Pipers Post | Summer 2017

Termly News | Issue 28 | Summer 2017

Raising voices in protest

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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE...

Exhibition of creativity

Tale as old as time P3

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

Exploring Normandy P4

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

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Celebrating sporting success

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MESSAGE FROM THE HEADMISTRESS In my speech at this year’s Parents’ Day, our annual end of year prize-giving ceremony, I spoke about our ambitions for our girls and how we want to enable them to perform on a bigger stage. Not just in a literal way, in terms of the spaces we have created for them in our newly built Arts Centre - but also by providing them with a bigger stage in which to develop the skills which will make them successful and fulfilled in the future.

At Pipers Corner, whilst we quite rightly recognise and celebrate academic achievement, we also celebrate what is far more important than just academic success.

We celebrate leadership, resilience, courage, risk-taking, inclusivity and independence.

I truly believe that the current generation, more than any other, is going to rely on skills such as these to succeed. As such, both our academic and our enrichment curriculum must provide them with the opportunities to develop.

This term’s edition of Pipers Post is full of examples of the many ways in which the girls are taking on the challenge of operating

on that bigger stage. The pupil-led day of protest emphasised how important it is for the girls to get their voices heard (page 2). The opportunity to experience a STEM careers day allowed the girls to fully understand the huge range of possibilities available to them in the fields of Science and Engineering (page 3). GB Hockey Goalkeeper, Maddie Hinch, our guest of honour at our Sports Awards Evening (page 7), served as a great example to the girls of how the power of ambition can propel you to success on an international stage.

Pipers education - will enable the girls to develop the skills which will be vital to their futures and vital to society. It is the Pipers girls who make the school what it is and I am incredibly proud of the fact that they have been fearless in tackling the array of challenges we put before them as they expand their steps to fill the stage on which they find themselves.

Wishing you all a wonderful summer.

All the activities you will read about in this magazine - and that are integral to a

Raising voices in protest Girls at Pipers Corner raised their voices in protest in May, focussing on a whole range of issues that matter to them as individuals. The “Day of Protest” provided girls in Year 6 to Upper Sixth with an opportunity to bring an issue or situation that they care about to the attention of others, culminating in a Trafalgar Square style protest event.

Protest organiser and Head Girl, Bethan T, said “We are all incredibly lucky in this country to have the freedom to express our beliefs and I think that sometimes, a few of us take our voice for granted.

However, our protest today showed that we will use our voices to stand up for those who cannot speak out and to fight against oppressors. It was incredible to see Pipers girls come together, not just in their year groups, or their friendship groups, but with a common goal to use their voice and stand up for what they believe in.”

The idea of holding a Protest Day originally came about following discussions with Head of English, Mr Gifford. Bethan decided to use a Leadership assembly she was running to launch the idea of holding a protest in school and make the power of protest known.

The girls chose to highlight a huge range of issues including: The fight against child labour, Stop the War, LGBT rights, University tuition fees, Mental health awareness, Racial discrimination, Save our NHS, Animal cruelty and the Gender pay gap.

We also welcomed a keynote speaker to the event, Ms Toni Brodelle. Amongst her various

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roles Toni is a member of the House of Lords task group on Syria and refugees and a founding trustee of Wycombe Refugee Partnership. She is a passionate believer in young people getting involved and making a difference. Toni spoke to the gathered crowd about the importance of raising

our voices and being heard. She stressed that it is our fundamental right to protest about injustice when we see it and that as the future generation it is down to young people to ensure that this continues to happen.

Exhibition of creativity

My first ballet One Friday in May Pre-Prep girls were thoroughly excited to be taken on a trip to the New Theatre in Oxford to see the English National Ballet production of “Cinderella”. The production followed the traditional rags-to-riches story, in an adapted form. With a narrator to help the audience follow the story, and a shortened version of Prokofiev’s musical score, it provided the girls with a perfect introduction to the magic of ballet.

Making their vote count The School was transformed into a Gallery in June when we held our annual Art, Textiles, Photography and Design Exhibition.

