St Benedict's News - Michaelmas Term 2020

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St Benedict’s Dance Show 2020 – page 14/15

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Dear Parents, As I write, we are almost at the end of a second very unusual term. I am delighted that we have fulfilled our aim of running the school as normally as possible, while keeping everyone safe. With a few logistical changes, many weekly co-curricular and academic activities have continued. The Helikon Centre for Academic Stretch and Challenge has offered a wide range of opportunities, and pupils have achieved very high standards in the performing arts, with an excellent online St Cecilia’s Concert, Dance Show and Drama performances.Our sporting programme has also continued, with a number of students qualifying for elite sporting programmes. There have been successful Duke of Edinburgh’s expeditions and a good deal of activity in the Combined Cadet Force.

Our first ever ‘Giving Week’ at St Benedict’s was generously supported by many parents and Old Priorians, and my thanks go to all those of you who made a donation.

Finally, I have been hugely impressed by the response of our pupils and their families to our collections for Ealing Foodbank, and to the Christmas Hamper appeal. Thank you so much for your generous support of this very worthwhile initiative.

With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to you and your families,

Andrew Johnson Headmaster Dear Parents,

Last year’s mock MMIs: both students pictured gained places at medical school, along with 2 others

Mock MMIs for St Benedict’s Medics Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science applicants took part in mock, online interviews, modelled on medical schools’ ‘Multiple Mini Interviews’, or MMIs. These consist of seven different ‘stations’, or small interview scenarios, each with a different focus, including ethics, data interpretation, role play based on a practical scenario, and personal attributes.

Mrs O’Connor, Head of Chemistry and co-ordinator of St Benedict’s medicine school applications, worked with the Careers and ICT departments to set up real-time interviews at seven different computer stations.

“This experience was very useful to me, especially as we now know what to expect from virtual interviews”, said Delia Capatina (U6). “The feedback from this indicated my strong areas, as well as those which I need to do more research on. This will ensure that I am up to date with the current healthcare situation and ready to tackle any question. I am now confident and motivated for the upcoming interviews.”

It goes without saying that this has been a most unusual Michaelmas term, but it has been so lovely for our school community to come together again and for the children to be able to enjoy a broad range of academic and cocurricular activities.

Plenty of activity has taken place online, including music and Dance Show performances, Nativity Plays and the Carol Service.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Thank you very much for being so supportive of the St Benedict’s Giving Week, the Ealing Foodbank and the Christmas Hampers. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

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I wish you and your family and friends a relaxing, if somewhat different, Christmas and New Year Holiday.

With best wishes,

Rob Simmons Junior School Headmaster

Working for Google Alvin Lee (OP17) returned to St Benedict’s (virtually) to deliver an excellent talk about working for Google. Alvin gave us a behind-the-scenes glimpse of working for the company, spoke about Google Assistant features and offered tips on applying for an internship. Alvin left St Benedict’s with 4 A*s to read Computer Science at Imperial College.

Team-building day at Hillingdon Outdoor Activities Centre New Form 3 pupils at St Benedict’s had a wonderful time at Hillingdon Outdoor Activities Centre at the beginning of the autumn term. Accompanied by their Head of Year, Mr McCarthy, and year-group tutors, teams of pupils took part in a series of problem-solving challenges, including raft-building.

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ACADEMIC SCHOLARS’ EVENING Academic exhibitioners

you’ve been lucky enough to get a really good education at a fine school like St Benedict’s, there is a real obligation on you to try to put back into society some of what your parents, teachers and school have enabled you to secure.”

Lord Patten finished by wishing everyone well for the future: “I’m sure that on the basis of the academic achievement you’ve had so far you’ll do fantastically well and take the world by storm.”

Lord Patten Scholars

Abbot Scholars

Lord Patten of Barnes, alumnus and Patron of St Benedict’s, spoke to the Sixth Form scholars at a virtual event on November 23rd.

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In his address, Lord Patten congratulated all the scholars on their hard work and academic success, which, he acknowledged, cannot have been easy for them in the current situation:

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“I think we have to recognise it’s really tough on young people at school who are dealing with this pandemic, and still managing to secure the best possible education.

