The Tudorian Magazine 2016-2017

THE

TUDORIAN 2016 17

THE TUDORIAN . Welcome . 1

Contents Aiming ever higher

2

September 2016

4

October 2016

22

November 2016

50

December 2016

70

January 2017

92

February 2017

110

March 2017

128

April 2017

160

May 2017

172

June 2017

186

July 2017

218

August 2017

220

Index

225

Editors: Annabelle Coombs & Emma McGowan Print: Banbury Litho, Banbury

Aiming

ever

higher with Wendy Griffiths,

Headmistress The expression ‘Aim Higher’ is used regularly by members of the Tudor community from Todd to Upper Sixth to Staff. It entered our vocabulary about three years ago as the result of staff discussions on how we could encourage the girls to push themselves in all areas of school life beyond where they felt comfortable. Now it is a fundamental principle that underpins all we do. Its importance was recognised with the appointment of Susie Jeffreys to the Senior Management Team to coordinate the initiative. As I reflect on the year there is extensive evidence in what has been achieved that girls and staff are aiming higher than ever before.

In October Sadie Lapper, the newly appointed Director of Sport went to town with Women in Sport week. With speakers, workshops and coaching from individuals such as Beth Tweddle the sky was the limit. There was a palpable buzz around the school as our girls and many guests from local schools picked up the energy and commitment of these individuals. Read more on pages 38-43.

In the same month we held our inaugural ‘Aim Higher’ conference (page 32). High profile speakers from backgrounds as diverse as politics, medicine and motor racing challenged our girls to dream

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bigger dreams, and dynamic workshops pushed them outside their comfort zones to find new skills and strengths.

In February the whole school was excited to see Lionel Bart’s Oliver directed by Alan Christopher. As the review on page 111 demonstrates, this was a huge production showcasing the best talent of both girls and staff collaborating across several departments. Girls in the lead roles inspired us all with powerful and moving performances, but equally striking was seeing over 80 girls from the youngest to the oldest working together to achieve something so special.

Later in February we hosted the Rotary Banbury Young Musician for the first time (page 126). It was as always an uplifting event with children as young as seven competing in the wide range of classes.

Violinist Jasmine Skowronski in Todd won both the Junior Strings and Junior Singing categories, and Jenny Look (V’s) and Mary Eckert (LVI) came first and second respectively in the Senior Singing section. We were delighted that Jenny was named Banbury Young Musician at the end of the competition. Jenny and Mary went on to represent Banbury in the Regional Finals, where Mary was Runner Up. In June, Rose Lord took part in her third ever sprint triathlon (page 200). Her sporting background and sheer determination combined to stunning effect and she was crowned England Under 20 Champion – an extraordinary achievement.

the school. They had embraced the ‘Aim Higher’ ethos and had pushed for top universities to study subjects including architecture, biochemistry, history and fashion. You can read more about their destinations on page 222. We were not surprised in August when results were published to discover they achieved our highest percentage of A* at A level since they were introduced seven years ago, with almost one in five passes being awarded an A* in a broad range of subjects including art, biology, economics, English, French, mathematics, RS and textiles (page 221). As they leave us, we know that they have the study skills and drive to make them successful at university and in the workplace.

Our girls are being encouraged to aim higher in their own aspirations, and on behalf of their school. But we are not content to leave it there. Our motto ‘Habeo ut dem’ (I have in order that I may give) is woven through all aspects of school life and is a fundamental part of what defines us at Tudor. We want Tudor girls to leave school keenly aware of how fortunate they are, and ready to aim high with their own contribution to society. You can read more about this in articles on the Tudor in 4 Continents scheme on pages 23, 36, 116 and 124, and in on our growing links with a local primary school on page 208.

I hope you will enjoy this snapshot of life at Tudor Hall. It reflects a school of which we can all be very proud.

Debating is a valuable life skill at which Tudor girls excel. The MUN programme, described on page 24 and coordinated by Alison Gamble, is a great example of how our girls are encouraged to perform at a high level; winning the Bowerman Street Prize at Wycombe Abbey (page 174) was an outstanding achievement for our team.

In June, Jo Benlalam, Head of Careers and Emma McGowan masterminded and delivered an outstanding STEM conference with speakers who were to inspire both staff and girls alike (page 217).