The exhibition featured a huge amount of work created by girls in Pre-Prep to Upper Sixth, encompassing a variety of skills and techniques including painting, sketching, sculpture, photography, textiles, woodwork and product design.

The event clearly showcased the breadth of artistic talent that exists within the Pipers’ community. The range of techniques used, and media employed, created a really vibrant and interesting display of the girls’ work. What a fantastic way to end what has been yet another hugely creative academic year at Pipers Corner!

Themes for this year’s artwork included “Openings” (Year 11), “Viewpoints” (Lower Sixth, AS Level) and “Carnival of the Animals” (Prep). For their A2 Level work, Upper Sixth Art students studied a topic of their choice where they researched artists of interest to them and used many different types of media to create their final pieces.

History brought to life

A career in STEM Five Year 9 girls explored the option of a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in June when they attended an Instron Early Careers Day, completing a range of activities with a focus on Science and Engineering.

Instron is a worldwide market leader in the materials testing industry with Head Offices based in High Wycombe. The company regularly runs early careers days in order to inspire and encourage students in the local area to think about science and engineering as a potential career path, particularly young girls. The idea behind the sessions is to demonstrate the many different aspects of the world of engineering in order to help young people in their career decision-making process.

On the day the girls joined four other teams of five students from local schools to participate in a carousel of activities which included: freezing with liquid nitrogen, a challenge to make the best paper plane, an exploration of stable structures and the spaghetti bridge challenge. The spaghetti bridge was the final challenge of the day which saw the testing of the bridges each school group had prepared in advance (using only spaghetti and glue) and brought along with them to the event. The Pipers’ team was delighted that their spaghetti bridge was judged to be the most effective. As a result each of the girls received a solar robot as a reward for their efforts.

Pipers’ girls experienced all the drama of the General Election in early June when they took to the polls in the Pipers Mock Election. Mirroring the activity in polling stations all around the country the girls were invited to cast their votes for one of the candidates from the four represented parties: Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Green.

Following the all-important count it was a resounding success for the Conservative party who won four of the five available seats.

The day really opened their eyes to all that a STEM career has to offer and the huge range of possibilities available to them in the fields of Science and Engineering.

In May, Year 9 History students were privileged to welcome John Giddings MBE to talk to them about his experiences as a veteran of three major conflicts. John is now the Chairman of the Burma Star Association and he also spoke about the importance of remembering the sacrifice given by so many people. His visit provided the girls with a unique opportunity to hear firsthand testimony from someone involved in conflicts they have been learning about in their lessons.

Dream School of the future In June, Year 5 girls participated in a Thinking Skills Workshop based upon the concept of the “Dream School of the Future”. The idea behind the session was to help develop the girls’ logical and creative thinking and to introduce and reinforce some of the teaching and learning strategies that make up part of our wider Thinking Skills Programme.

Following the session the Year 5 girls then became the “teachers” as they taught the same workshop to the Year 3 and 4 classes.

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Looking to the future

Tale as old as time

As part of their Careers Programme girls in Year 7 have been considering their options for their future career.

To aid their thinking the girls were challenged to come to school for a day dressed in clothes to represent a career path they might like to pursue. On the day there were a range of careers on show with girls representing a variety of roles including: Doctor, Lawyer, Artist, Chef, Quantity Surveyor and professional sports woman.

Music to inspire This term saw two impressive demonstrations of the power of music to entertain, uplift and inspire. With a whole range of performances from ensembles including Prep Orchestra, Prep Choir, a number of Rock Bands and the school Jazz Band, both the Prep and Senior music concerts were fabulous representations of everything that has been happening in Music at Pipers over the course of this academic year.

Generation global In May, Year 9 RS students enjoyed a fantastic opportunity to connect with the wider world when they took part in a video conference with students from Ganga International School in New Delhi. The aim of the activity was to build a dialogue by speaking and listening to each other. The conference was run through the Generation Global programme, an initiative that complements multiple areas of the curriculum, including religious education, citizenship, and British values.