So the first thing I want to do is to congratulate everybody who has worked so hard this year, in order to get to the sort of universities they want to get to, and everybody who’s made sure that they’ve made the

most of the considerable academic and intellectual talents they have by working so hard, very often in difficult circumstances.”

He then highlighted the importance of using a good education to make a valuable contribution to the world: “We do say to each other that we live in a meritocratic society in which ability gets you to the top. There is some strength in that argument, but there are still an awful lot of people who have a tougher time making the most of their talents. One of the areas in which we’ve seen social inequity in our society is in education.

I just wanted to remind you that if

Two Upper 6th Patten scholars then gave presentations on their particular academic interests.

Phoebe Lawes spoke about her interest in psychology, and her discovery this year of “an incredibly rich online space for expanding my knowledge; I could be in California one day, listening to world famous psychologist Philip Zimbardo, and then hop over to the Netherlands to hear the author of Human Kind, Rutgter Bregman, discuss how we humans are all pretty decent really.”

She encouraged the new Lower 6th scholars to “dig deep into what really fascinates you beyond the curriculum.” Oscar Jones talked about his interest in engineering and how he has researched green energy this year: “The challenge of energy storage will arguably become the greatest engineering challenge in the years to come”, he said.

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...there is a real obligation on you to try to put back into society some of what your parents, teachers and school have enabled you to secure.

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Exam results The number of A*/A grades achieved by A level students at St Benedict’s is up again this year, at 61.2%. 87.9% of exams were graded A*– B.

GCSE results at St Benedict’s were also impressive, with 46.8% of all exams graded 9–8 (A*) and 72.5% graded 9–7 (A*–A).

The Headmaster said: “We believe awarding the Centre Assessed Grades was the best outcome for our GCSE students. The ‘silver lining’ is that they have done very well and were able to move on smoothly to sixth form study in September. Their excellent results are testimony to their hard work and significant academic ability.”

72.5%

of GCSE students were graded 9–7 (A*–A)

University destinations St Benedict’s Sixth Form leavers began their undergraduate courses in a wide range of subjects this autumn – from Classics at Cambridge and History at St Andrew’s, to Medicine at Oxford and Engineering at Durham.

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86% of all students gained places at their first-choice university 70% are attending top Russell Group universities (up 22% since 2016) 4 students are at Oxford and Cambridge 4 St Benedict’s girls have gained places at Medical school 34 students (17 girls, 17 boys) are reading STEM-related subjects

Students are given lots of support with their course choices and applications by the Careers Department and tutors throughout the sixth form years. There are one-to-one higher education interviews, and information evenings on the application process, alternative pathways (such as degree apprenticeships and workplace-based higher education) and on applying to overseas universities.

For students who wish to study medicine, veterinary science and dentistry, the St Benedict’s Medical Society offers support with finding relevant work experience, insight and exposure to the different fields, and interview practice.

We wish our sixth form leavers all the very best at this exciting new phase in their lives and look forward to following their progress in the years to come.

A level students and the Headmaster on results day

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

The Headmaster, Andrew Johnson, said: “In the uniquely challenging circumstances presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, the award of A level grades this year was a stressful process for our students, anxious to see that their hard work over almost two years was rewarded fairly. Happily, they achieved some very pleasing results, which was no more than this able and hard-working cohort deserved. They demonstrated great patience and resilience throughout this difficult time.”

87.9%

of A level students were graded A*– B

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ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Devised Performance

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This term our Upper 6 students gave an outstanding and highly visual performance exploring the gradually increasing isolation of their central character as he fights against the preconceived ideas of those around him.

Inspired by Berkoff’s Metamorphosis, the students’ brief was to create a piece of original theatre which mirrored the practitioner’s methodologies.

Improvisation comes from memory, whether real or imagined and Berkoff’s concern is with how physically inspired memory is mimed. His ideas for the theatre were developed in response to his feelings of being an outsider, having famously said in response to the character of Gregor in Kafka’s Metamorphosis, “I can at last identify with something. The beetle”. He firmly believed that theatre must fuse together opposites and celebrate contradictions, mime must collide with the spoken word, performance must be energetic and exaggerated but capture subtlety and detail, and strict choreography must allow for moments of improvisation with the actor and the ensemble being central to the performance.

