St Mary's Summer Term Newsletter 2023

ISSUE

76

SCHOOL LiFE Summer Term 2023

“I chose to paint a portrait of Father Dermot as he has played such a big part in my life and those of so many other girls at St Mary’s. He is always there to give his best advice and smile when you need one the most.” Emma Simpson, Class of 2019

2 | Father Dermot

‘Au Reservoir’

Father Dermot Where to start when asked to write a short piece to honour the end of an era at SMA that is Fr D? My first memory of Fr D goes back almost thirty years when he walked up the central aisle in the school chapel to celebrate his first mass as the chaplain of the school. He must have had more than two hundred pairs of eyes trained on him at that one time! By the end of Mass, he had the whole school eating out of his hands; he had begun his homily with a story that had created waves of laughter!

I then knew we were onto a good thing. However, every homily, every talk always had a serious message to impart to the school community.

Fr D has been there for all the school community, and he must have second sight as he would appear whenever he was most needed, be it a happy, tragic, or even unusual occasion. Many a hamster, guinea pig and rabbit has he blessed and on the feast of St Francis he would be invited to the Pet Shed to bless all the animals!

Over the years he has married many past pupils either in their home churches or in the School Chapel. He has baptised countless babies and been there at the end of many lives, always bringing hope and sensitivity and comfort to those who were saying farewell to their loved ones.

The Celebratory Mass of 30 April was an indication of all Fr D has done for us. The sports hall was full of happy, yet also sad people who had travelled, some with very early starts, to be present for this momentous occasion and it did not disappoint. There was so much love and affection in that sacred space that it could almost be touched.

May God bless Fr D as he leaves the SMA community to enjoy his writing and some rest. He will be much missed but will be remembered with great love and affection.

Sister Michaela Robinson CJ

Open Day and Prize Giving | 3

Open Day and

Prize-Giving Despite a morning of threatening clouds and a light baptism of rain, the sun eventually shone as the whole school community joined together for our annual Open Day and Prize-Giving celebrations. Mass, accompanied by Campion in exceptionally fine voice, was a particularly poignant occasion this year, beautifully led by Father Dermot, and marking the end of his thirty years of ministry as School Chaplain. Our Chair of Governors Clemmie Vaughan paid a very fond tribute to ‘Father Derm’ on behalf of all the Ascot Alumnae, parents and staff that he has so lovingly cared for and supported since joining the school in 1993. Clemmie thanked Edward Horswell, father of Honor and Christabel, for his longstanding commitment as a governor and his generous sharing of his time and expertise in the service of the school.

Head, who has stepped down as our Director of Liturgy and Ministry; Kate Jenkinson, Head of Mary Ward House since 2012; and Cathy Ellott, Senior Deputy Head, who leaves us to take up her new role as Head of Streatham and Clapham High School. They go with all our love, gratitude and very best wishes.

Mrs Staunton expressed heartfelt thanks to Father Dermot for his thirty years of wonderful ministry at St Mary’s. The outpouring of love at his celebratory Mass earlier this term was echoed when we all rose as one to give Father D a well-earned standing ovation.

Mrs Staunton began her speech by thanking Clemmie for her dedication to St Mary’s in this, her first year as Chair of Governors, and for her sound advice and good humour that make it such a pleasure working with her. She went on to give a flavour of some of our pupils’ achievements in all areas of the school, including debating, the SPOKE national art documentary competition, the UK Mathematics Trust competitions, and the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which has seen record numbers of pupils taking part this year. St Mary’s pupils have enjoyed many sporting successes, with eight new school records, and a wide variety of team and individual achievements in a range of sports. One highlight was the netball and hockey tour of South Africa, described by one pupil as “the trip of a lifetime”. We are sadly saying goodbye to some senior members of staff this year: Virginia Barker, former Senior Deputy

We were delighted to welcome our distinguished guest speaker, HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh GCVO, to present this year’s prizes.

She talked movingly of her own experience as a parent this time last year, when her daughter Louise was one of our Upper Sixth leavers.

Her Royal Highness advised our outgoing Upper Sixth to be brave in their choices and bold in their actions, and to own their mistakes, because it is how they handle these that will come to define them.

She spoke powerfully of her work to end violence against women and girls around the world, and shared very poignant stories of some of the women peacebuilders whom she has met. Her Royal Highness reminded our leavers of the importance of women supporting women, and advised them that just because things are hard, it does not mean that change is impossible.