French poem competition In May, the Pre-Prep and Prep Departments held a joint French poem competition where girls had to learn a short French poem by heart and present it to an audience, focussing on pronunciation and projection. Poetry reciting is taught extensively in schools in France and is a big part of growing up in the French school system. Well done to the following year group winners: Amalie B (Year 2), Eleanor L (Year 3), Hilda H (Year 4), Emma L (Year 5) and Madeleine R (Year 6).

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After much anticipation and excitement, Year 6 spent a whole week in the theatre towards the end of term, when their put together their “play in a week” performance of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast Jr”.

characters including Gaston, Mrs Potts, Cogsworth and Lumiere, leading the audience through the story, combined with some hugely impressive costumes and staging, the girls put on a fabulous spectacle for the audiences.

Based on the original Broadway production that ran for over 13 years “Beauty and the Beast JR” is a fantastic adaptation of the story featuring many of the well-known songs including “Be Our Guest”, “Something There” and “Beauty and the Beast”.

Throughout the week the girls worked incredibly hard, supporting each other and valuing the time they were given, developing their confidence and performance skills to a very high standard.

Head of Prep Drama, Ms Bevan, said “The girls’ enthusiasm and commitment were infectious to all those around them and resulted in two amazing, polished and professional performances, which exceeded all expectations! This was the first Year 6 Summer production in our new theatre, and I could not be more proud of each and every one of them.”

The production tells the classic story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under a spell. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. With an array of entertaining

Lively literary debate There was plenty of noise in the Library when 64 students, representing six local schools came together to discuss and debate the merits of the eight books shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2017.

The scheme shadowing the Carnegie Medal judging process has thousands of registered reading groups across the UK and internationally - engaging tens of thousands of children and young people in reading.

The Carnegie Medal is a prestigious children’s book award, awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. Past winners include such well-known books as “Watership Down”, “Northern Lights” and “Tom’s Midnight Garden”.

School Librarian, Mrs Harris, said, “Shadowing the Carnegie Medal is a brilliant way to inspire students to read contemporary children’s and teen literature. It is also a wonderful opportunity to share the experience of reading and promote a lively reading culture.”

This is the sixth year that local Buckinghamshire schools have met to discuss the shortlist and we were delighted to be the hosts this time, welcoming students from Aylesbury High School, Beaconsfield High School, St Mary’s School for Girls, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School and The Misbourne. Following the discussions each student voted for their favourite book and the overwhelming winner was “Salt to the Sea” by Ruta Sepetys. This mirrored the actual result which was announced a few days after the students’ discussions.

Exploring Normandy

One Can Trust

Year 9 History students embarked on a hugely informative and engaging three-day study tour to Normandy in June in order to support their study of World War Two. The trip had a particular focus on the D-Day landings and, along with their tour guide, the group spent time exploring a number of historical sites to enhance their understanding of the events of D-Day itself. They also considered the significance of the impact of D-Day and the circumstances which led to the development of the USA as a superpower and the decline of Germany.

Day one of the trip focused on the British Airborne mission to take Pegasus Bridge. This successful operation was one of military history’s finest examples of success based on simplicity and surprise. The two bridges were captured in 15 minutes by airborne troops of the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry, landing by gliders (which essentially crash landed), which then had to be held until relieved by Lord Lovat’s Commandoes, 13 hours later.

Day two of the trip saw the group visiting the American landing beaches of Utah and Omaha, as well as the American Cemetery. They also visited the German Cemetery which led the girls and staff to reflect on the different methods and messages of the types of commemoration chosen. The next stop, further down the coast was Arromanches, the site of the British constructed Mulberry Harbour.

In May, Year 7 Form Captains had the opportunity to visit the depot of the One Can Trust in High Wycombe, a charity they have been supporting through the course of the year. It provided the girls with a chance to gain an understanding of how a charity operates and the difference their donations can make to people in need in the local area.

