eNewsletter Issue 119

ST GEORGE’S ASCOT

eNewsletter ARTS

Summer 2019 Issue 119

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

FIRST YEAR CHARITY FETE Page 8

ST GEORGE’S DAY Page 3

JAZZ AND DANCE SHOW Page 18

C HOUSE PARTY Page 26

FROM THE HEAD Achievements Page 4

Charity and Community Page 6

Boarding Page 14

With a late return from Easter, we started the term with our St George’s Day celebrations. This is always a special day for the School, and the girls (and staff) positively and cheerfully embraced the new style Georgian Gallop on the fields, including various obstacles, and it was wonderful to see so many girls enthusiastically involved with their houses. The rivalry between the four houses remains as fierce as ever and with more competitions after half-term, including tennis, drama and general knowledge, there is a great deal still to play for.

Across the School the girls have worked hard over the past half term to balance their academic work, and important exams for many, with their co-curricular commitments and passions. In many of the events in the following pages, the girls involved have been playing sports, taking part in trips, dancing on the stage and singing, in the run up to, and during, public exams. This is testament both to their dedication and organisation as well as the importance we place on the girls’ well-being and having the right balance of work, exercise, activity, fun and sleep. This will continue into the final half term of the year as the remaining exams take place and we look forward to some of the biggest events of the School calendar including House Athletics, House Drama, the Sports Review of the Year and Sports Awards, the impressive Art Exhibition, our Music for a Summer Evening concert and finally our annual Prize-Giving on the last day of term.

Liz Hewer Headmistress

IN THIS ISSUE Arts Page 16

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Other News Page 24

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Page 3 St George’s Day

Page 10 Academic

Page 16 Arts

Page 4 Achievements

Page 12 Sports

Page 24 Other News

Page 6 Charity and Community

Page 14 Boarding

Page 26 C House Party

ST GEORGE’S DAY CELEBRATIONS

ST GEORGE’S DAY This half term started with a bang, as girls enjoyed school traditions for St George’s Day including the chapel service, Georgian Feast and Georgian Gallop.

Luck was with us as the weather stayed dry for the Gallop, which this year took the form of an obstacle course on the field to avoid the swimming pool construction site. Pupils and staff performed admirably around the course, tackling the obstacles with determination and humour. It was fantastic to see the effort the runners were putting in, and everyone should be very proud of their performances.

The top 3 teams were: 1st - Alexander House Third Year - well done Daisy, Lara, Ella and Alice 2nd - Becket House Third Year 3rd - Alexander House First and Fourth Year The final team scores were collated by adding up all the teams times and the results were as follows: 1st - Alexander House - 61min 43sec 2nd - Becket House - 64min 20sec 3rd - Darwin House - 65min 30sec 4th - Churchill House - 67min 6sec Well done Alexander House!

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ACHIEVEMENTS

YOUNG ENTERPRISE Wednesday 1 May saw the annual area final of the Young Enterprise competition. St George’s four companies have worked incredibly hard all year to create truly innovative and successful businesses. The area finals event was their opportunity to present their company journey to a panel of judges. We are delighted to announce that ‘Cosmo’ was awarded Company of the Year and progressed to the Berkshire County finals. Our other companies, Koala, Kiwi and Belles Lumieres, also received awards including ‘Best Company Report’ and ‘Best Customer Service’.

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Cosmo headed to the Oracle Conference Centre in Reading for the Berkshire county final on Tuesday 14 May, where they presented their company to a panel of judges and answered some difficult questions about the sustainability and ethical credentials of their product. Cosmo performed incredibly well against some very stiff competition and we congratulate all the girls in Cosmo for their outstanding achievement in reaching the County finals.

We would like to congratulate all our girls on an incredible year’s work.

ACHIEVEMENTS

SHOW JUMPING SUCCESS Fifth Year pupil Imogen has not only been busy revising for her GCSEs this year, but has also been taking to the show jumping arena. Over the Easter holidays, Imogen competed at the South Suffolk Show where she went on to win and qualified for Royal International, a remarkable achievement considering her horse, Betty (Bowland Undercover) has only been ridden for just over a year.

