. With speakers joining us from the fields of engineering, science and wealth management, inspiration was in no short supply. However, the most interesting aspect for many students was the evidence of social entrepreneurship as a new model of business activity, with fascinating glimpses into the world of ‘impact investing’ and business-oriented solutions to the issues of food scarcity and climate change.

Magic On Ice

The excellent ice-skating of Ciera Turner-Frick (Year 8) continues to be recognised, with her invitation to compete at the International Tyrol Golden Trophy. Despite a pair of skates going AWOL and training time lost thereby, Ciera skated beautifully and showed true resilience with a programme that included 6 double jumps, one flying spin and a 4-position

spin. Ciera noted that the ice was perfect and the setting – where so many Olympians have competed before – was inspirational. In the year below, Lowenna Prigg is also busy weaving magic on the ice. In the recent British figure Skating Championships, she finished eighth, due in large part to a highly accomplished free programme.

Equestrian Excellence The Oxford High School Equestrian team has been going great shakes this year, despite Captain Iris Petrillo retiring after a long battle against her allergy to, of all things, horses! Elena Fossey (Year 13) has begun competing for the school, and has had lots of placings for OHS, including a 3rd at Oxtalls in August. Meanwhile, longstanding team members Mia Chopping, Ella Johnson and Eloise Burden (all Year 10) have competed at a number of high-profile events, including the National Schools Equestrian Association Competition at Addington Manor, where they came fifth in a very competitive class. To cap it all, Eloise gave an absolutely storming performance in a British Showjumping Premier Show at Aintree International Equestrian Centre, going triple-clear on Saturday to come second in a tough jump-off before coming second again on Sunday, beating out many of the top riders in the country.

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SPORT

In It For The Long-Run Our long-distance runners have been showing excellent form this season, in particular the sister act of Olivia and Izzy Martin (Years 9 and 7, respectively). Both girls won gold in the Oxfordshire County Cross Country Championships back in January and secured top ten finishes at the South of England XC Championships and the UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships. Then, on 7th March 2019, the two sisters were crowned GDST Cross Country Champions in their respective age groups, with both girls leading from the gun and extending

their lead before sprinting home to victory in epic fashion. As we go to press, we are delighted to announce that, having come fifth in the English School Cross Country Championships (where she was ably supported by her running mate, Bea Jarvis), Olivia went forward to the International Cross Country Championships in Dublin, where she came an outstanding 5th internationally, and the England team won gold! What a fantastic way to end an epic season, for which we all congratulate Olivia.

Ad lucem, indeed!

Onwards OHS Footballers The OHS U18 football team has had an excellent season. In their first year competing in the Smith Construction ISFA U19 Girls’ Cup, they won all four group games to earn a place at the semi-finals. Alas, this proved a match too far for OHS, despite some excellent, tenacious play at the start of both halves which seemed almost to tip the balance in their favour.

However, the combination of three England internationals and a very dangerous striker (Crystal Palace’s Elisabeth Heyndrickx) proved too relentless for our girls, with the final score at 3-0 to Alleyn’s. Given this is the girls’ first attempt in this competition, it is a huge testament to their skill and spirit, and we expect great things from them in the future!

County Cricket Stars

We’re delighted to confirm that our U13 and U15 cricket teams have done it again, beating off Headington in both finals to secure outright victory in the Lady Taverner’s Indoor County Cricket Championships. This means OHS will automatically go forward as the representatives of Oxfordshire Girls’ Cricket in both age groups at the forthcoming regional competition at Edgbaston – a truly wonderful achievement. We also eagerly look forward to the finer weather coming in, when we will be the only school in the region able to hear the sonorous thwack of willow on leather with some proper hardball games.

These Are The Champions Our U12 County Hockey Team – who remain unbeaten in Oxfordshire this year – shone at the recent County Hockey tournament. The team started their day with a 4-0 win over Tudor Hall A team, followed by a 2-0 win over Headington B Team. The girls continued their form with hat-tricks from Lucy Trinder in a 5-0 win over Oxford High B team and Emma Sherwood scoring 4 against Tudor Hall B team in a huge 8-0 victory.

The last match was the decider for the

Minerva is the termly newsletter of Oxford High School, Belbroughton Road, Oxford, OX2 6XA www.oxfordhigh.gdst.net oxfordhigh@oxf.gdst.net 01865 559888 Sincere thanks to all students and staff who contributed articles this term.

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trophy in a hotly contested showdown between Oxford High and Headington A. The girls delivered a resounding 3-1 victory and tournament success, and will now progress to the South of England Regional Hockey Championships in Woking.

Hot off the press, we would also like to congratulate the U13 Netball team, who just became County Champions.

Many congratulations, girls!