Having trained in Paris at L’ecole Lecoq, where mime is seen as being central to theatre and not as a separate art form, he realised that gesture must have an emotional connection and to rediscover things in life you need to

create them in another way. He believed that expressionism presented everything on the stage from the perspective of an individual character and that voice, movement and production elements should be heightened and distorted to reflect this perspective.

It was absolutely riveting to watch and well done to everyone involved.

Ms Ravenscroft, Head of Drama

The internationally renowned theatre company, Frantic Assembly, gave an inspiring virtual workshop for our Drama GCSE students this term.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Frantic Assembly Drama Workshop

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TRY POE K WEE ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

The week before half term was devoted to a ‘Celebration of Poetry’ in the Junior School. Each day began with poetry readings and discussion, and pupils learned and performed their favourite poems throughout the week. Every class created a Poetry Door to make their poetic creations visible, and group performances of poems such as Lewis Carroll’s The Walrus and the Carpenter encouraged active engagement with the power of poetry.

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EARLY YEARS This term, PP1 have been thinking about different types of buildings: a mystery silhouette of a building was posted to them each week and the children had to work as detectives, looking in books, online and through discussion work, to find out what the mystery building was.

They have explored what buildings are made of, the shapes of different buildings and what they are used for, and their learning has been enhanced by singing songs, retelling stories and an exciting role-play construction site!

Drawing the Eiffel Tower

Making gingerbread men

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Decorating the Christmas tree

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Out of Africa

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Lower Prep and Upper Prep have been learning about Africa’s geography, history, music and art.

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Into the Woods PP2 and PP3 have been exploring woodland flora and fauna, conservation, and some of the myths and legends connected with forests.

We’ll meet again

Form 1 and Form 2 have been learning about World War 2, imagining life as an evacuee, looking at the Blitz, and reading John Boyne’s The boy in the striped pyjamas.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

St Benedict’s marked Armistice Day with a virtual Remembrance Service this year.

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CCF THE

Over the October half term, the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) ran a total of nine days of activities for Years 10–13: DofE expeditions, a Junior and Senior NCO training course, Recruit qualification days and field training exercise at Bramley, and an externally-provided course leading to a Level 2 BTEC in Teamwork & Personal Development. Some of our Cadets have recorded their experiences.

Junior NCO Cadre course (20–22 Oct 2020) After two years in the CCF and earning our berets, we are now ready to move on to the next stage in our CCF careers: teaching Recruits.

And thus the members of Casey Troop took part in the Junior NCO Cadre during half term; despite the challenges we face owing to the coronavirus, we were able to complete our Methods of Instruction course and learn how to lead fellow pupils both on the school site and in the field.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

During this course we learned valuable skills such as leadership, instruction, and delivering lessons, all critical to our progress within the CCF, as well as being useful in later life. In order to pass this course we had to be able to deliver three competent lessons in Skill-at-Arms, Fieldcraft, and Drill. Although we found it difficult teaching for the first time, especially in front of our peers, we thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity and have taken away vital skills.

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We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of the CCF staff which allowed us to take part in the JNCO Cadre, and look forward to applying these skills when teaching Recruits over the months and years to come.

Dmr Rami Ahmad, Dmr Natalia McFadzean, & Dmr Christopher Vaughan (U5)

CVQO BTEC course (17 Oct 2020) & Senior NCO Cadre course (20–22 Oct 2020)

I attended two courses over the first week of half term. The first was a one-day CVQO BTEC in leadership.

We discovered how the leadership skills which we have learned through the CCF can be used in real life, and how we would actually put them into practice. We had several interesting discussions over the day about how each of us would have acted in different situations, such as acting as a police officer when there is an aggravated crowd owing to a blown-down tree on the road. It felt rewarding to gain a nationally recognised qualification for something which I have learned through the CCF. The second of these events was a joint JNCO-SNCO Cadre. Going into the SNCO Cadre, I was nervous. I was now being asked to step up to a much higher level of leadership than I was used to; however, I took the challenge on board. Over the course of three days, we delivered a drill lesson to the JNCO Cadre candidates (much to their delight, being taught the same lesson four times in a row!).