Following the presentation of prizes, Head Girl Emmanuelle Tanner thanked Her Royal Highness for her powerful, inspirational and thoughtprovoking speech. The sun continued to shine during House drinks on the lawn, accompanied by fantastic live music. Families enjoyed picnicking in the beautiful grounds, and the opportunity to look around the school, including the superb exhibition of pupils’ work in the Art Department and poems inspired by the Year 9 pilgrimage on display in the library.

L Waltho

4 | South Africa

Netball and Hockey Tour to

South Africa

During the Easter holidays, selected Year 9 and 10 pupils from the hockey and netball teams embarked on a memorable trip to South Africa. We arrived in Cape Town airport, tired from a long day of travelling but soon we were driving past the shanty towns and towards Malmesbury, where we stayed at the Goedgedacht Trust.

During our days there, we were very busy – competing in the Amazing Race (an obstacle course around the farm), playing netball matches with the POP (Path Onto Prosperity Program) girls, visiting the nursery (a highlight for most) and more. In the evenings, we ate the delicious locally sourced food and danced with the POP girls. Our time at the Trust eventually came to an end and we had to say goodbye to our new friends and the generous staff. We then returned to Cape Town and stayed in a hotel near the V&A Waterfront. Over the course of the next few days, we played fixtures in between visiting Robben Island, taking a cable car up Table Mountain, exploring the culture of the Xhosa people at the Gold restaurant, and surfing in Muizenberg.

I particularly enjoyed our guided tour around Robben Island – we met ex-political prisoners who gave us a personal insight into the harsh treatment they were wrongfully forced to endure.

Travelling east after this, we stopped at Stellenbosch for two nights. After the last hockey fixture against their high school, our toughest opposition yet, we treated ourselves to a day out of shopping and walking the pretty streets of Stellenbosch village. To celebrate the end of the hockey and netball season, we spent the rest of the well-earned free afternoon relaxing by the pool, taking in the warm African sun. To finish the tour, we stayed at the Garden Route Game Lodge for a two-day safari. Driving in three-by-four vehicles, we were lucky to see animals in their natural habitats, including a two-day old white rhino. This tour was a truly unforgettable experience and one that we will hold close to our hearts.

Rose Griffin, Y10

Year 9 Pilgrimage Retreat | 5

Year 9 Retreat and Pilgrimage to

East Anglia

In May Year 9 went on a two-day pilgrimage to several historic and religious sites in East Anglia.

On the first day we visited Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire and walked around admiring its beautiful stained glass windows and completing tasks, following in the footsteps of medieval pilgrims.

We had a lovely picnic lunch at Oxbrough Hall, a moated Tudor manor house, and we found out that it had once belonged to the Bedingfeld family! We explored the gatehouse where we learned about priest holes – hiding places excavated into the house to hide Catholic priests at the time when Catholics were being persecuted by the law. We then drove to Walsingham, a little village in the north Norfolk countryside where we stayed at a pilgrim hostel. It was so inspiring knowing that thousands of pilgrims had stayed there previously on a spiritual journey just like us.

The next morning, we drove to Norwich National Writing Centre. We were then guided on a mini pilgrimage by the river Wensum that finished at St Julian’s Chapel.

We were met by a priest who told us about the anchorite Julian, who lived in seclusion for over 40 years. She did this due to a series of sixteen visions from God and counselled people during her confinement. We visited a medieval building called Dragon Hall and wrote a diary entry to reflect on our time on the pilgrimage so far.

We then returned to Walsingham, the home to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, the mother of Jesus, that was founded in 1061 when a Norman noble woman had a vision telling her to build a replica of Mary’s house in Nazareth, where Mary received the Annunciation. This soon became one of the holiest sites in Europe. For 300 years every king and queen of England and thousands of Christians made the pilgrimage to Walsingham, often walking the last mile barefoot. We followed in their steps walking through the beautiful countryside in our socks. When we arrived at the Slipper Chapel, a priest met us to tell the story of the shrine and the Statue of Our Lady of Walsingham which four of us carried on our shoulders to a special Mass in the new church. It was very moving and a perfect way to end our own pilgrimage.

Emma Moreira, Y9

6 | The Arts

Spotlight on the

Music Captain Outgoing Music Captain Ashton Bligh looks back on seven years of music-making at St Mary’s.

Ashton first came to my notice when she was in Year 7, an undemonstrative little girl, as upright as the piano she was sitting at, all blonde hair and seriousness, demurely accompanying an exuberant Upper Sixth singer in the Summer Soirée concert.

Seven years on, she sits before me now, a musician of supreme versatility and skill, a performer of unmatched charisma who has lit up the stage in dozens of concerts, and the leading musician in the school.

