St Swithun's autumn 2020 newsletter

A LOOK BACK AT THE AUTUMN TERM 2020

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SCHOOL LIFE

SCHOOL LIFE

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

JRR Tolkien – The Fellowship of the Ring We approached the new term in September with a mixture of trepidation and excitement. Clearly, we were all enthusiastic about seeing our students again, but the responsibility for the safety of around 1000 young people and adults weighed upon us.

It quickly became apparent that our protocols were working and that there was a high level of compliance. We are grateful to all the support from parents who have encouraged their daughters to take the rules seriously.

It was also good to take advantage of our newly strengthened relationship with technology. The students have had the benefit of many guests through Teams who might otherwise not have been able to come to St Swithun’s, and it has been a pleasure to be able to engage more effectively with some of our parents who live abroad. And as for parents’ meetings, appointments that take place through Teams remove the stress of Friday evening traffic and the hubbub of the dining room which is the usual venue.

Nevertheless, we were not prepared, perhaps, for the extent to which the normal rhythms of a school term had disappeared. Gone were all the trips, sports matches, concerts, plays, visiting speakers and other events that usually punctuate the autumn term. Whilst everyone was still learning and enjoying classes, even in the absence of some of our more boisterous and completely unsocially-distanced activities, it all felt a little flat.

Colour has come from two sources: Rev Wallington and the head girl team. The latter has re-introduced The Game, essentially a large game of tag, confining it this term to year group bubbles. Judging by the pounding feet in the corridors and the shrieking, it has been a great success. They also initiated an Advent Challenge for the last 12 days of term. Each day they sent out a riddle at break and then watched as the rest of the school solved the clue and raced to the hiding place of the chocolate stash.

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As for Rev Wallington, he is our ‘joybringer’ and has dreamt up several surprises for the students such as when he and I delivered Love Hearts to every form, and when he encouraged the staff to dress up in fancy dress or their best clothes in order to bring some fun to school that day.

We enjoyed one or two more surprises as the term drew to an end plus a pre-recorded boarding and day house lip sync challenge. Our spirit remains strong!

Jane Gandee MA (Cantab) Headmistress

1 and 2 M5 made speakers in technology.

3 The ‘joybringer’ Rev Wallington handed out Halloween Love Hearts.

4 Fabulous Frau Steer in fancy dress.

5 U4 made short work of their sewing machine project in textiles.

6 U4 made Christingles for advent.

7 Route planning for Duke of Edinburgh expedition.

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SCHOOL LIFE

SCHOOL LIFE FROM L4 TO HEAD GIRL Arriving on my first day at St Swithun’s, I couldn’t have felt more terrified. Although it doesn’t seem so giant now, I was convinced then that I’d never be able to find my way around such a massive building.

And what if I was rubbish at lacrosse? What if I didn’t fit in? Looking back, I can confirm that I was indeed rubbish at lacrosse, but can also say that it couldn’t have mattered less. Embracing the Swithunite attitude of “feeling the fear and doing it anyway” has allowed me to persevere, to try again, to fail again and to understand what it is to fail better.

Diving, gymnastics, choir, lacrosse, netball, art club, swimming and, my personal favourite, chocolatemaking club, were just a few of the activities I signed up for within my first week. I’d never seen such a vast array of clubs, and it seemed only sensible to try them all out. Whilst I discovered pretty quickly that my strengths don’t lie on a balance beam, the endless opportunities made available as part of the St Swithun’s co-curricular experience is something I can’t stress enough to anyone thinking of joining. Making friends, developing skills and stretching myself beyond what I thought were my limits have all been invaluable to my personal growth, and immersing myself in so many areas of the school has been key in facilitating this. So, you’ll still find me in a music room, or on a sports pitch, or perhaps even stuck in a bog on Duke of Edinburgh.

Whilst I am definitely not set on one career path, constantly changing my mind as to what my dream job would look like, my ultimate goal in terms of profession would undoubtedly involve conservation

RETURNING TO SCHOOL AFTER LOCKDOWN or wildlife journalism. Alongside my love of literature is a passion for the environment and its protection, therefore my A-level choices of biology, geography and English provide what is, for me, the perfect balance.

Incredible teaching and the provision of so many fascinating academic lunches, lectures and events have all played a role in shaping the interests I have today.

Equally, the friends I have made during my school journey have ensured that my time here has truly been the best that it could be – I don’t doubt that every girl I know will go on to great things in her life after school.