We also learned about platoon-level tactics, and devised a plan to capture an enemy compound. We were given a briefing on the situation and likely enemy strengths and positions, satellite imagery, photographs, and

maps of a real location. I acted as the platoon commander in this exercise, and it was so much fun to see how all of our ideas could come together to form a plan that could actually work in real life. It was a real mental workout, as we had to factor in all sorts of conditions, such as what time to launch the attack and which section was moving where at each different point.

After we were certain of our plan, we had to build a model to help the JNCO candidates visualise the area we were attacking – this, again, was a new experience, as I had never realised how much work went into building an accurate model. I delivered an ‘O’ Group (“orders group”) briefing, running through a formal set of orders to all of the JNCO Cadre candidates.

It was stressful but enjoyable, as I could see the excitement on their faces at the opportunity to actually carry out the attack we had devised.

The other SNCO Cadre candidates then went and delivered section level ‘O’ Groups, and I went round making sure that the plan was being correctly passed across to them. In the end, they seemed to know what our mission was and how we were going to carry it out. We finally learned how to be effective leaders and about the various forms of leadership, which was really interesting. I saw how I could adapt my previous leadership style into one that was even better.

By the end of the course, I felt like I was a much stronger NCO than I was beforehand, and I am really looking forward to our field exercise where I will get to put everything I have learned into practice.

Cdt Sgt Amy Vaughan (U6)

The CCF Annual Review St Benedict’s 2019 Recruits passed out as Cadets in November at the superbly choreographed Annual Review.

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ST BENEDICT’S

DANCE SHOW

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ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

The annual dance production took place this term, postponed from March because of the pandemic. Over 150 dance students, from Pre-Prep to Sixth Form, performed in the dazzling virtual show: ‘Dreams & Nightmares’ consisted of 17 dance pieces ranging from sleepy prepreps waking up in Giant Land, and sequined Form 1 disco-divas, to a nocturnal skeleton invasion and star-struck sixth formers dreaming of life on Broadway.

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Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards Over 100 St Benedict’s students completed their Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold and Silver Award expeditions over half term.

Twenty-one sixth form students successfully completed their Gold qualifying expedition on Dartmoor, in extremely challenging conditions.

Mrs Lee, DofE Leader at St Benedict’s, said: “They were BRILLIANT in their navigation and walked between 18–19 km every day, wild camping for 2 days with bare essentials. All their waterproofs were wet through, but despite all of this they did so well.

Gold itself is quite challenging but having to complete it in one of the wettest weeks of the year is really tough. I’m so proud of all of them.”

In the Cotswolds, almost forty Upper 5th students completed their Silver

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Expedition in the Surrey Hills

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qualifying expedition, walking about 15–16 km each day. After a late start on day one it was a race against time, losing the daylight they needed to set up camp. “Again, they faced the challenges head on and did well”, said Mrs Lee. Finally, the Lower 5th Silver practice expedition took place in the Surrey Hills, where over forty students walked between 12 and 14 km each day. “The weather was mild to start with but finished with torrential rain on the last day”, said Mrs Lee. “They were all drenched through but relieved that they finally achieved their Silver practice.”

“Along the way, we swiftly ate lunch and plotted our course for the next two and a half days. After that was done we headed out to the campsite, where we encountered steep hills and wet weather.”

Thomas O’Brien (L5) “On the final day we started very early, leaving camp at 7:10. We walked up the largest tor in the dark with headlights. This gave us the opportunity to watch the sunrise at the peak. We descended into very boggy marshland which was very difficult to walk through as our boots repeatedly got stuck in very deep mud. When we completed the expedition in Ashburton there was a great sense of accomplishment felt by all members of the group as we were very proud of overcoming the challenges that we were presented through the expedition.

Laurence Daly-Jones (U6)

Expeditions on Dartmoor and the Cotswolds

BRILLIANT in their navigation...

”

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“They were

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St Benedict’s outreach There has been lots of fundraising activity and generosity shown by students in all year-groups this term. For homeless charities, James Hunter (L6) took part in The Big Sleep Out, raising £1,110 for The Glass Door, while Gervase House raised £1,200 for St Mungo’s. ‘Hello Yellow’ day raised money for Young Minds, and ‘Red Wednesday’ supported Aid to the Church in Need.

