Pipers Post | Spring 2019

Termly News | Issue 33 | Spring 2019

She Is Limitless P3

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE...

If You Only Had One Word...

Creative Castle P6

Pipers Corner School, Great Kingshill, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP15 6LP

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On Your Marks…

Get Set – Bake!

TELEPHONE 01494 718 255 EMAIL theschool@piperscorner.co.uk VISIT www.piperscorner.co.uk

Easter Celebrations P6

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MESSAGE FROM THE HEADMISTRESS Since the start of the academic year here at Pipers there has been a strong focus on female empowerment and providing girls with an inspiring environment where they can discover and maximise their potential.

I have been so proud to see the girls embrace so many opportunities this term with our Sixth Form girls demonstrating to the whole Pipers Community that there are no limitations on what a Pipers Girl can achieve. This was evidenced through the She Is Limitless initiative in support of PLAN International Charity (see page 3).

Pipers girls will go on to succeed academically, of that I have no doubt, but it is the resilience and fortitude that they demonstrate that will ensure they go on to be leaders of the future.

We support the girls to strive for their best, whether in the classroom, on the sports pitch or on the stage, enabling them to emerge as mature, confident and independent young women.

Wishing you a very happy Summer Term.

The performance of our Young Enterprise Teams this term has demonstrated how strong students at Pipers can be. Both teams were awarded almost every prize in the competition, being judged the first and second placed teams out of all the schools in the area - a truly great achievement indeed.

Biennial Careers Fair We were delighted to welcome the largest turn out of exhibitors ever to the Careers Fair this term. The event, provides an invaluable opportunity for girls in Year 9 to Upper Sixth as well as boys and girls from a number of local schools to meet a huge range of professionals from a wide variety of industries. The purpose of the Fair is to enable the girls to find out more about the training and employment options available to them.

The industries represented included: Law, Finance, Hospitality, Charity, Marketing, Emergency Services, Armed Services, Technology, Media, Engineering, Retail, Publishing, Business Consulting and Building Services. We also welcomed representatives from Higher Education Institutions and Apprenticeship providers. During the evening girls and their parents had the opportunity to hear from some of the exhibitors in a series of short talks.

Themes included: Higher Education and the UCAS process | Two Year Degree Courses | Gap Year benefits and opportunities | Apprenticeship types and opportunities | Studying Abroad Head of Careers, Mrs Bevan, said “I’m sure that for the girls the experience has inspired them to consider a career they may not have thought about before. For others, I know that it has reinforced their desire to follow a particular path. Being able to provide our girls with a forum in which they have the opportunity to talk to professionals and access advice about how they should go about securing their ideal job is an opportunity that will benefit them all enormously.�

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She Is Limitless This year the Prefect Team ran an initiative entitled ‘She Is Limitless’, driving students at Pipers to believe they can achieve anything they want and to never feel limited. The initiative was in aid of PLAN International’s “Because I Am A Girl” Campaign. Throughout the week, various events took place;

Independent Schools Ski and Snowboard Championships Over the Christmas holidays, 14 girls took part in the Independent Schools Ski and Snowboard Championships in France. The girls trained in slalom and giant slalom techniques with specialist race coaches, before they competed under international rules in both events. The conditions were beautiful, with clear days and snow, making it a delight to watch as the girls performed extremely well and improved throughout the week.

Big Bird Watch Pre-Prep took part in the RSPB Big Schools’ Bird Watch in January.

Equipped with binoculars and clipboards to record their sightings, the girls ventured out into the school grounds to try and spot as many different species of birds. It was a glorious sunny day, perfect for Pre-Prep to be able to spot a wide variety of birds ranging from House Sparrow and Great Tit, to Wood Pigeons and Magpies.

Student vs Staff debate, ‘This House believes that girls are more empowered by being taught separately’. The debate was very successful, Ms Tandon and Mrs Cresswell proposing the motion and Year 13 students Ellie F and Lucy H opposing the motion.

Student Intellectual Debates ran in the Sixth Form Centre for all Year 10, 11 and Sixth Form students. The talks were on: • ‘Where girls are expected to go instead of the classroom’ • Do the terms ‘Feminazi and ‘Man-Hater’ limit girls because they misunderstand what feminism is and so are afraid to openly identify as a feminist?

