St Swithun's Spring Term 2024 Newsletter

THE NEWS

SENIOR

SCHOOL LIFE

This term began with the school illuminated in blue and orange to mark our 140th year and ended with our traditional fundraising event in which each form organises a stall to raise money for charity. Caritas, or kindness, is of course one of the three virtues associated with Saint Swithun and something which has remained a constant throughout our history.

Towards the end of term, we enjoyed a special 140th celebratory evensong that combined sacred music from prep and senior school pupils. Particular highlights were O Be Joyful in the Lord, an anthem written by former music teacher Clive Watkiss especially for the occasion, and the Prep and Phoenix choirs collaborating in I Will Sing with the Spirit. It was also a great pleasure for me to join with former headmistress, Lady Appleyard, in describing some of the changes that have occurred at St Swithun’s over the years, and also how our ethos has remained unchanged. We continue to be forward-looking in our desire to offer a world-class education to girls and young women.

Fun is not known to be one of Saint Swithun’s virtues, but it is certainly one of ours. We all laughed and cheered with the eleven members of staff who took part in The Masked Singer. Designed as a tonic for the sometimes dreary evenings of February, this event put a spring in our step as we enjoyed the singing and the challenge of guessing who was behind each mask.

Another eye-catching event was the Fire Walk which gave older students and staff the opportunity to experience the physics of heat conduction. They were relieved to learn that although wood burns brightly in a fire, it is actually a poor conductor of heat. Of course, knowing something and experiencing it for yourself are completely different, so hats off to those who took their courage in both feet and walked across glowing embers.

We look forward now to the summer term and hope for warmer, drier weather to enjoy sports such as cricket, tennis and athletics particularly given the arrival of our second artificial cricket wicket. Our 140th celebrations also continue with the St Swithun’s Challenge – a day of fun, physical challenges and fundraising on 4 July as well as our Founders’ Day celebrations at the start of May. There is plenty to look forward to.

Jane Gandee MA (Cantab) Headmistress

SCHOOL LIFE ST SWITHUN’S KICKS OFF

140TH CELEBRATIONS

We lit up the front of the school in January to celebrate the start of our 140th birthday celebrations. There are a range of activities planned throughout the year to celebrate the milestone.

140TH TREE PLANTING

Headmistress Jane Gandee and Head of Boarding Alice Ludlow were joined by Boarding Schools’ Association Director David Walker to plant a pair of fruit trees as part of the BSA Boarding Orchard initiative.

Commenting on the planting Headmistress Jane Gandee said, “Despite challenging weather conditions, we were delighted to welcome David and to plant two beautiful trees as part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability and protecting our environment. We hope our students can enjoy watching the trees grow and see similarities in the positive impact they can have on the world over future generations.”’

SCHOOL

EVENSONG

The school continued its 140th birthday celebrations with a very special Evensong at Winchester Cathedral. Both the prep and senior choirs performed while current headmistress Ms Jane Gandee and former headmistress Lady Joan Appleyard gave the sermon. Head girl Alice E (U6) gave a reading while the senior choir performed a premiere of ‘O Be JoyFul in the Lord’, a hymn by composer and former member of staff, Clive Watkiss that was commissioned specifically for the event. The Evensong was overseen by the school chaplain, Reverend Paul Wallington.

CULTURE FAIR

The annual culture fair gave students and staff the opportunity to run a stall representing their ethnic background. There were a total of 16 countries represented including South Korea, Nigeria and Brazil to name a few. The event was a hit and allowed students to learn about and appreciate the many different cultures in the school community. Those running the stalls were able to choose how they wished to represent their culture making the whole occasion a bit more personal. There was Iranian lavashak (لواشک) to taste, South African Boubous to wear and much, much more! The prep students also joined in with the fun with many excited to learn and try something new.