Ducklings in Pre-Prep

On day three the group went to one of the British landing sites – Sword Beach - as well as the British Cemetery. At Sword Beach, they learnt about all three British/Commonwealth landings (the ones at Gold and Juno too). The final stop was the British cemetery at Ranville where the girls laid a wreath to remember the soldiers who had fought at D-Day and spent some time reflecting on everything they had seen during their time in the area.

Art competition successes In May, the work of Year 1 pupil, Zoe P, was unveiled as one of the winning entries in a competition hosted by Chiltern Railways to design the cover of their new summer timetable.

Students from primary and secondary schools across the Chiltern Railways network were invited to take part, get creative and showcase their skills. The themes for the competition were: “Travelling by train”, “Moving between locations” and “Your station within your town”.

Zoe’s winning design was printed on the cover of the May 2017 timetable and will be seen by thousands of customers travelling on the Chiltern route between London Marylebone, Birmingham, Oxford and Aylesbury. The prize presentation took place at Birmingham Moor Street Station where Zoe not only received a certificate and a copy of the timetable, but also saw her artwork in poster form on the platform.

There was great excitement in Pre-Prep this term as six ducklings made their way into the world when they hatched from their eggs. The whole process was a hugely beneficial experience for the girls, enabling them to learn first-hand about how ducklings develop and the various stages of their life cycle. It was a fully cross-curricular experience linking Science, Numeracy, Literacy and Art, with the girls using the ducklings for inspiration in a variety of areas.

Inspired to achieve Year 7 girls welcomed Chris Rattenbury, Ambassador for the charity WheelPower, to an assembly in April.

Year 7 pupil, Hannah W, has raised money for the charity by taking part in a 25km cycle ride near Stoke Mandeville and, on her suggestion, Chris was invited in to share his own inspirational story of how sport has helped him cope with the challenges of living with Spina Bifida.

He also provided further insight into the work of WheelPower and the challenges faced by people with disabilities who wish to participate in physical activity.

Chemistry challenge

Another successful Pipers’ artist is Hilda H (Year 4) who was awarded second place in the Year 3/4 category of the Independent Association of Prep Schools’ (IAPS) Art Competition this term. All 650 IAPS schools are invited to submit entries into this annual competition providing the opportunity to showcase the innovative and inspiring artwork produced in schools. Hilda attended a presentation ceremony in June and her artwork will be on show for the year at the IAPS Head Office in Leamington Spa.

A team of four Year 8 Scientists from Pipers Corner narrowly missed out on achieving first place in the Salters’ Challenge at Imperial College London in April. The Pipers team of Amy H, Elizabeth M, Rohanna M and Eloise W spent the day in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College, during which they participated in a number of activities including “The Salters’ Challenge”, a competitive practical activity, and “The University Challenge”, a practical investigation set by the Lecturers and Professors from Imperial College.

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Charity challenge One evening in May, as a Prep Captain’s Challenge, Year 6 girls took on the task of hosting a pizza evening for their parents in their very own pop-up restaurant in the Arts Centre Café. The purpose of the evening was to raise money for the girls’ chosen charity, Rennie Grove Hospice Care. On the day the girls prepared the pizzas in advance, decorated the café and put together a programme of musical performances to entertain their parents as they enjoyed their dinner.

How things grow

National competition winner Year 10 pupil, Lara V, was named the winner of a national song-writing competition this term. “Songs of the Centenary” is part of a four-year programme run by the charity “Never Such Innocence”, a unique project fitting into the wider series of 20142018 World War centenary activities.

Lara’s song, “Fighting on my Own” was selected from the many entries received and in May she had the opportunity to perform her piece in the Guard’s Chapel at Wellington Barracks in London.

History detectives Girls in Year 1 have been learning how to use historical sources to gain an understanding of the lives of significant figures from history. One person they focussed on was Queen Elizabeth II as they worked together to discover what makes her an important part of the history of the UK and indeed the world. They used their new found knowledge to write their own versions of a biography of the Queen for “The Royal Times”.