• The whole school also took part in a ‘She Is Limitless’ Quiz educating students on the history of inspirational women and women’s rights.

The school was awash with colour as students and staff took part in a Mufti Day, “Dress to Express Yourself”, where girls were encouraged to dress to express their own personality and style.

The evening event, ‘She is Limitless’ was all about driving girls at Pipers to see that there should never be a limit to what a Pipers Girl can achieve. We invited five inspirational women to speak about their experiences and to give advice: • Gabby Logan - A British presenter and a former Welsh international gymnast, best known for her presenting roles with BBC Sport and ITV.

• Wg Cdr (Ret’d) Sarah Maskell MBE FCMI. Sarah was responsible for developing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies within the Royal Air Force.

• Sharon Goulds - Editor of the “Because I am a Girl: The State of the Worlds Girls Report”, PLAN International. Sharon was also Director of Communications at Plan UK for several years.

• Jill Shedden - MBE winner for services to Women and Equality. Jill is Group HR Director at Centrica and supports women both within Centrica and externally through the Women’s Business Council.

• Emma Chaffin - General Manager of the UK and Irish pharmaceutical company: Shield Therapeutics. Emma funded herself through University before forging a career in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Emma was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in November 2017, she is now back at work and since has walked the Shine Marathon raising £12,000.

We are delighted to announce that the students have raised a grand total of £3,019.33 for PLAN International’s Because I Am A Girl Campaign.

The evening was a great success, with nearly 200 students and parents attending.

Head Girl, Chloe Ball on behalf of the Prefect Team said; ‘So much goes into an event like this, we would like to thank all of those involved in the planning, we are so lucky to have the opportunities and education that some girls across the globe do not have and we hope that this contribution will make a difference.’

A Trip to the Seaside A Level Geographers enjoyed a trip to Boscombe to collect data for their final A Level component. The girls visited numerous locations to gather data they needed. There was so much to learn in Boscombe as it’s a really interesting location with so much diversity in both its physical and human geography and it was such a great opportunity to delve into all that the town had to offer.

An Insight into Law Two girls in Year 12, enjoyed a Law Insight Day at Berkhamsted School.

The “Get into Law” day was created and delivered by experienced lawyers and legal education professionals and provided a broad overview of the various careers within law before focusing on the training involved.

Insight days are highly recommended for anyone looking to go into a certain profession as it can help them to be certain if it is the right career for them.

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From the Page to the Stage Year 8 girls worked extremely hard in their English sets in March to adapt the iconic Charlotte Brontë novel, “Jane Eyre”, for the stage. The students were challenged to produce an impromptu performance of the classic novel, with responsibility for scripting, props and music. The girls really rose to the challenge demonstrating just what can be accomplished in a short space of time through focus, team work, belief and a touch of creativity.

Discovering Fashion Year 11 -13 Textiles students enjoyed a trip to the V & A Textiles and Fashion Museum where they viewed the Christian Dior and Mary Quant collections. The whole experience was breath-taking as the atmosphere gave the girls the opportunity to see close up the detail of the quality workmanship, stunning fabrics, textures and colour – a true privilege. It was an inspiring day for all students.

Hear Hear!

Members of the Junior and Senior Debate Club from Years 7-11, enjoyed an informative, engaging and inspiring tour of Parliament and the House of Lords. They thoroughly enjoyed the Laws and Debating Workshop where they applied and developed their debating skills by simulating the process of passing a bill on a topic of their choice – banning single use plastic.

Wear-a-Hat Fundraising Mufti Day this term was in support of an incredibly special charity close to the hearts of the girls and staff at Pipers - Brain Tumour Research. The Wear-a-Hat initiative allowed girls to express their own style and flair in the last week of term. The only condition was that girls and staff alike had to come sporting a piece of head wear...! We look forward to reporting how much money was raised early next term.