How did it all start? ‘I used to go to the music block for my alone time in Year 7’, she says, ‘and one day Jacqui Chu [then UVI] stopped me in the corridor and asked ‘Were you playing Adele the other day? We should do something together some time.’ At the time she was speechless, but that moment, when an older girl reached out to her, was the trigger. It led to that first concert, and then to her first Open Mic. ‘My mother told me, ‘You have to smile!’. So I tried – pretty cheesily at first! But then people just started asking me to accompany them, and it grew from there.’

In Year 9 she wanted something new, ‘something you could just whack’, so took up the drums. During lockdown, she also took up the guitar, and found herself in Session band by Year 11.

Ashton is very aware of having grown as a musician and performer over her time here, and is grateful to the older girls who got her into bands and open mics. House Music was another big platform.

‘There’s lots of exposure here, so people get to know what you can do.’ And she has taken every opportunity, so that she can now command a vast range of styles, from exquisite classical music, to spontaneous jazz and hard rock. ‘Campion had a massive influence on my A Level composition [a requiem]. And jazz’ – she laughs – ‘I thought, I can’t just open mic it for the rest of my life, I need something more intellectual!’

She also appreciates the St Mary’s audiences. She tells of performing at a Pizza Express once, and thinking ‘Where is all the screaming?

I missed all the Year 7s sitting cross-legged staring up at you.’

She had always wanted to be Music Captain.

‘I asked Mrs Rees, Do I have to be in Campion if I want to be Music Captain? and she said yes, so I said, When are the auditions? But I’ve had so much fun doing it.’ And she has been superb, not least in inspiring, encouraging and nurturing younger girls in exactly the way she was brought on herself as a young Year 7.

C J Ellott

The Arts | 7

For Drama at St Mary’s

The Sky Is Not The Limit Adele Lynch, Director of Drama at St Mary’s, has a favourite saying: “I don’t do school plays – I do plays in schools”. It’s a brilliant mantra that perfectly captures the spirit of adventurous professionalism that characterises drama productions at the school.

Take last term’s new venture – The Players. This is an auditioned elite group of the school’s best actors whose first venture was an extraordinary immersive theatre experience devised by the girls from scratch in eight weeks in the Lent term. The audience arrived not at a play but an intergalactic spaceport where we were issued with boarding passes, electronically scanned, and shown to our seats by eerily robotic space hostesses who then performed the safety instructions as a contemporary dance. Over the next 30 minutes, we were transported to a scientific laboratory, a nightclub, the spacecraft’s flight deck, a press conference, and a bizarre interval in which we were served ‘complimentary nutrients’ in tiny, sealed plastic bags. Aptly titled The Sky Is Not The Limit, the piece touched on themes of intellectual property and theft, academic integrity, capitalism, scientific ethics, identity, the media, justice and revenge.

It was, in every sense, a cosmic journey that left us exhilarated and exhausted – and this passenger was not the only one who went back for another flight the next night.

That ambition and energy were evident even in the summer term’s junior play, Laura Lomas’ Chaos, directed by Mr Wells. Years 7, 8 and 9 took on the mighty subject of chaos theory and how that can play out in the messy reality of ordinary lives in a studio production that was intense, busy and hilarious. The play reeled from moments of angry passion (Eleanor Fisher chained to a railing shouting for change) to bewildering comedy (Isobel Radford Jones, asked why she didn’t have any shoes, giving the exquisitely dead-pan reply, “I burnt them”).

And they do know how to have fun. Matilda, this term’s junior musical, demonstrated what have become St Mary’s hallmarks: the slick energy of large cast ensemble pieces, strong lead performances (Cressida Roberts as Miss Trunchbull was “a formidable, monstrous essence” according to the Year 9 reviewer), gorgeous sets and lighting, and pupils from all year groups joyfully willing to “give it more”, as Ms Lynch is so often heard asking them to do.

Matilda culminated a year that has also seen the annual House Drama and Film competitions, the whole school play Great Expectations and the Drama Captain’s Play Remote, as well as plans already afoot for a follow-up to last year’s major school musical Chicago for Lent 2024. The department is tight-lipped about what this will be, but when the sky is not the limit, there is no telling where they will go next.

C J Ellott

8 | 2023 Dance Show

Feeling Good The 2023 Dance Show was entitled ‘When It Feels This Good’.

The theme of feeling good was threaded through the show with videos of girls talking about what makes them happy and feelings that inspire them to dance. The atmosphere backstage was electric with every group collecting costumes, nervously running final rehearsals, checking moves, applying makeup and doing hair.