It goes without saying that the confidence that I have gained in myself and in my abilities whilst at school here is quite unbelievable. If I could go back in time to tell my L4 self that I am now head girl, there’s no way she’d believe me. This in itself, I believe, is proof enough of the unfaltering support that every girl is provided with in such a welcoming school community, a community that did believe in me and that made me believe in myself.

St Swithun’s has allowed me to grow to become the person I am today – a more confident, determined and resilient version of that girl in L4, and a moderately better lacrosse player!

Katya P U6

Physically returning to school after an unexpected six months of remote learning was quite daunting.

We were looking forward to jumping right back into our busy schedules and fulfilling school lives, and we have been able to do so. But what we found was a very different school to the one we remembered.

There were plenty of new safety precautions in place that we needed time to get used to. A one-way system was implemented in September. This proved to be confusing and disorientating at first, as we found ourselves having to alter our normal route from classroom to classroom. Year group bubbles left many of us turning to technology to catch up with friends and social distancing meant we couldn’t get too close to each other in lessons.

As a result of the new rules and restrictions, there has been an increased focus on looking after our mental health. With many familiar autumn term events switched to online, re-adjustment of the school schedule and new technical challenges to get to grips with, it has been potentially too easy to let the pressure build up.

However, plenty of support has been given to us this term and help is always just around the corner when you need it! There are plenty of people to talk to around school and teachers are always happy for you to pop into their office for a chat. The IT department has been busy at work sorting out any of our technical difficulties too. Virtual programmes have actually had a beneficial effect in some cases as it is a lot more convenient to just pop into events such as our

academic lunches with leading academics in different industries via Microsoft Teams.

Coming back to school after lockdown had the potential to be very disorienting, but we have all worked together to make it as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Clara C L6

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SCHOOL LIFE

SCHOOL LIFE ST SWITHUN’S EARTHSHOT PRIZE CHAUCER DAY As part of our English lessons this term we celebrated a Geoffrey Chaucer day. We were given the half term holidays to create a costume that was in the style of a character from Chaucer’s works or from that period of time. There were some amazing costumes with girls dressing as knights, princesses and peasants and there was even a plague doctor.

Dr Charles Farris, who is from the Chaucer Heritage Trust, talked to us about The Canterbury Tales and how to understand Middle English, the language Chaucer wrote in. He started by reading the beginning of the General Prologue to us in his interpretation of what Middle English would have sounded like in the Medieval times.

We had a blast during our day of non-stop Chaucer, dressing up, learning more and being inspired to write our own poems and stories.

Anna N, Willow B-H and Emily P L4

In response to the challenges we all face in trying to protect the environment, The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has launched the prestigious global Earthshot Prize.

The Earthshot Prize encourages entrants to identify evidence-based solutions to the biggest environmental problems the planet faces and aims to turn the current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism that we can rise to the biggest challenge of our time. Every year until 2030 a panel of judges will give out prizes of £1 million to the winner of each of the five categories, resulting in a total of £50 million in prize funds. This money will then be used to support the winners’ environmental and conservation projects.

It is hoped the competition will generate at least 50 new solutions to environmental problems that our planet faces. The categories are: protect and restore nature; clean our air; revive our oceans; build a wastefree world and fix our climate.

Having been inspired by this visionary initiative, St Swithun’s has created its own Earthshot Prize with the aim of improving our own school environment as well as the surrounding area. The competition is between year groups, each of which has a Green Team to devise an innovative and practical way of improving sustainability and the environment at St Swithun’s. Each year group will select one of the five Earthshot categories and centre their proposal around improving this area of our school. They will create a video to illustrate their idea and explain how and why it should be applied to St Swithun’s.

We hope this competition will improve the sustainability of our school, enhance our natural environment and most importantly, encourage members of the St Swithun’s community to recognise their power to make a difference.

Georgia B U6

WORLD CLASS SCHOOL AWARD FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE LEARNING St Swithun’s has achieved accreditation from the global High Performance Learning (HPL) organisation for its work on helping students to achieve highly in all areas. The prestigious World Class School Award recognises the very best schools in the world at the forefront of educational practice which are providing an exceptional level of education. Achievement of this award is the result of a two-year programme during which the HPL framework has been developed across the academic curriculum, through our extensive and varied cocurricular programme, through pastoral support and PSHE, and via the school’s unique academic enrichment programme.