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Medieval Medicine Year 8 Historians embarked on a journey through Medieval medicine when they took part in a Barber Surgeon Workshop. The workshop covered all aspects of early medicine and also included the developments of treatments and technology in the early Renaissance period. Barber Surgeons were medical practitioners who, unlike Physicians of the time, performed surgery on their patients.

The girls learnt that Barber Surgeons would usually learn their trade as an apprentice to a more experienced colleague and many would have been illiterate.

The Surgeon explained that for centuries people treated themselves with home grown plants, flowers and minerals. Lavender, for example, was used as a soporific to assist with sleep via its scent. The students learnt that there are many examples of modern chemists deriving their formulas from ancient medicine. If you had a headache, for example, in Medieval times you were encouraged to chew on willow bark. Inside the bark is acetylsalicylic acid which is the same active ingredient used today in aspirin. One of the main problems with Medieval medicine was the lack of knowledge of dosage ingested and other impurities consumed.

was even used as an antiperspirant in Roman times. Sulphur, derived from volcanoes is also a natural antibiotic, it was crushed up and applied to a wound or infection right up until the 1930s.

They also considered the properties of the poppy including opium which was used as the basis for modern morphine.

The Surgeon showed the girls an array of cures, including Alam - a mineral which acts as a natural antibiotic and is poisonous to bugs, it

Easter Celebrations In the run up to the end of term, girls in the Pre-Prep Department were very excited to welcome their family members to school to join in with two afternoons of Easter-themed crafting. The girls and their visitors had the opportunity to make a number of items including Easter chick cups, Rabbit spoons, Pompom sheep, Rabbits, Chicks, Daffodil mosaic coasters and woven Easter eggs.

It was a wonderful experience for the whole Department to work together and be creative, and it also meant the girls had some lovely decorations to take home for the holidays.

Department. The girls had used lots of different decorations to style their creations including ribbons, mini eggs, straw, flowers, cotton wool, flowers and even mini carrots!

The Easter celebrations continued with a beautiful display at the annual Easter Bonnets Parade. Each of the girls showed off the bonnets they had made at home to the rest of the

It was a lovely way to end the term and everyone particularly enjoyed the delicious cupcakes provided by our School caterers, each one beautifully decorated to reflect the Easter theme.

A Royal Visit

We held our first ever Literary Festival here at Pipers Corner and what a great success it was!

From student events running throughout the week to hosting some fantastic guest speaker talks in the Arts Centre Theatre at the weekend. It was so wonderful to see so many come together all for the love of literature.

Nicola Morgan, Patrice Lawrence, Rhian Ivory, Jess Butterworth and Joseph Coelho all spoke to students in the Prep department and ran workshops for the girls. The talks ranged from the effects of screens and social media on stress, to how they got to where they are today.

In addition, what inspired them along their writing journeys and any advice they have for budding writers. Patrice and Joseph also gave creative workshops to different years including focusing on how to create and develop characters as well as how to start writing poems by generating images and creativity.

During the week we also hosted four literary public events welcoming Onjali Q. Raúf, Lauren Child, Dr Lucy Worsley and Wendy Holden.

The children’s author, Onjali Q. Raúf opened our sessions with a passionate talk about the inspiration for her first novel, ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’. She spoke about her travels to the refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk, aiding the long-term volunteers working to help refugees.

Lauren Child was in conversation with Nicolette Jones, writer, journalist and broadcaster. Lauren believes that we are born ‘visually literate’: that we can understand what a visual image is long before we learn to read the words.

Pre-Prep have had a wonderful trip to Windsor Castle where they enjoyed visiting ‘The State Apartments’. They explored Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite home as part of a workshop ‘Whose royal home is this?’ They experienced how royalty and their servants lived in Victorian times compared to the present day.

They dressed up as maids, cooks and footmen as well and even handled original Victorian artefacts, including some belongings to Queen Victoria herself!

Creative Castles

It was a pleasure to welcome Dr Lucy Worsley OBE, historian, author, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces and presenter of many history-based programmes. Her latest book ‘Queen Victoria: Daughter, Wife, Mother, Widow’ has been published to coincide with the bicentenary of Victoria’s birth and Lucy entertained us as she shared her research, enabling us to reassess this little old lady.