On Sunday 12 May, Imogen rode at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in the 153cm Working Hunter Pony class and came a very respectable sixth.

ROYAL ASCOT SCHOOLS ART COMPETITION Entries flooded in from St George’s girls for the Royal Ascot Schools Art Competition, now in its second year and for all schools in Ascot.

Over 2,000 online entries were submitted from a number of local schools, with St George’s Art scholar Isabel (Third Year) being chosen as the winner both overall and in the age 13-14 category.

Isabel was invited to attend the Ascot Victoria Cup Raceday on Saturday 11 May with her family and Miss Antolik, Head of Art, where the artists were celebrated and she received a £50 Amazon voucher, and cheque for £1,000 for the school.

Isabel has also been invited to attend the Saturday of Royal Ascot where she will have the unique opportunity to have her photograph with some of the jockeys and will receive a special jacket.

St George’s First Year pupil Lucia was also highly commended in the age 12 category for her artwork. We are incredibly proud of both girls for their achievements.

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CHARITY AND COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERING CLUB In the Spring Term two groups of girls, accompanied by members of staff, used their club time to visit care homes in the local area on a Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Having prepared for their visits by thinking through which activities would be most appealing to the residents, the girls have been to three different locations in Ascot. Reverend Sami Watts, School Chaplain, who joined visits on a Tuesday evening commented, ‘The girls have really risen to the challenge with each different home, and have shown lots of warmth, gentleness, compassion and initiative in varying and sometimes difficult circumstances’. The pupils also enjoyed meeting residents such as Hilda who spoke to them about her father’s service in the First World War and leaving school at fourteen.

We hope that these experiences will be the springboard for increasing work in the local community over the coming terms.

FROGMORE ARTWORK This term Mrs Morgan spent some time at Frogmore Junior School where she helped the pupils with their artwork. It was lovely to then see this displayed on the wall in their classroom, and we hope to work together more in the future.

HUMAN RESOURCES CAREERS LUNCH

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Mrs Jennifer Stacey, a senior practitioner in the field of Human Resources and a St George’s mother led a Careers Lunch which was attended by a number of Sixth Form girls. The session began with Mrs Stacey talking about her life growing up in South Wales and how the industrial strife of the time inspired her to look into a career which might support both the interests of workers and employers. Mrs Stacey then discussed the many lessons she had learnt from her career in relation to encouraging the girls in their thinking about employability. Advice included the importance of identifying mentors, creating and tending to an online presence as well as the crucial value of both displaying and proving integrity in interviews. Amongst many memorable statements, Mrs Stacey urged the girls to identify ‘the wave which will soon crash on the shore and which you can be on the crest of’. We are very grateful for her time and insight which will have inspired the girls in considering their post-18 options.

CHARITY AND COMMUNITY AUSTRALIAN EXCHANGE ASSEMBLY The six Third Year girls who comprise the Australian Exchange this year led morning assembly on Monday 13 May. Our visitors from St Catherine’s School, Melbourne, Holly, Pia and Summer commented on their experiences in the United Kingdom since the start of term with their highlights including visits to Scotland, Bath and the excellent school food which compares well to the packed lunches which are the standard in Australian education.

Their St George’s exchange hosts, Annabel, Connie and Lottie told the girls about their time spent “Down Under” in the Spring Term and their highlights which involved surfing, rowing and the outdoor culture made possible by great weather. All the girls expressed their gratitude to their exchange partner’s families, how beneficial the experience had been, and their encouragement for younger girls to apply for the exchange programme in the future.

CLASSICS THEATRE WORKSHOP Pupils from Charters School joined Third and Fourth Year Classicists on Friday 3 May for a theatre workshop. Leyan and Thea tell us about the workshop.

“When we first walked into the Cormack Hall we were greeted

by Kerry, whose personality was very lively and dynamic. We started off doing warm up exercises which helped us get to know the pupils from Charters School. Kerry told us to stand in a line in height order without speaking, as well as standing in groups in silence trying to find people with the same birthday month. After that we had to pair up with someone we didn’t know. We chose one person to stand on the stage whilst the other stood at the top of the Cormack, and Kerry taught us different actions which came from Greek theatre, which we later included in our group work. Next we had one person being a director whilst the other was the actor and we were given different themes including strength, power and money. The director chose the position the actor should stand in and one phrase to say. Later all groups joined together to make larger groups this made it easier to perform a section of the a story based on Agamemnon which we later performed. We then performed a poem by Ted Hughes called “Agamemnon.”