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Finally, every form-group made a superb effort in creating beautiful Christmas hampers for Ealing Foodbank.

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Research Posters All pupils in F3, L4, U4 and L5 are invited to extend their knowledge and explore any area they are interested in; to research something that has caught their attention in one of their subjects, or something they have come across outside lessons. Having done their research, they produce a poster to summarise and present their findings.

Weekly presentations in the Helikon Centre have covered a fascinating and wide variety of subjects. They will continue to the end of the academic year.

Michaelmas Term Poster Presentations U5: Randomness – Rami Ahmad; Hypnosis – Natalia McFadzean; Great Plague – Christopher Vaughan; Reflexology – Eleanor Bowden; Maths of Epidemic – Robert Jeffries; Clothes & Power – Sophia Sandelson; Electric Cars – Arusun Aravinth; Evolution of football – Cameron Hughes; Time – Katriona Reynolds-Imam L5: China – William Bedwin; The Brain & Reading – Zach Khan; Plato’s name – Ned Watts; Why do we dream – Lucy Brooks; What makes a book successful – Callum Chadwick; Music – the effect on us – James Morgan; History of Sign Language – Asad Asghar; Paradoxes – Martha Hickman; Tornadoes – George Simpson U4: Rubics Cube – Luca Cheshire; US v UK Healthcare – Riya Kantamaneni; Dreams – Lily Thornton; Antibiotic resistance – Arthur Hair; Surviving on Mars – Felix Kloetgen; Euthanasia – Helena Ramsden; Moldavite – Ravi Gupta; Female Boxers – Connie Reilly; Footballers’ wages – George Toynton

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L4: Economic impact of toilet paper – Freddie Charnaud; Victorian Medicine – Lydia Ramsden; Chernobyl – Max Smedley-Wild; Avian intelligence – Rory Johnston; Bach v Vivaldi – George Majcherczyk-Olczak; Apollo 13 Mission – Maria Scott; Genetic Mutations – Mazin Abbas; Neutron Stars – Katia Karadimou; History of Communication – Oscar Thaysen

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Why the EPQ and MOOCs are so popular at St Benedict’s Intellectual curiosity and the value of learning for its own sake have always been highly prized at St Benedict’s.

The EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) give sixth form students the opportunity to explore what really interests them, with the HPQ (Higher Project Qualification) available to students in the Middle School.

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Apart from being an ideal way to go deeper into something of particular interest, completing an EPQ or MOOC has a very positive impact on getting into the most selective universities: both show the capacity for independent learning, the ability to research, and a willingness to pursue topics that are not on the examination syllabus.

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Students can extend their A level study or research a completely different topic, while developing independent thinking, research and evaluative skills. They are assessed on their research process (as recorded in a log-book), their project – either a 5,000-word research project, or an artefact supported by a 2,000 word report – and final presentation, all under the guidance of a supervisor. It is worth half an A level.

The HPQ, taken in Lower 4, is structured in the same way, requiring a shorter, 2,000-word report. It is worth half a GCSE.

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What the students say…

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“The foundation of my EPQ is Romantic poetry, but to build upon that further it is an attempt at an explanation for Coleridge’s literary downfall; I explore how the degradation of his symbiotic partnership with Wordsworth, as well as other factors such as his opium addiction, his lack of love, and how he expressed that through an inferiority complex, can all be explored through the perverse, psychological nature of his poetry. Principally, I chose to do an EPQ because of the independent research and the freedom it entailed. It allows me to harness my interests in English Literature and then broaden my perspective on a topic that I already found intriguing.”

Grace Walker

“For my EPQ I will be debating how to design a Gallery for Kew Gardens that aesthetically complements its surroundings. I have decided to embark on an artefactbased EPQ Project and I am hoping to produce an architectural journal, as I feel that it would complement my future plans of studying architecture. I believe that the EPQ will give me the opportunity to explore and research a topic that I would not have the opportunity to otherwise investigate in such depth at this stage in my education.

Furthermore, I hope to demonstrate that I am capable of undertaking the kind of independent reading, research, and essay writing that is the mainstay of most undergraduate degrees. Most of all I would like to do an EPQ as I would enjoy the challenge of doing a deep dive into a specialized topic that I am enthusiastic about that I would otherwise not have the opportunity to do.”