HPL is based on the philosophy that the inherent lifelong plasticity of the brain means that we all have the potential to perform at a high level given enough time, the right circumstances and the skills to recognise, practise and embed the values, attitudes and attributes that characterise lifelong success.

There is much overlap with the attributes which the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) lists as the most important for today’s children to acquire for the future.

WORLD CLASS LINGUISTIC PERFORMANCE Our annual bid for glory in The Education Perfect Northern Championships language learning competition produced some spectacular success this term. Overall, St Swithun’s came a very impressive second out of all schools in England who entered, and fifteenth in the world. In addition, Chloe J U4 finished seventh globally with a remarkable score of 15,501 points earning her a prestigious elite award.

Chloe said: The languages I chose to study were German, French, Latin and Turkish and I also learnt some English grammar. I really enjoyed taking part.

St Swithun’s won a total of 28 awards in this year’s competition with students cumulatively logging 482 hours answering language questions.

With the attainment of this award, St Swithun’s joins the Fellowship of World Class Schools, working with other like-minded, ambitious educationalists at the forefront of education looking to improve, innovate and inspire.

UPDATE ON THE JILL ISAAC STUDY CENTRE Construction work on the new study centre is progressing well with the foundations and skeleton of the building in place. The Jill Isaac Centre will be a contemporary space for study and quiet reflection.

The project is the result of a personal gift of great generosity from Mr Malcom Isaac, the husband of Jill who was an Old Girl of St Swithun’s and whose wish was to leave something lasting to the school.

Jill was head of Venta house in 1949. She was a gifted mathematician and keen lacrosse player.

The Jill Isaac Study Centre, which is located in the landscaped gardens between the Bramston library and the science building, is on track for completion in the summer of 2021.

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EARLSDOWN

St Swithun’s Old Girls will often say that boarding was the most memorable experience of their time at school and it really is a defining adventure, never more so than in the autumn term of 2020. The day to day activities we take for granted in the boarding houses are really the foundations of a supportive environment built on trust and of friendships that truly will sustain us for a lifetime.

While life in house has been rather different from previous years, Earlsdown has remained in high spirits through various exciting activities from sushi-making to the weekly ritual of watching The Great British Bake Off accompanied with some delicious baked goodies made by the lovely Mrs Wilkie. Covid-19 restrictions have meant that the house set up is completely different, however I can confidently say that from the constant chattering and the occasional shriek of joy heard around house that the girls have adapted well to the situation and are enjoying living together as a year group, reminiscent of their youthful days in LeRoy.

Friendships across year groups are the bedrock of the tightly-woven, caring community in the multiyear group senior boarding houses. Traditionally, cluster groups are formed of girls from different years who meet a few times a week to hold quizzes, play games like charades or Pictionary and cook meals together. Utter commitment to the closely-contested competitions such as house song, house music and inter-house sports matches illustrates how strong our house communities are.

We still stay in touch with the original members of Earlsdown and have set up remote homework and advice ‘helplines’ over Teams to ensure everyone, while not necessarily in house, feels they have a solid and functional support system whether that be academically or personally. Finally, our preparations for the end of term House Lip Sync competition enabled the L6 to reunite outside for rehearsals and a much needed chance to brush up our dancing skills.

Reconfigured for autumn 2020, each boarding house at St Swithun’s now accommodates one year group rather than the vertical multi-year group structure which made up the senior houses before Covid-19.

The exception is for L6 boarders who have stayed with their original house. We have all made considerable efforts to stay connected with friends who have moved into a different horizontal structure during these challenging times. We have also continued to have fun and try new activities. In High House, Miss Nelson-Lee has organised rounders, cricket and other outdoor activities to help us maintain good mental health and fitness and Mrs Sanvoisin has helped us to supercharge our baking skills. At the weekend we have missed off-site activities like cinema-going and shopping trips but have been fully occupied with jewellery-making, art, movie and takeaway nights and taking part in the St Swithun’s Way Challenge to raise money for the Bramston Bursary Foundation.

Sophia C-H L6

In short, boarding in autumn 2020 has fostered initiative and creativity, allowed us to support old friends and make new ones, to embrace new opportunities as well as overcome the challenges and to keep on trying things that we wouldn’t usually do.

Lucy E L6

LEROY Our boarders in LeRoy settled in to their new home with a swimming pool party and a scavenger hunt to help forge new friendships. Throughout the term they have enjoyed making potpourri, scented candles and bath bombs, learnt how to play lacrosse, earned dog agility training certificates with boarding buddies Bailey and Mabel, done plenty of baking, made their own movies and hosted pamper parties.