We learned a lot about drama techniques, Greek theatre and most importantly about the play “Agamemnon”; we all had a very good time having fun and learning.”

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FIRST YEAR FET On Monday 20 May the First Years offered up an array of activities and treats for the First Year Fete. The girls started with a float with the goal to raise as much money as possible. They had a very busy and fun hour serving a lot of customers, and most of the school came to support. This year the fete money is going to the three school charities: Electric Eels, Mercy Ships and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Stalls included: sponge the teacher, snow cones and popcorn, bath products and much more.

The final total was a staggering ÂŁ605! A huge well done to all of the girls involved, and thank you to all girls and staff for their generous spending. Thanks also to Sixth Form girls Grace, Erika and Anna who helped the First Year girls.

CHARITY AND COMMUNITY

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ACADEMIC

BLETCHLEY PARK On Monday 29 April the Maths department took all of the Fourth Year girls to Bletchley Park in order to learn more about cyber security and breaking codes. On arrival the girls were split into two groups, one group starting with a cyber security talk and the other with some time to look around the site, before switching. The talk focused on the impact the work done at Bletchley Park has had on the internet and current procedures used to encode data, while also giving the girls the chance to see an Enigma machine in action, coding letters of the alphabet. They got a feel for the huge difficulty involved in trying to decode any message that had been encoded using the Enigma machine. There was also a guided tour of the site for both groups during the day focusing on the people who came to Bletchley and the variety of jobs they did, and the difficult conditions they worked in, especially keeping their work secret from friends and family not even discussing what they did with other Bletchley park workers. The pupils really enjoyed learning about the fact that two thirds of the people at Bletchley were female, doing many of the jobs that had historically been a male preserve before the war. This was a very enjoyable day focusing on the application of Mathematics and its historical impact.

SENIOR ACADEMIC SCHOLARS LUNCH Mr Rhodes and Mr Hoar enjoyed having lunch with the academic scholars of the Fifth Year and Sixth Form on Tuesday 7 May. Over a delicious meal, they discussed topics as wide-ranging as happiness, world poverty and British-ness. The girls were not short on opinions and excellent ideas.

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ACADEMIC

BERLIN At an unsociable hour of the morning on Friday 3 May, a group of Fourth Year Historians set off for Berlin. The aim was to enrich the history learning experiences with a focus on the Cold War and the Nazi Period. Berlin is an exciting, dynamic city with so much history it is difficult to know where to begin. With a talk on the beginnings of the German Empire and a visit to the Reichstag, the stage was set for a whirlwind tour of German History. Key visits included the Holocaust War Memorial, The 1936 Olympic Stadium, which was breathtaking, as well as the sombre visit to Sachsenhausen which was a time of reflection. The girls were a credit to St George’s as they engaged at every opportunity and never complained of the busy days and many miles walked.

ROMAN BATHS On Wednesday 15 May the Third Year visited Bath, which the Romans called ‘Aquae Sulis’.

They spent the morning at the Roman Baths and in the afternoon visited the Museum of Fashion. At the baths, they looked around the baths with an audio-guide and had a lesson on archaeology about the Latin inscriptions and the objects which had been found at the baths, such as amphorae, perfume bottles, brooches and oyster shells. They also had a chance to drink the bath water which had iron in it and did not taste very nice! At lunchtime, they walked from the museum to a beautiful park where they enjoyed a picnic and after lunch they strolled through Bath in glorious sunshine to the Fashion Museum. Here they visited the exhibition and learnt about clothing from different eras. They were able to try on all sorts of different clothes and staged their own fashion show. They ended a lovely day with buying ice creams.

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ESAA TRACK AND FIELD CUP On Thursday 16 May selected girls took part in the Track and Field Cup competition. This is a national event where girls compete in one track and one field event. The year groups were combined to make a Junior team (First and Second Years) and an Inter team (Third and Fourth Years). They then scored points relating to how fast they ran or how far they jumped/ threw.