Joyful joyful It was a joyful start to the term when the whole school came together to share a service led by School Chaplain, Rev Gurr, on the theme of “Joy”! A Whole School Service provides a fantastic opportunity for all year groups to come together and focus on a given topic through the mediums of music and dance. Rev Gurr encouraged everyone to put their worries aside, to look at the wonderful world we live in with fresh eyes, and be thankful for everything we have.

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In their Science lessons this year girls in Year 3 have been learning about the different parts of plants and how things grow. In support of this topic the year group visited RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Gardens Wisley, in Woking in June.

Founded by Victorian businessman and RHS member George Ferguson Wilson in 1878, Wisley is one of the great gardens of the world.

The site covers 240 acres and, in addition to numerous formal and informal decorative gardens, several glasshouses and an extensive arboretum, it includes small scale “model gardens” which are intended to show visitors what they can achieve in their own gardens at home.

During their visit the girls looked at, and learnt about, a huge array of flowers and plants and spent time in the fabulous Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden. In the enormous glasshouses they saw banana plants, orange and lemon trees, and found out about root systems and seeds. The Herb Garden was very popular with the girls, who happily sniffed out many herbs they knew, as well as some they did not!

It was a hugely interesting and useful day for the girls – bringing everything they had learnt about in the classroom to life! A number of the girls also said that they now want to try and grow things for themselves in their own gardens.

Next steps Girls in Lower Sixth focussed on life in the workplace in late June when they participated in a series of workshops covering the skills required to be successful in obtaining a job.

The girls were split into groups to take part in three sessions. In the first session, “Effective Interview Technique”, led by a representative from Impetus Coaching, the girls learnt how to walk into an interview, confident of communicating their potential. The workshop taught them simple and practical techniques for dealing with challenging questions, communicating ideas clearly, and ensuring nerves do not disrupt interview performance.

The aim of the next session, “Effective Networking”, was for the girls to understand the benefits of networking and to recognise the scope of their existing personal network, as well as to have techniques for starting and finishing conversations with new people. The girls also participated by identifying their skills and talents and practised presenting their personal “brand”.

The final session, “Effective Body Language”, was a very practical workshop, where the girls learnt to recognise that body language not only affects

how others see us, but it can also change the way we see ourselves. The session covered a range of relaxation, breathing and voice exercises and the girls also worked on “owning their space” and ways to avoid panicking under pressure.

At lunchtime the girls had the opportunity to put their networking skills to the test when they attended a networking lunch in the Arts Centre Café. A selection of staff and parents were in attendance representing a range for career areas from Law and Marketing, to Management, the Arts and Teaching.

News from Sport

Sailing - National champion!

Celebrating sporting success of the Year, and Most Improved Players for each sport. There were also a variety of other team and individual awards such as the District Netball Tournament winners and an award for the Team of the Year.

The annual Pipers Corner Sports Awards Presentation Evening took place in mid-June and we were hugely privileged to welcome Team GB Hockey Goal Keeper and Rio Olympics Gold medallist, Maddie Hinch, to present the girls with their awards.

A memorable part of the evening was the inspirational talk from our guest speaker, Maddie Hinch, as she told the story of her journey from school and club Hockey to representing the country at the Olympic Games. During her speech, complete with film and audio of some of her career highlights, Maddie focussed on the benefits of setbacks and how the experience of things going wrong can ultimately lead to success. Maddie has faced many challenges along the way to Olympic Gold and she encouraged the girls to keep trying in the face of adversity saying, “Fundamentally we cannot choose what happens to us. But we can choose how we respond to events.”

It has been a very busy and exciting sporting year at Pipers with nearly 500 sporting fixtures and events completed by 70 teams in over 16 different sports. The awards presented during the evening included Full and Half Colours, Coach’s Players

Following the formal presentations the Award winners were lucky enough to have group photos taken with Maddie, complete with her Olympic Gold medal, which she had brought along to show the girls.

Sports Day 2017

There was great excitement at the end of June as we held our annual Sports Day. Thankfully the rain stayed away and there was plenty of House Spirit on show as all the girls from Reception to Sixth Form took part in a number of events to win points for their Houses.