Sebastian Ruano-Knapp “My EPQ is based on the Windrush scandal of 2018, concerning people who were wrongly detained, denied their rights and possibly deported from the UK. Many of those affected had arrived in the UK from the Caribbean islands in large boats, most famously, Empire Windrush. My EPQ is based on whether this scandal could ever happen again and how policy change in government affects the deportation of Caribbeans living in London. I chose this topic because I was interested in the Black Lives Matter movement around the world and I wanted to link that with my interest in politics.”

Alex Crown “My EPQ subject is the neurological impact of music on people suffering with Dementia. I chose this topic because I am interested in studying medicine at university, and I am passionate about music.”

Lucas Holmes “I am doing my EPQ on Female War Artists in World War One and Two. We learn a lot about many influential male characters, and it is apparent that we do not learn a lot about female characters in history due to their position in patriarchal and unequal society.”

Stella Burgon

Creative Thinking: Techniques and Tools for Success, EdX This included units on collaboration, innovation and idea generation.

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Thousands of MOOCs covering a vast range of subjects are offered by universities from all around the world.

Typically they last around 4–8 weeks, and require about 1–2 hours of work per week. Students in the Sixth Form are encouraged to complete at least one MOOC and attend two group sessions each half term to check progress and develop skills such as creating effective online videos and presentations.

“I enjoyed the online discussions where we could engage with other people’s ideas and opinions. I learnt how to criticise my own plans and solutions and see the flaws in them so I could strengthen them or make contingency plans. I now know many different ways to generate ideas and solutions to overcome problems.”

Benjamin Ziprin

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Lessons from Ebola: Preventing the Next Pandemic, HarvardX “I remember hearing about the 2014 Ebola outbreak but I didn’t really understand the situation then. I enjoyed going into detail about it and being able to compare the handling of the situation to our current one. The first Ebola outbreak was in 1976, which was surprising as the 2014 outbreak was so bad despite the virus being known about for almost 40 years.

The MOOC has helped me understand how a pandemic should be handled and so has given me a better understanding of the coronavirus pandemic, which I couldn’t have gained from just reading the media. It has also shown me how a vaccine isn’t always the only solution to the problem.”

Shania Debough

An Introduction to English Criminal Law, Coursera “As I am considering a Law Conversion after my first university degree, the MOOC provided a valuable insight. I found the session on case law to be especially interesting as I was able to examine precise examples of the legal system in action. I was interested to learn that in England and Wales anyone over the age of ten can be charged with a crime. Our age of criminal responsibility is lower than any other country in Europe. This MOOC gave me an in-depth insight into a field that I am very passionate about. It also helped me strengthen my time management skills.”

Conor Dolan

Introduction to Forensic Science, Nanyang Technological University Topics included: Chemical analysis, Ascertaining time of death, DNA in forensics, Fingerprinting: polymers and fibres, Narcotics, Toxicology.

“The case studies were particularly interesting especially seeing how dependence on forensics has changed throughout the years, as people begin to trust the science over witnesses.“ Amy Slaughter

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Fashion as Design, The Museum of Modern Art “I enjoyed being able to extend my knowledge outside of the school curriculum. I learnt about the sustainability of clothes and how the movements in the direction of a healthier planet have influenced materials and how we produce clothes. The MOOC has widened my knowledge which will help with applications in the future and enrich my love for design and fashion.”

Oscar Hancock

Dinosaur Paleobiology, University of Alberta “This course taught me about the dinosaurs’ place in Earth’s geologic timescale, how they evolved and came to be the dominant land mammals in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and finally how these beautifully diverse creatures became extinct. The MOOC gave me a wider understanding of ecosystem dynamics and how changes in the dinosaurs’ environment led to both their success and their downfall. I think this helped me to gain a better understanding of what it means to study a subject; it is not just about learning facts.

My MOOCs have opened up my mind to different things that I wouldn’t necessarily learn about in school but may want to study in the future. Most importantly, I think MOOCs have shown me the importance of academic inquiry for its own sake and that I must learn because I enjoy it, not just because there is an exam.”