As the first performers from Year 8 took to the stage, we could hear the cheer from the audience, and we were off.

All of the girls had worked so hard to bring a high standard of professionalism to their part in the show, not only to their routines but to the continuous transitions from dance to dance which were seamless from beginning to end. 32 dances represented Freestyle, Contemporary, Ballet, Tap, Street, Line Dancing and Flamenco. The audience were wonderfully enthusiastic, and we could hear parents shouting encouragement in Spanish during the Flamenco and yee haa during the Line Dancing. Parents were treated to two powerful House Dance winning routines from Rookwood and Wigmore and two fabulous routines from our Dance Company girls.

Downstairs the performers were so supportive of each other, watching the show on the big screen and cheering for every group as they returned from the stage.

Every group performed beautifully and brought a joyful energy to the show. For the grand finale, all the dancers flooded onto the stage and lined the stairs, dancing to Feels This Good by Sigala. The whole auditorium rose to give a standing ovation on both evenings. Giant balloons bouncing above our heads were a big hit and we all left happy and feeling good!

Z Warboys

Wellbeing | 9

Wellbeing So many things can contribute to our feelings of wellbeing – a beautiful sunny morning, a compliment, a “well done” for something we have achieved, a cheery “Good Morning”, and many things which are not directly within our control. But there is much that we can do, and at St Mary’s, with the help of our Wellbeing Co-ordinator and teacher of Psychology, Mrs Daisy Helliwell, a lot of thought has gone and continues to go into ways in which time, space and activities can be provided to aid good mental health and wellbeing.

Whilst it can be said that many of the things which are beneficial to our wellbeing are common sense or simple things, it is really helpful to be reminded of them from time to time: exercise, routines, good diet, a healthy approach to screen time, good study habits and taking time for fun activities are just some of them.

Throughout the week, girls from Year 11 and the Lower Sixth volunteer time in the evenings to visit girls in Years 7, 8 and 9 in their common rooms, in order to offer support or just for a friendly chat.

During Mental Health Awareness Week, which this year focused on how to deal with anxiety, Mrs Helliwell sent a daily email which included such things as coping strategies, advice and suggestions, ideas, resolutions, self training and grounding techniques.

St Mary’s has held its annual pet parade, for those who keep their small animals at school during term time, for a number of years now.

It is quite competitive and includes categories such as appearance, fastest rabbit, rabbit jumping and special talents, and it is always a joyful event.

A Yoga and Sound Bath session with crystal singing bowls one weekend was so well received by the girls, who found it really relaxing and calming, that another session was organised a few weeks later.

Following the success of the farm visit in February, we brought in a therapy dog who was literally welcomed with open arms!

Comments afterwards were incredibly positive with more suggestions for future sessions, including taking the dog for a walk and more dogs next time …… there are only so many hugs a single dog can take after all!

C Holland

10 | Achievements

St Mary’s

Highlights

Film-making competition winner Congratulations to Amelia Harrison who won first prize in the international art history film-making competition SPoKE, for her breathtakingly beautiful film on Maurice Sendak’s illustrations for Where the Wild Things Are.

Dance competition wins Year 10 dancer Anissa Mullen performed in two national dance finals this year. She won first place in the Can You Dance competition in Liverpool, which is the biggest national dance convention in the country, with over 6000 competitors. VAD dance productions holds regional heats throughout the year, with the final at Warwick University, in which Anissa and her team also came first.

Congratulations to her on these fantastic achievements!

Congratulations also to Livia White who won third prize for her film on Battersea Power Station, and special mentions also to Maya Sexton, Catarina Mascarenhas and Amalia Hopkirk Colomar for earning a place on the shortlist. An expert panel of ten judges from a range of backgrounds in art and film choose the best entries, and every year, all the Lower Sixth art historians from St Mary’s take part in this competition. The five girls shortlisted for a prize attended the annual awards ceremony in London.

Successful Guildhall and Royal Academy auditions Helena McDonnell (Year 10) has gained a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on their Junior Jazz programme, to commence in September. Her first study is drum kit. Helena has been a star of the Senior Session Band in recent years, and stunned audiences at many Open Mic evenings, both on the drums and the guitar.

Poetry documentary film competition award Congratulations to Izzy Orr (UVI), who came second in the national SPoKE Poetry Documentary Competition for her film on Sylvia Plath’s Blackberrying. The judges commented that Izzy’s film was ‘one of the strongest in terms of analytical content’. ‘The whole was atmospheric and thoughtful’ with ‘some beautiful visual shots which were closely connected to the words of the poem.’