We were privileged to welcome Wendy Holden and Eva Clarke BEM for our final event. Wendy is the author of ‘Born Survivors’, an extraordinary story of how three mothers and their new born babies fought to survive the Holocaust, and Eva is one of the surviving babies.

It was a pleasure to welcome all authors to our Literary Festival along with the audiences.

The aim was to develop not only culture and creativity across the school curriculum, but also to share our passion for literature and writing with members of the local community.

As part of their History lessons, Year 7 have been learning about British Medieval castles and they made their own for our annual Castle Building Competition. Their model could be in the style of either a Motte and Bailey castle or a specific English Medieval castle of their choice. The finished results demonstrated an excellent knowledge of a range of types of castle.

Sleeping Beauty Girls in Pre-Prep had a wonderful trip to Waddesdon Manor in January where they enjoyed exploring the grounds and viewing the Bakst Room. They viewed seven paintings depicting the story of Sleeping Beauty, painted by Leon Bakst.

Then the girls made their way to the aviaries to see if they could find a Fairy Bluebird that was identified in one of the paintings. After lunch the girls enjoyed a creative writing session on the paintings and created their own story of Sleeping Beauty.

Aquila is Coming The Sixth Form editorial team, with the support of budding, Prep, Senior and Sixth Form “in-house journalists” has nearly finished editing this year’s edition. The finished “article” will be available in all its glory on Speech Day (Saturday 6 July 2019).

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Knock Knock The Pre-Prep laughed their way through Red Nose Day back in March as they focused on laughter and happiness in their assembly. The girls enjoyed sharing jokes with each other to make one another laugh as well as learning about how laughing can make us feel better and can put anyone in a really good mood. Thank you to all those who donated in support of this great cause!

If You Only Had One Word…

Anna M, Year 13, raised £250 for The Talking Trust in support of St Mary’s School for children with severe speech, language and communication difficulties by asking for donations from staff and students. They chose a word they found meaningful and wrote it on a painting donated by Year 11 girls.

Congratulations Anna M on such a fabulous initiative.

On Your Marks… Get Set – Bake!

We held our first Pipers Corner Inter-House Bake Off competition in March, where 12 budding finalists completed three tasks to impress the judges. With Signature Bakes, Technical Challenges and a Showstopper to create, the girls had three and a half hours to bake up a storm.

The Signature Bake saw the contestants make 12 hot cross buns, six with traditional flavours and six where the girls added their own spin. In the Technical Challenge girls were then asked to make identical gingerbread Easter eggs with a stained glass window effect. The oven gloves were off for the final Showstopper challenge, where the bakers were asked to showcase their skill and talent by producing a cake worthy of being the centre piece of an Easter Day Feast!

in close second. The following morning, the remaining bakes were sold off to raise money for Milton’s chosen charity “Liberty’s Legacy” raising just over £90!

All of our bakers rose brilliantly to the challenge and produced bakes of an exceptionally high standard. The judges were impressed by the finalists’ creative and technical flair. The evening was a fabulous showcase of our girls’ broad talents and displayed House spirit in its finest form.

The result was extremely close with Milton triumphing by a single point, Hampden House

This House Believes Ellie F and Lucy H from Year 13 went head-to-head with Mrs Cresswell and Ms Tandon to debate the subject: “This House believe that girls are empowered by being taught separately”.

With Mrs Cresswell and Ms Tandon arguing that there can be no doubt that single sex education is empowering young women whilst at school. It was great to see many girls get involved in the debate, raising questions and issues for the panel to consider.

Mischief Managed!

As if by magic, Pipers morphed into the Hogwarts as Staff and girls alike dressed up as key characters, including Professor McGonagall, Madam Pince, Hagrid and Dobby.

Botanical Bonanza There was a flurry of creative activity in January when the Prep Department went off timetable to celebrate their annual Prep Art Day. Using the work of other artists, designers and sculptors to inspire their own art making where the girls used a range of artistic techniques including etchings, ceramics and collage to create some incredible pieces of art. We look forward to seeing the results when they go on display at the Summer Term’s whole school Art Exhibition.