James Hunter

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The Witches Matilda

Fantastic Mr Fox

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

L4 Drama Competition

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Lower 4 pupils have been busily rehearsing for their Drama Competition this term. They performed four short plays by Roald Dahl – The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox and Matilda – guided and encouraged by Sixth Form drama students Alex Crown, Kaitlyn Moran, Caitlin Macgregor, Grace Fuchs, Elena Russo and Tori Dryden. “All of the Lower 4s were brimming with enthusiasm, and their remarkable levels of effort ensured that they were all pushed to their full potential”, said Tori.

“It was a deeply valuable experience for all of us sixth formers as we were able to gain skills in directing that we didn’t previously have, and it gave us all more confidence in our own ideas and perspectives of plays. We are all so proud of the Lower 4s and thank them for all their hard work.”

Winners Oscars for best actress go jointly to Iris Whiteley and Lucie Remington Runner up: Isabel Murphy

Oscar for best actor goes to Luke Crown Joint runners up: Jamie Perotti and Ranveer Singh

Best play goes to: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Luke Crown, Iris Whiteley and Lucie Remington (on MS Teams); Sixth Formers are Caitlin Macgregor and Elena Russo for Best Play (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

ST CECILIA’S DAY CONCERT Jazz, strings, vocal music, Big Band and soloists all featured in this year’s fabulous virtual St Cecilia’s Day Concert.

Of the many pupils who have instrumental and singing lessons each week, 41 have passed Associated Board music exams this term.

Particular successes include Rory Johnston (L4), who has achieved Grade 8 with Distinction on the Alto Saxophone, Oscar Jones (U6), who has achieved his Grade 8 with Distinction on piano, and Lucas Holmes who is awarded a Royal School of Music Diploma with Merit on the Piano. Congratulations to all!

Top: L5 Strings: Warriors by Wedderburn Centre [l to r]: L4 Jazz: ‘Just the Way You Are’ – Billy Joel arr. Sammy Nestico; Stephanie Maalouf (U6): ‘When he sees me’ – Sara Bareilles; Helena Ramsden (U4): Violin Monti Czardas Bottom [l to r]: L5 Jazz: ‘Forget You’ – Cee Lo Green arr. John Berry; Lucas Holmes (L6): Moonlight Sonata, Mvt. III Presto Agitato – Beethoven

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Instrumental music success

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CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Animation Club Form 3 pupils have been learning how to animate, using stop motion animation. This involves creating a character, usually out of plasticine or card, and taking photographs. Between each photograph the character is moved incrementally.

We have also been learning about the 12 basic principles of animation, such as ‘squash and stretch’. From using these techniques, students are producing very creative characters, backgrounds and stories. They have taken to it quickly and really enjoy the process.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Mr Flanagan, Art, Design & Technology teacher

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Photography Club Lower 4 photographers are learning lots of new skills, such as how to control depth of field, movement, and experimenting with chiaroscuro lighting, working in the studio and around the school.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Mrs Burns, Art, Design & Technology teacher

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SPORT ST BENEDICT’S

Francesca Newbold, Layla Ruffini and Emma Thacker

NETBALL

Congratulations to Emma Thacker (U6), who has been selected for the England senior Netball Vitality Super League squad for the second year running.

There have also been some individual Netball successes for girls in the Middle and Upper School: Mia Hobbs (U5), Francesca Newbold (L5), Layla Ruffini (L6) and Isabelle Haran (U5) have been selected as members of the Academy at the Mavericks Club, and Connie Reilly (U4) has been selected for the London Pulse Academy. Layla has also been selected to be an ambassador for the London Youth Games: her role will be to help empower young Londoners, giving them a voice to influence the future of the Games and other sports issues. Well done to all!

Mia Hobbs and Isabelle Haran

RUGBY

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Congratulations to Sam Pal-Byrne (U6) and Alex Gribbon (L6), who have been selected as part of the London Irish Gold Group U18 Academy and will participate in the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Academy League in January 2021.

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Sam Pal-Byrne and Alex Gribbon

JUNIOR SCHOOL BOYS’

The boys have shown an outstanding approach to their sport in these challenging times. Many of them have taken the opportunity to improve their rugby skills, and have also had the chance to apply their understanding of the sport to a variety of other games with similar concepts.