They ended the term by decorating the house for Christmas and making a range of Christmas themed gifts such as peppermint body sugar scrub before enjoying a steaming cup of hot chocolate with a festive mince pie.

BOARDING LIFE

BOARDING LIFE

BOARDING LIFE

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MUSIC CONCERTS

High House has remained high-spirited with many girls getting involved in school and house activities with pride. Despite the very odd start to this academic year, we wanted to make the house as homely and comfortable as possible. We encouraged the L5 students to adorn their common rooms with decorations related to their culture or the place they call home. From Russia to Hong Kong, the rooms are filled with individuality and creativity displaying every girl’s own heritage.

In spite of the restrictions we were delighted to be able to continue with nearly all of our usual music concerts. The term began with an impressive set of performances by our scholars and exhibitioners, including some spectacular rhythmic saxophone playing from Emma P L6 playing Milhaud.

THE ARTS

BOARDING LIFE

HIGH HOUSE

After half-term we held our annual ‘A Little Night Music’ concert in which singers and pianists performed solos in a variety of different styles including a very accomplished rendition of Moonfall by Bubble Kime.

We all took part in making and writing decorative cards containing heartfelt and cheery messages that were sent to the residents of Brendoncare Park Road Nursing Home. One of our favourite activities are the in-house escape rooms, where we have to decipher riddles and puzzles to solve the mystery, and another highlight of the term was a sushi night where we cooked, rolled and enjoyed some delicious maki rolls.

In order to give our musicians further performing opportunities we have increased the frequency of our Hot Chocolate lunchtime concerts; giving a specific year group a chance to shine every fortnight. This has been extremely successful and the L4 and U4 weeks in particular were very popular with girls supporting each other with great enthusiasm.

Vanessa Y and Molly T L6

The term finished with the Performing Arts Cabaret: an evening of singing, dancing and acting performances by girls from all year groups. Although we were not able to accommodate an audience other than those performing, the events were all filmed and are available to watch online.

HILLCROFT The boarding experience in Hillcroft still remains special as we continue to unite as a house through House Lip Sync and House Music. We have organised regular wellbeing themed year group activities such as dance fitness and Tea and TED talk evenings.

We celebrated the moon festival, Halloween, Diwali and other festivals that reflect our culturally diverse school. One of our highlights was a Secret Clue Game that we devised for the U4 and L6 girls in order to create a sense of familiarity between the year groups. We are very proud of our collaborative and enthusiastic house after a very different term.

Desire A and Devi P L6

HYDE ABBEY Since returning to school, Hyde Abbey girls have embraced all the activities the house has to offer.

The rush of excitement around the Lip Sync music video has galvanised the spirit, solidarity and playful competitiveness of us all. Aside from that we have enjoyed many activities including a Halloween quiz, cheese and ‘wine’ tasting and our very own murder mystery with a bonus of takeaway food.

Although the house dynamics changing so much was daunting at first, we all quickly adapted to the new routine and the Hyde Abbey spirit and positivity remain very much alive.

Uchenna I L6

DRAMA In the autumn term our U5 drama students performed their Component 1 devised theatre pieces. In total there were four innovative pieces utilising four very different practitioners: Frantic Assembly, Kneehigh, Berkoff and Brecht. All the students were provided with stimuli and in groups created original and exciting work on themes such as body dysmorphia, abuse, social media and rumour mongering. The staging, sets, lighting and sound were innovative and sophisticated thanks to the departmental technical team and performances were recorded for the whole school to watch.

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When applying for university, I found St Swithun’s to be extremely supportive with the experienced teachers helping me every step of the way. Now I am a second year biomedical sciences student at Balliol College, Oxford and I wonder if I’d have got here without all the support I was given throughout sixth form. No one ever doubted me or questioned whether I could do it, and I think that gave me the confidence I needed to succeed.

knowledge and an essay section. Three different disciplines for which I really can only recommend practice. St Swithun’s lent me a book of 700 past BMAT questions which was a godsend! The universities are not expecting perfection, they simply want to identify people with critical thinking, data analysis and problem solving skills. Being familiar with the exam format and thinking style will help to keep you calm and confident.