By Sophie P (U6)

SCHOOL LIFE ST SWITHUN’S MATHS TOURNAMENT

We hosted the inaugural St Swithun’s Mathematics Tournament this term. Teams of 4 girls with representation from U4-U5 were invited from across the South of England to compete in the Tournament. St Swithun’s, St Catherine’s Bramley, St Mary’s Calne, Lady Eleanor Holles and Portsmouth High School battled it out over three challenging rounds, the first a group challenge, the second a project round and a relay to finish. The St Swithun’s Team (Sophie M (U4), Abigail P (L5), Ivanka M (M5) and Claire C (U5)) emerged victorious, demonstrating mathematical fluency, accuracy, and a sound tournament strategy.

U6 HALF MARATHON

Some of our Staff and U6 girls took on the challenge of running in support of our school charities. They had a choice to run either a half marathon, 10km or 5km distance at Dorney Lake.

STEM WEEK

During STEM week, students engaged in a range of activities like exploring respiratory medicine with Professor Elkington, and dissecting rats. They also had the opportunity to witness a fascinating birds of prey display. Dr. Emslie enlightened them about his work with lasers and fibre optics. Additionally, nearly 400 saplings were planted by students to help reduce our carbon footprint.

Roller Disco

Trampoline Park

International Women’s Day

Social Evening

Mario Kart Competition

Smoothie Breakfast Bikes

Easter Hunt Winners

Glow Stick Party

MUSIC SCHOLARS AND EXHIBITIONERS’ CONCERT

We were treated to some beautiful music by the students, who performed together in chamber groups.

THE MASKED SINGER

Our staff participated in the inaugural ‘St Swithun’s Masked Singer’ event, hosted by Rev Wallington and Mrs Tipp. 11 staff members performed for students and parents, with Mrs Perry ultimately winning.

SWITHUN’S LIVE 2

Harvey Hall was filled with rock music this term as bands from the prep and senior schools, as well as two visiting bands from Winchester College, performed to a packed auditorium.

THE ARTS KRONOS

PACE (Performing arts creative ensemble) presented its first school production ‘Kronos’ a devised piece full of movement, visuals and live music. This piece was completely created by the cast using time as a concept and Pina Bausch’s choreographic techniques. The result was a complete triumph for both cast and audience.

THE WITCH PROJECT

L5 English students presented their showcase event on the topic of ‘Hags and Heroines: How have women been portrayed in literature and culture over time?’ The students worked hard and displayed creative ideas, such as portraying Lady Macduff as a 1950s housewife and staging a literary beauty pageant. They also presented suffragette fashionistas with protest boards advocating for women’s rights. The event ended with a tribute to poet Maya Angelou.

FUNDRAISING THURSDAY

On Fund-Raising Thursday, the whole school organised and took part in an afternoon of fun activities and raised around £2100 for our three school charities.

FIREWALK

U5, sixth form students and staff took on an exciting challenge earlier this term to support the school’s own charity, the Bramston Bursary Foundation, alongside three charitable causes close to their hearts. The daring feat, a fire walk, raised funds for the Foundation, the RNLI, The Hedgehog Preservation Society, and Doctors of the world.

40 brave students and staff, including the prep school head Liz Norris walked across hot coals, to raise money and awareness for these important charities, and also enjoyed performances from two fire artists who demonstrated their skills in fire acrobatics.

CRICKET

ECB

COUNTY FINALS

The U15 Indoor Cricket team competed in the County Finals of the National ECB Indoor Cricket competition this term. They had to defeat three schools, including a tough Lord Wandsworth College team, to win. The game against LWC was close, but St Swithun’s managed to secure a 4-run victory in the final over. They won the other two games and will now go on to represent Hampshire in the regional round.

FENCING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2024

Matilda C (U4) placed third in the Epée competition of the public schools fencing competition. This competition is organised into different age categories for different sword events and Matilda finished third in Girls Mount-Haes Epée.

U15 ENGLAND LACROSSE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

The U15A Lacrosse team earned the title ‘Comeback Queens’ and became National Champions. Despite going two goals down against Claremont, the team never gave up and fought back to win 3-2.

HOUSE SPORT

The girls had a fantastic time participating in house sports and demonstrated some impressive performances. The winners of the senior netball were Venta and the winners of junior lacrosse were Caer Gwent.