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Life-sized cardboard cut-outs of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Professor Snape watched on as the evening began with a cleverly themed buffet where each girl encountered the Sorting Hat and discovered which team they would join in a quiz which tested their knowledge of spells and their individual uses.

Our Hogwarts students participated in a range of activities including ‘Hunt the Horcrux’ where they had to follow clues and mark the locations of the Horcruxes on their Marauder’s Maps. Next the teams pitted their wits to answer questions about the wonderful world of Harry Potter.

Prizes included a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and a metal bookmark. Finally, the

girls experienced a Potions lesson where they mastered how to create mysterious writing that burned and sparked to reveal a hidden message.

More words then appeared when held over a lit candle, before majestically bursting into flames.

Amidst the bubbling smoking cauldrons, the girls rekindled smouldering fires using a potion expertly made from dragons’ livers!

To conclude the evening’s events, our Hogwarts students reconvened in the Theatre for a special showing of ‘Hogwarts - The Movie’ which included outstanding performances of readings from the Harry Potter books by various members of our staff. A truly magical evening spent ‘up to no good’!

Sports News

Gymnastics

Former England Hockey International masterclass

The Gymnastics team competed at the ISGA National Championships coming a credible fifth. They also enjoyed success in the Regional Competition in Southampton where key performances to note were Lottie T and Mathilde P (Under 11) coming second, and Laura R (Under 14) coming first. Lottie also came second in her individual tumbling. Both Lottie T and Laura R have qualified for the National Finals in May. Well done to all the girls.

Pipers’ girls in the Prep and Senior School, were treated to a masterclass from former England Hockey International Zoe Shipperley, who kindly gave up her time to share some of her vast club and international experience to coach the girls.

Zoe was more than happy to give them an insight into what is required to represent club and country at the highest level. Whilst there can be absolutely no denying Zoe is a very special talent, she also spoke about some of the areas that they should work on in order to improve. Affording Pipers’ girls the opportunity to spend some

time with someone like her only serves as an inspiration for any student wanting to represent the country at the highest level. We already have a number of girls showing promise in our A teams, representing clubs at various levels – we hope that meeting Zoe will provide an extra incentive to reach the pinnacle of the game.

NSEA Inter-Schools Arena Eventing (JwS) Championship qualifying competition The Pipers Corner Equestrian Team were in action at the NSEA Inter-Schools Arena Eventing (JwS) Championship qualifying competition, held at Bury Farm Equestrian Village in February.

In Class 1, the Team of Annabelle P, Ellie D, Kitty S and Lilli C all rode strongly to win the Class, finishing with no jumping penalties. Lilli C also finished in individual third place and Ellie D in fifth. In Class 2, the Team of Annabelle P, Ellie D and Lilli C were joined by Equestrian Team Captain, Louise P. The girls won the Class which included twelve other teams. In addition, Lilli C, individual finished in second place, a fantastic achievement considering they were 42 other riders taking part.

These amazing results mean that the Pipers Corner Equestrian Team have qualified for the National Championships in both the Mini (70-75cm) and the Novice (80-85cm) Arena Eventing Classes. Lilli C has also qualified for the National Championships as an Individual in both Classes, due to her top three placings, for which she is to be highly commended.

Congratulations to the girls, we are looking forward to the National Championships which will be held at Addington Manor Equestrian Centre, in October 2019.

Martial Arts Congratulations to Rosie K for her incredible performance at the National stages of the WMO, where she achieved gold in her routine and silver for her Sword routine. We wish Rosie all the very best for the World Championships which take place in November.

Cross Country Isobel F (Y5) competed at the National cross country competition this term.

After a pushy start she made up over 100 places with a strong sprint.

She placed 66th out of 337 runners.

Furthermore, At this term’s Cross Country Championships, three of our girls gained top six results Olivia B, Martha G and Isobel F have also qualified for the National Cross Country Schools Championships.

Netball A successful term for U15B and U14B teams who won the District Netball Tournament followed by the U15A and U16 coming second in their respective district tournaments. All teams displayed excellent abilities and it was a pleasure to watch every girl grow their skills throughout the term. The U10s IAPS Netball Team also came second in their pool by goal difference, and were extremely competitive in a tough Plate competition that followed.