I would share the following insight with anyone applying for university in the near future:

Once you have passed the first hurdle of the application process, Oxbridge and medicine candidates must face an interview. This is a way for the university to assess your personality, your teachability and your general problem solving skills. St Swithun’s has a great mock interview program, setting up sessions with professionals in a relevant field to prepare you for the real thing. Tutors who interview you are trying to build a rapport—to see whether you are comfortable and confident, as well as able to take direction and criticism. I was surrounded by people at interviews who were trying to memorise their biology textbooks but the tutors don’t care what you already know, they want to know how you handle the unknown. How you deal with new information and grapple with difficult concepts—just get a good night’s sleep and make some new friends while you’re there.

When applying for a university place, choosing which universities to apply to is the first step. Consider your priorities: whether you want a university with a renowned reputation, a strong sporting presence or a campus lifestyle. I needed my university to be in a city, with a breadth of societies and strong graduate employability. Considering the course you want to take is the other side of the coin—not all universities will offer the course you want. Look at the lecturers and their areas of expertise, the reading lists and the extras (such as years in industry or supplementary language courses). The last aspect that is important to consider is the entry requirements. Choose universities that are realistic, albeit ambitious. Use your L6 and GCSE grades as a reference point, but don’t sell yourself short. If you know you can do it, then go for it!

It took some research to find institutions that struck the right balance, and St Swithun’s organising university open day trips definitely helped the decision-making process. In the absence of in-person visits I would highly recommend student forums like The Student Room, where you can read people’s honest experiences and opinions, as well as taking virtual tours or watching YouTube videos by creators who are at the universities you’re interested in. Trust your gut instinct—if a place doesn’t ‘feel right’ it probably isn’t. One of the universities I visited I had been so excited about, only to get there and realise that it just wasn’t for me.

There are some other key steps to the application process—writing your personal statement is one of them. Dr Mac was my personal tutor for this endeavour and was incredibly helpful. For most universities, this 4000-character essay is one of the most important documents you’ll provide. It is a way for you to articulate your interests, your experience and your aspirations. Try and justify all of your A-level choices, express the enthusiasm you have for your subject beyond the classroom and show the admissions people that you are well-rounded and interesting (sports, music, drama, DofE, anything).

There may be other parts of the application such as admissions tests and interviews. Oxford and Cambridge require admissions tests for most subjects, and if you are applying for medicine you will most likely have to sit either the UKCAT or the BMAT. My advice for tackling these is to practise. Give yourself time to become familiar with the style of question and the problem-solving strategies you’ll need to employ.

For my BMAT I had critical thinking, a scientific

Once you receive your offers it is up to you to decide what to accept, choosing a firm and an insurance choice. To avoid disappointment on results day, I made sure that both of these universities were places I really wanted to go. I had Oxford as my firm choice and Manchester as my insurance. I was applying for biomedical sciences at both unis but the course at Manchester was slightly different: it was biomed with Spanish, with a year abroad in your third year. I would have been genuinely happy with either university and this fact helped me stay calm throughout the process.

Former Head Girl, Mia B

ST SWITHUN’S WAY CHALLENGE In September, 300 St Swithun’s students, teachers, family members and Old Girls in eight countries around the world took part in a remote version of our annual St Swithun’s Way Challenge. They raised over £11,000 for the Bramston Bursary Foundation and gained house points by running or walking a given distance at their chosen location within a 24 hour period.

The Bramston Bursary Foundation’s mission is to offer life changing opportunities for girls in care by providing fully funded boarding places and the St Swithun’s Way Challenge is its flagship school community fundraising event in the calendar.

Earlsdown gained the most points and was crowned winner of the house competition 2020.

In addition to the humans from across the school community, many four legged friends took up the challenge, including a sheep who walked three miles.

Emilia C, Hermoine K-D and Izzy R, L6

COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY

APPLYING FOR UNIVERSITY: TIPS FOR APPLICANTS FROM AN OLD GIRL

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In the absence of lacrosse and netball fixtures against other schools, our sports department ran their own internal St Swithun’s Super Series. Girls were selected for teams in both lacrosse and netball and represented the same team each week. There was a special finals week to end the competition. Outstanding performances came from U12 lax Royals, U13 lax Jets, U14 lax Royals, U15 lax Jets, U16 lax Royals, U14 netball Wasps and the U16 netball Stars.

SPORT

SPORT

SPORT

St Swithun’s School, Alresford Road, Winchester, SO21 1HA 01962 835700 office@stswithuns.com www.stswithuns.com Registered Charity Number 307335