There were some great performances from many of the girls and we were really impressed by their positive attitude throughout. They encouraged each other and all performed to their best in order to score the maximum points they could. Overall, the Juniors came 6th and the Inters came 7th. Well done to all the girls, and in particular Oona who scored 21 points for her time in the 1500 metres and Ella and Joanna who both scored 18 points for the field events.

DOWNE HOUSE SWIMMING GALA On Wednesday 1 May the U13 and U15 swim team travelled to Downe House for their annual relay gala.

The girls had great swims in the medley relays and freestyle relay with both teams achieving personal best times for their respective age groups.

ASCOT SCHOOLS CRICKET FESTIVAL Our two teams played brilliantly in the Cricket Festival held on the 22 May at Ascot Cricket Club, ending the day with a total of 3 wins, 4 losses and a draw. After a nervous start, the girls got the hang of the scoring and tactical elements of the game and improved through the afternoon. The games saw some big hits from Katie, Carolina and Millie, and an outstanding running catch from Laila. Really well done girls for excellent teamwork and effort.

SPORTS

ATHLETICS MASTERCLASS On Saturday 18 May, SGA Sport welcomed Coach Daniel who delivered and inspirational and informative athletics masterclass, the second of the term. The PE staff were fortunate to be able to choose which disciplines they wanted him to focus on and chose high jump and hurdles. After a thorough warm up, which included some new stretches and muscle recruitment drills, the girls were taught the best techniques for each event and able to try different ways to be successful.

It was great to see how engaged the girls were and how much encouragement Coach Daniel gave the girls. Much improvement was made.

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KNATCHBULL LOWER SIXTH GAMES NIGHT The Lower Sixth girls in Knatchbull enjoyed an evening of snack and games on Monday 29 April. Hot nachos, salsa and sweet treats went down a storm with cups of tea and biscuits. The girls and staff enjoyed playing ‘Don’t Panic’ together; it all got a little competitive and did not live up to its name because the panic set in quite quickly! It was lovely to see the girls working and laughing together.

PRE-GCSE PAMPER NIGHT As the Fifth Year girls finished lessons to start study leave, they certainly deserved a treat! The girls enjoyed party rings, nachos and cups of tea together in the common room. Lots of fun and laughter could be heard, with music playing and the girls dancing together. It was lovely to see the girls switch off from their revision for a short time, enjoy each other’s company and have some fun!

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BOARDING

FIRE PIT & GARDEN GAMES On Thursday 16 May the whole boarding community gathered by the swings to have an evening of fun together. There were garden games, which end up getting a little competitive, and ice creams galore!

The fire pit drew the girls together to toast marshmallows and make smores, as well as keeping them warm throughout the beautiful summer evening. It was a lovely opportunity to get all the girls together and for the older girls to switch off and relax during their exams. We are looking forward to the next one in September.

COLOUR RUN On Saturday 18 May, an excited group of boarders from Knatchbull and Markham got together for a 5km inflatable colour run in Windsor. The girls had special event T-shirts and threw themselves into the warm up which was helped by music being blared out to get everyone in the mood!

The girls attacked each of the obstacles with determination and good humour; bouncing here, there and everywhere! Between the obstacles were colour stations where the girls were showered with coloured powder paint - some girls embraced this more that others!

The girls did well to mostly run the whole way and were encouraged by the high spirits of Ms Kellaris, Miss Stepp and Miss Johnson. Lots of fun was had by all the girls and staff.

OPEN MIC NIGHT Girls and staff put on another wonderful show at the final Open Mic Night of the year on Thursday 2 May. Performances included a wonderful drum solo from Laila and ensemble pieces including “Just Give Me a Reason” from Second Years Elodie, Gemma, Grace, Kinza, Milly and Nyah and “Use Somebody” from Third Years Ellie, Lucy, Emma, Rosa and Amira. A highlight, and surprise, came from Mr Merry, who bravely got up to perform two of his original pieces; a real #SGACapable member of staff!