Dasha Welker (Year 11) has gained a place at the Royal Academy of Music on their Junior Classical Programme to study Voice. The course begins in September. Dasha has been a chorister at St Mary’s since Year 7, and a member of Campion senior choir since Year 9.

These programmes are highly competitive, and are only awarded to those with exceptional talent. They will run every Saturday throughout the year, and give first and second study lessons as well as classes in musicianship, aural and theory and various different ensembles.

The girls will take part in numerous performance opportunities and masterclasses with some of the best teachers in the world.

Achievements | 11

In dialogue with Plato and Socrates Amelia Colquhoun (UVI) won first prize in the senior category of the Classics Association’s 2023 Photography competition. Her photograph, ‘Being Wrong’, is a response to Plato’s dialogues about what is knowledge, wisdom and truth. She attended a prizegiving reception at the University of Cambridge on Sunday 23 April.

‘This photo gives me the sense of reflection from a distance that ought to be done after you have been wrong’, says Amelia. ‘Plato believed being wrong is a consequence of ignorance, but it is often said that ‘the best way to learn is from your mistakes’. To learn we must make mistakes, and humans make many. Therefore, the most important part of ‘being wrong’ is the stage shown in this photo – analysing what was wrong and why it was wrong, rather than foolishly focusing on the mistake. The bright stars remind me of the synapses firing in the brain as she thinks and evaluates. Distance and hindsight are necessary in the process, and the gap from the bustling, bright town shows the space to look back on what was wrong.’

Amelia was also a runner-up in the Socrates Redux competition run by Antigone, the online Classics publication run by university academics from around the world. Amelia’s entry, a spirited dialogue between Socrates and Ignoramus, was described by the judges as ‘clever and witty’, and has been published on their website. The runners-up were selected for having made the judges ‘laugh, nod, smile, think, splutter, or just blink in Socratic bewilderment’.

World Transplant Games In April I was lucky enough to be selected to compete in the World Transplant Games in Perth, Australia representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland with 44 other countries in attendance. Transplant games are a celebration of a second chance of life, demonstrating the success of transplant surgery and promoting the need to raise public awareness of organ and tissue donation.

My attendance came about because five years ago, at a time of indescribable sadness for them, a family agreed to donate their loved one’s organs. I received a gift that money cannot buy – a new heart.

At 20 years old when I had a heart function of 8% and was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy I could not have imagined that 16 years later I would compete in a world championship games, let alone win four golds, two silvers and one bronze medal. An incredible experience. It was a joy to see the girls at St Mary’s on my return, and their excitement and interest in my achievements, and I thank the school for their wonderful support. C Rutherford

1500m steeple chase Huge congratulations to Evie Chappell (LVI) for making the Berkshire team of the English Schools Athletics Association. She is now ranked 7th in the UK for her age for the 1500m steeple chase with a running time of 5m.13secs. She will go on to compete at the English Schools Athletics Association Track and Field final for Berkshire and we wish her the best of luck.

Evie is also one of the Wigmore House Captains who, alongside AdélaÏde Boucher-Ferté, led their House to success in this year’s Sports Day, and was awarded senior victrix ludorum. It is no surprise that Evie has been appointed next year’s Sports Captain of the school.

12 | Sports

The U14A team have led the way

Cricket at St Mary’s This summer was our first full cricket season at St Mary’s, and the girls have made a very positive start, especially in the younger years. We have been thrilled with how quickly they have engaged with the game, and how well they have developed their skills. There have been good numbers at junior training sessions and the new indoor nets have been well received. They will be available to the girls for practice throughout the Michaelmas and Lent terms, which will greatly benefit their preparations for next season.

The U14A team have led the way, with Thomasina Henman emerging as a batter of considerable power, and Emma Mitchinson bowling with increasing skill and effectiveness. Carina Partington’s bowling has helped the U15s to a number of wins, ably supported by Isabella Ooms De Calonje and Lucy Karanja, and some able batting throughout the team.

It’s still early days, so the majority of fixtures and practices have been softball. However, next summer we will see more hardball matches played, especially at home on our new Quilters pitch.

With women’s cricket gaining ever more visibility nationally, and Prep Schools increasingly adopting cricket as their main summer sport, we are excited to see girls arriving at the school with cricketing experience behind them. This will help us to develop the game even more quickly here, and from an earlier age, so we should soon see sessions and matches becoming more progressive, professional and exciting.

S Tomlinson, Head of Cricket