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WHO’S WHO

Name: Simon Webber Position: Head of Art Brief description of your role within Pipers Corner I am Head of Art at Pipers and also lead the school’s Photography enrichment club activities.

I organise the art timetable, the curriculum development, the trips (national & international), the annual school art exhibition, artist workshops, arts based outreach links to local schools, lead after school art and photography workshops, as well as squeezing in a bit of teaching. I am currently a Year 13 form tutor. I joined the school in September 2013 and have really enjoyed teaching and tutoring.

What did you do before you joined the School?

Before joining the school I was Head of Art for about 11 years at John Hampden Grammar School. Prior to that I taught for a number of years in London and at the RGS in High Wycombe. My first teaching job however was teaching English in Italy.

What excites you about the job you do?

What I enjoy about the job is seeing the pride and confidence that students get from the artwork they produce. The students at school are all very creative and there is nothing quite like watching someone develop a drawing, painting or sculpture that they really value and are proud of. Every day is different in teaching and that is what keeps things fun, fresh and exciting.

What activities do you enjoy in your spare time?

When I have spare time I enjoy watching my children playing their various sports, playing board games with family and friends, travelling abroad, speaking languages, keeping fit and surfing. Perhaps my greatest love, however, is of course drawing and painting – I always keep my sketchbook to hand.

Who would you say has inspired you in life?

This is a difficult one because I have been lucky enough to meet lots of inspiring people.

My parents definitely inspired me – my mum

especially who single-handedly looked after myself and four brothers and sisters whilst completing a teaching degree and holding down a full-time job.

Other people who have inspired me to live my life as I have are the people I have met on various expeditions and trips such as the young children I went to be with in a Romanian orphanage, the Venezuelan porters half-way up a Tepuis mountain, the school kids we played football against at the base of the Kilimanjaro or perhaps the young special needs children at the Rees Thomas School near Cambridge. All these people and others have made a big impression on me largely because of their outlook on life and the way they have come to terms with the difficulties they face.

Finally, the best thing about working at Pipers Corner is…

Having the freedom to teach in the way we as teachers want to in a wonderful setting.

The facilities and equipment we have at our disposal makes our job so much simpler and helps us greatly towards inspiring our students.

We are spoilt by wonderful students who are polite, ambitious and always grateful for what we can do for them. I have enjoyed all the schools I have taught in but Pipers has certainly been an exciting place to teach.

News from the PPTA This term saw the PPTA hosted a very successful Burns Night Supper in January.

We were delighted to welcome over 120 members of the Pipers community to enjoy a traditional Burns Night menu of haggis and cranachan. It was a fantastic night – thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended.

Next term we are hosting our flagship PPTA event Galaxy Summer Ball on Saturday 29 June 2019.

Tickets go on sale shortly, keep an eye out for the Pipers Mail.

PPTA Committee

The PPTA are always on the lookout for more willing volunteers to join. Being involved in the PPTA is a fun way to meet other parents and get involved in your daughter’s school.

Please contact the PPTA if you feel you can contribute in any way - ppta@piperscorner.co.uk

Goodbye and good luck! Hello and welcome!

Key dates for your diary Summer Term 2019 Term begins Tuesday 23 April | 0830 hours May Bank Holiday Monday 6 May Half-term begins Friday 24 May | 1600 hours Half-term ends Monday 3 June | 0830 hours Term ends: Speech Day Saturday 6 July | 1630 hours

Leaving us this term are: Roz Tipper | Teaching Assistant Pre-Prep Freya Wilding | Marketing Intern Willow Payne | Music Assistant Emma Bell | Teacher of English

Ms Sarah Smith | Teacher of English Mrs Rachel Cross | School Office Administrator Mrs Kirsten Riley | Teaching Assistant Pre-Prep

HAVE YOUR SAY

Guy Ranford, Director of Admissions and Marketing TELEPHONE 01494 719866 @PipersCornerSCH EMAIL granford@piperscorner.co.uk www.facebook.com VISIT www.piperscorner.co.uk /PipersCornerSchool

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