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ARTS

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JAZZ AND DANCE SHOW Our girls’ talent shone in the annual Jazz and Dance Show on Thursday 9 May, with musical and dance performances from groups and soloists.

The Jazz Band kicked off the evening with renditions of “Hallelujah” and “City of Angels” before performances including a tap duo, a GCSE dance piece, a Kpop (South Korean pop) dance and classical ballet, as well as contemporary and modem pieces. We also saw performances from St George’s’ first ever acro group, the flexibility and agility of whom was greatly envied by many.

Congratulations to all girls involved for creating a true spectacle and a very entertaining evening.

ARTS

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ARTS

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ARTS

JUNIOR CONCERT The third and final Junior Concert of the year showcased the girls’ incredible progress this year, with performances from the Wind Group, Rock & Pop Choir and First Year Choir, along with soloists on flute, piano/vocal and clarinet.

The Junior Concert is a firm favourite with the girls, as they are allowed to perform pieces of their choice, leading to well-known favourites including the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” and One Direction’s “Story of My Life”, as well as traditional pieces by Debussy and Elgar.

It was wonderful to see how the girls’ confidence has grown over the year, and to watch them perform admirably both solo and in groups.

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ARTS

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OTHER NEWS

CO-CURRICULAR SCHOLARS LUNCHES

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JUNIOR

SENIOR

The Junior Co-Curricular Scholars met on Friday 17 May to enjoy stimulating discussion whilst enjoying the School’s excellent food.

The girls spoke about their current cocurricular activities in school and beyond with many of the pupils commenting on the success of the Jazz and Dance Show in which many of them took part. Along with Miss Antolik, Mr Hillier and Mr Wright, the girls then went on to discuss the importance of inspiration and the impact that teachers and coaches can have on a young person’s creativity with both positive and negative aspects detailed. It was a very pleasant lunch with everyone particularly enjoying Mr Hillier being asked whether Beethoven had inspired him as a young musician with a form of words that indicated that the venerable Director of Music might have been a contemporary of the German master. Mr Hillier assured all those present that he was not quite that old.

The Senior Co-Curricular Scholars, a group representing high-achieving girls in sport, art, music and drama in the Fifth Year and above, met over lunch to discuss their work and interests alongside relevant member of staff. The discussion was wide-ranging but included the play “Witness for the Prosecution” with its innovative use of staging and the audience as well as other recent productions seen on the West End stage by the girls such as “All About Eve”. The group discussed the initiative of Chobham Rugby Club in creating the Surrey Chargers mixed ability rugby team as well as the world famous Body Worlds exhibit which developed into a conversation about the purpose and power of shock in art. It was an entertaining and enlightening lunch which ended with all the scholars wishing the departing Upper Sixth pupils the best of luck in their forthcoming examinations.

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BRONZE DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S AWARD PRACTICE Well done indeed to all the Third Year girls who participated with enthusiasm and great determination in the Bronze expedition on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 May. The girls had to show true grit and resilience to remain in (mostly!) good spirits despite wet tents, wet clothes and generally wet conditions! There was some excellent teamwork, strong navigation, great fire-lighting skills and exquisite and innovative cooking. This capable and confident group of girls will now be going on to prepare for the qualifying expedition in September.

CHURCHILL HOUSE PARTY Churchill House hosted their much awaited party on Friday 26 April; this was a joyous day as the celebration had been scuppered on two previous occasions; first by inclement weather conditions and then by the tyranny of calendrical constraints.

The theme this year was ‘Safari/Wildlife’ and it was lovely to see so many parents and family members make an effort to show off their ‘wild’ side. Churchill House girls were, as usual, full of life and good cheer. Welcome drinks were followed by a formal meal which set things up nicely for some fantastic entertainment later on. It always means a lot to the girls to showcase their talents to an audience of loved ones. This delightful evening would not have been possible without the commitment, participation and teamwork of all the girls who give their time freely and happily to make us the success we are. The evening concluded with a speech by Mr Naeem, encapsulating the spirit of Churchill House; he thanked everyone who helped make this party a roaring occasion.

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ARTS

ST GEORGE’S ASCOT

#SGAConfident #SGACapable #SGAConnected @stgeorgesascot

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