The day started with Junior Sports Day for girls in Reception to Year 4. Each girl performed a run, jump and throw, as well as competing in a number of other events. Selected girls then also took part in some distance running events, along with relays to end the morning.

Congratulations go to Hampden House who were named as the Junior Sports Day champions at the end of the event.

In the afternoon the Senior Sports Day for girls in Year 5 to Sixth Form began with the

Massive congratulations to Lucy H (Year 10) who, along with her sailing partner Ben Hutton Penman, became a National Champion, after winning the PA Consulting UK RS Feva National Championships over half-term. Lucy and Ben beat 110 other pairs to become the Champions in one of the most competitive youth boats in the country. We look forward to hearing about how the pair get on at the World Championships taking place in Holland in July. Well done, Lucy!

Mini London Marathon

traditional House parade, before the girls took to the track and field to compete in a variety of events including long jump, shot putt, high jump, javelin/vortex howler throw and a range of sprint, middle distance and relay races.

All girls spent the afternoon based in their Houses, with an array of banners and mascots on show as they cheered on their fellow competitors.

The final result saw Milton House take home the Senior Sports Day trophy for an impressive third year in a row. Hampden came second with Penn in third and Mandeville in fourth.

This year’s Senior “Victrix Ludorum Cup”, which is awarded to the girl who gains the most points in individual events went to Clara H (Year 9). The Year 5/6 “Victrix Ludorum Cup” was awarded to Lucy N (Year 5).

Prep girls were inspired to take on a fitness challenge in April when they hosted their very own “Mini London Marathon” charity cross-country event in aid of Barnardo’s. The girls’ route, of approximately one mile, was lined with posters representing the London landmarks seen along the route of the actual London Marathon, designed and painted by Year 5 girls and organised by our Year 6 Geography subject leaders.

By the end of the event Pipers girls had collectively run the equivalent of 3.4 London Marathons!

Athletics success In mid-June a number of Prep girls competed in the IAPS Regional Athletics at the Thames Valley Athletics Stadium.

Particular congratulations go to Nicole W (Y6) who won both the U12 Javelin and Shot, qualifying for the National Finals at the Alexander Stadium in July.

Millie B (Y6) also had a successful day winning a silver medal for her efforts in the U12 Discus (throwing 15.24m) and just narrowly missing out on the nationals.

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WHO’S WHO the historical Jesus, to Year 8 investigating the ethics of organ donation, to our GCSE students learning about Buddhist meditation and our Sixth Formers reading Descartes. It is an incredibly interesting subject to teach.

What did you do before you joined the School?

Before joining Pipers I was Head of RS at John Hampden Grammar School. In my previous life before teaching I worked in retail and as an estate agent, though I wasn’t a particularly good one!

Name: Neil McKain Position: Head of Religious Studies Brief Description of your role within Pipers Corner As Head of Religious Studies I teach most year groups in the senior school at least once a week. The subject has changed considerably in the time since I left school about twenty years ago. I want the RS curriculum at Pipers to prepare students to live in a diverse and multi-faith world and to enable them to think critically about matters of faith and belief. In one day I can go from teaching Year 7 about

What excites you about the job you do?

This is a simple answer. I love teaching. Students can be slightly alarmed at first when they see how excited I get (I have a habit of hitting my desk in jubilant celebration) when they give a great answer. But watching people learn and make links in class or recall information accurately makes me happy.

What activities do you enjoy in your spare time?

Having two daughters under the age of 7 I’m not sure what this thing you call spare time is! I enjoy spending time with my children, particularly helping them learn to read

News from the PPTA

Goodbye and good luck!

PPTA BBQ and camping night Around 100 people braved a brisk wind to come to the PPTA BBQ and camping weekend in May, enjoying an evening of BBQ and marshmallows roasted over an open campfire. Whilst the adults warmed themselves around the fire – keeping it well-stocked, the children enjoyed playing games in the school grounds. An array of different tents all survived a short deluge of rain in the early hours of the morning, with campers waking to a bright morning and a delicious breakfast, cooked in the school canteen. A big thank you to Phil Gray (Year 5 parent) for organising the event and the Pipers catering team for preparing a great BBQ and breakfast for us.