The winners for each age category were Naomi Pantea (PP3), Anastasia Norman (LP), Claudia Scott (UP), Kanika Sandhu (F1) and Iona Keenlyside (F2), with a number of other excellent performances.

Mr O’Hara, Head of JS Girls’ Games/PE

Additionally, the boys enjoyed taking part in the House Cross Country competition: there were a number of notable performances, and congratulations go to Tom Lewis (PP3), George Girgis (LP), Didier Lumsden (UP), Tom Hill (F1) and Adrian Cieniewski (F2) for winning their respective races.

Mr Jukes, Head of JS Boys’ Games/PE

While we are unable to play competitive fixtures against other schools at present, we are very fortunate to be able to continue our PE and Games lessons. In these sessions, the girls have shown that you do not have to play fixtures to enjoy sport, which has been extremely pleasing to see! It has been great to see them challenge themselves week in, week out during hockey, which has resulted in drastic improvements across the board.

The recent House Cross Country tournament gave pupils the chance to compete against each other over distances varying from 1–2 km depending on the year group. It was a wonderful occasion, with a perfect mix of competitiveness and sportsmanship and it was great to see all pupils supporting each other as they crossed the finish line.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

GIRLS’

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BOOK WEEK 2020 ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

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As part of our annual Book Week celebrations, author Tom Palmer made a virtual visit to St Benedict’s to explain the process of writing vivid historical fiction. In his live, online talk for Form 3 and Lower 4 pupils, Tom talked about his most recent historical novels: After the War, D-Day Dog, Armistice Runner and Over the Line. He emphasised the importance of carrying out research and using primary sources, such as photographs, maps and recordings, along with actually visiting historical sites and talking to the descendants of those who were there. Tom mentioned other ways to carry out research using secondary sources, including reading non-fiction books, watching films and visiting museums and exhibitions.

Luke, a Lower 4 pupil, said: “It was really interesting to hear how Tom Palmer writes books on historical events, even though he isn’t a historian himself. He showed how he really wants to make sure his books

are as factually correct and as close to the truth as possible.”

The talk concluded with a lively Q&A session, with a wide array of questions from both year groups.

Other activities for Book Week, focusing pupils’ attention on the importance of reading across all

subjects, included a whole school, twenty-minute Drop-Everything-AndRead session, and a ‘Short Story in a Day’, with each lesson beginning with a few paragraphs from Shirley Jackson’s mysterious and engaging short story, Charles.

Miss Wallace St Benedict’s Librarian

NEWS DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI RELATIONS

Dear Parents,

It would be safe to say that despite the current climate we have enjoyed some wonderful examples of working together as a community this term.

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Our first ever Giving Week inspired an exceptional response from our Parental and Old Priorian community, raising significant funds towards a number of key School projects: the increased provision of bursary places, the installation of floodlights at Perivale and the refurbishment of the Drama studio.

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It was wonderful to have so many of our Parents, Old Priorians and current students step forward to lend their voices to their favourite project, thus ensuring the Giving Week was a great success. We so enjoyed making the video clips with our Parents, OP’s and students and hearing first hand why the projects are important to them.

I am very grateful as always to our Society of Parents & Friends committee (SPF) for their tireless support behind the scenes to help us both launch and promote the Giving Week.

Together we have raised an amazing £60,000! This is an incredible sum and with further support in the New Year, will have a huge impact on our ability to deliver these projects in 2021.

My sincere thanks to all those who have supported Development this term, your generosity ensures we end 2020 on a very positive note!

Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to wish all our families a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

Best wishes,

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St Benedict’s Connect In January, St Benedict’s Connect, our alumni platform, will celebrate its second birthday. The platform now has over 1,000 members and continues to go from strength to strength. Offering careers advice, as well as employment and mentoring opportunities, this is a great asset for current Sixth Form students and Old Priorians. Should any of our parents wish to advertise employment opportunities on the platform please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Tara George Development & Alumni Relations Director

TH AN K YO U Together we have raised over £60,000 for key school projects #ALLINTOGETHER 29

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PP2 Nativity rehearsal

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