Mrs Becky Brudenell Mr Jeremy Carey Mrs Pauline Child Ms Lisa Cookson Ms Lily Glypti Mrs Jane Newson Miss Katie Reid Mrs Alison Robinson Mrs Saima Saif Mr Fitz Smith Mrs Harmanna Van Dalen Mrs Georgina Van Ot Miss Eve Wagstaff Mr Neil Walker

Carnival ball We were delighted to welcome a record number of guests to the PTA Carnival Ball at the beginning of July and, judging by the feedback we have received, the evening was a huge success. Thanks to the generosity of those who donated items for the auction and raffle, as well as those who entered or placed auction bids, we raised a fantastic £9700 for our charity, Young Carers Bucks! Our sincere thanks to all involved. The summer ball is a big event for the PTA to organise and we are always keen to hear from anyone who is willing to contribute. If you want to play a part or perhaps have any ideas please do get in touch with us at ppta@piperscorner.co.uk

HAVE YOUR SAY We would love to hear your thoughts on Pipers Post. If you have any comments or suggestions then please contact us.

Pre-Prep Teaching Assistant Head of Design Technology Reception Teacher Head of Psychology Teacher of Mathematics Teacher of Science Teacher of Mathematics and PE Head of Mathematics Teacher of Science Second in English Teacher of Sociology Second in Drama Teaching Assistant Deputy Head

Hello and welcome!

Mr Andy Codling Head of Mathematics Mrs Lesley Cowey Teacher of Mathematics Mrs Laura Crosse Head of Business Studies Mrs Gabrielle Durrant Teacher of Mathematics Ms Jennifer Hanley Teacher of Science Mrs Jo Hurst Second in English Department Ms Claire Kemp Head of Psychology Ms Amy Longstaff Head of Sociology Mr Steven Matthews Head of Physics Mrs Treena Partridge Learning Support Teacher (Primary) Ms Liza Rivers Registrar Mrs Nicola Rogers Teacher of French and Spanish Miss Helen Semple Deputy Head Mrs Roz Tipper Teaching Assistant – Pre-Prep Mrs Joy Walters Teaching Assistant – Prep

and to enjoy books. On the sporting front I love watching rugby and I try to run and swim as much as I can. I am also about to embark on a part-time PhD into the history and development of religious education and I’m thinking that will keep me busy for a while.

Who would you say has inspired you in life?

Jostein Gaarder. He’s the reason I got interested in philosophy and ended up teaching it. I read his famous book Sophie’s World when I was in my mid-teens and it blew my mind. Having only ever learnt about Catholicism at home and school it opened up the entire history of Western philosophy in a way that enchanted me then and continues to do so today.

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

The grounds. I grew up in suburban south London in a house that backed onto an industrial estate. I’m very aware each day as I drive to work through the Chiltern Hills and villages what a privilege it is to work in such a beautiful and peaceful environment.

Autumn Term 2017 Pre-Term Induction – Wednesday 6 September Induction day for Year 7 | 0830-1600 hours Induction morning for all girls in Year 3 and Year 6 | 0900-1300 hours Afternoon welcome meetings for new joiners in Pre-Prep, Year 4 and Year 5 | 1400 hours Afternoon welcome meetings for new joiners in Year 8-10 | 1430 hours Term begins Thursday 7 September | 0830 hours Open Morning Saturday 7 October | 1000 - 1300 hours Half-term begins Thursday 19 October | 1600 hours Half-term ends Monday 6 November | 0830 hours Christmas Fair Saturday 9 December | 1000 - 1300 hours Term ends: Wednesday 13 December | 1600 hours

Fran Knight, Admissions & Marketing Director TELEPHONE 01494 719866 @PipersCornerSCH EMAIL fknight@piperscorner.co.uk www.facebook.com VISIT www.piperscorner.co.uk /PipersCornerSchool