Many of us listening to Mandy Hickson, the first female fighter pilot in active service, wondered if it was too late for us to change career.

None of the speakers apologised for their enthusiasm for their chosen field or the hard work that was necessary to get there and remain there.

The summer term ended with a combination of tears and joy as we celebrated the contribution of the Upper Sixth Leavers to

Miranda Hart in conversation with Wendy Griffiths, March 2017

SEPTEMBER 2016

Dog Show Twiglet the Border Terrier with owner Ella scooped 'Best in Show' at Tudor's annual dog show. Huge thanks to judge Patrick Martin who presided over the classes, including 'Most like owner', 'Waggiest Tail' and 'Golden Oldie', with great humour. Stalls run by the girls raised over ÂŁ500 for Tudor's chosen charity 'Young Minds'.

Left: Twiglet wins Best in Show

Top: Patrick Martin judging Best Golden Oldie Above: 'Dog with waggiest tail' winner Left: Reserve Best in Show Bear

SEPTEMBER 2016

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Making a splash in Wales Gold Duke of Edinburgh canoe practice The Duke of Edinburgh gold canoeists headed to the River Wye in Wales for their first training weekend. After a rather cold and damp night’s sleep in tents, the LVI girls launched the canoes for their inaugural capsize training. Dressed in shorts, lifejackets and helmets, the girls took it in turn to plunge into the freezing water before being ‘rescued’ by fellow pupils. Luckily there were warm showers on site made all the better by the DofE favourite ‘squeezy cheese’ for lunch. The afternoon training saw the girls tackle their first rapids and walking upstream pulling their canoes behind them.

The following day was spent reinforcing their training and raiding the campsite’s raspberry bushes!

SEPTEMBER 2016

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“It was the

best of times, it was the

worst of times” Drama trip: A Tale of Two Cities "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. These famous opening words from Charles Dickens' novel, A Tale of Two Cities, accurately sum up the experiences of GCSE and A-Level Drama students who went to see an adaptation of the novel at Oxford Playhouse. The action of the play focused on the lives of English and French characters caught up in the turmoil leading up to and

including the French Revolution. However, problems with the set peppered the start of the production, which appeared to affect the concentration and focus of the actors and a fairly disappointing first half. Luckily, technical issues were resolved during the interval and the girls were able to enjoy a more dramatic second half, culminating in the play's tense and moving conclusion.

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Todd Residential Trip to Colomendy Getting to know you‌ The Todds headed off to Colomendy for their first Tudor residential weekend. The girls took part in different activities from night line (an activity where you are all blind folded and put in a line and the person in front follows either a sound or a rope and they must inform the people behind what is coming up and the others must pass it down the line), to archery, and balancing on beams of all different heights, widths and sturdiness! The girls also went to Kingswood Activity Centre where they took part in problem solving activities including making a seesaw balance for 5 seconds to lining up on two logs in order of shoe size without touching the floor. What a fun way to start their time at Tudor.

Prep Schools Heads' Lunch

Wendy Griffiths welcomed heads and representatives from 13 prep schools to Tudor for drinks with former pupils, lunch in the Ballroom followed by entertainment by the girls. The annual event always proves to be a fantastic way of keeping prep schools abreast of life at Tudor and provides a great chance for Tudorians to catch up with news on their former schools.

Mini Tudorian On 30 September, RS teacher Shazia and her husband Tom Gleadall welcome their daughter Amara into the world.

Girls and staff have been lucky enough to cuddle Amara on numerous occasions since!

SEPTEMBER 2016

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Ian Murphy Art Workshop Ian Murphy, renowned for his mixed media drawings of Venice and China, came to Tudor Hall as artist in residence to work with the IVs GCSE group. The IVs, having visited Venice, have been developing work for their GCSE portfolio and have benefited greatly from being taught to create large scale drawings from their own observations in Venice.

Drawing from

Ian Murphy's

expertise

OTA Hockey Match vs.

Tudor’s 1st XI On a glorious Sunday morning, eight OTs donned their school games kit and returned to the Tudor astro for a pre-season game against the 1st XI. Fortunately, Tudor agreed to play four quarters otherwise the OT team would have struggled to play a full game due to rather diminished fitness levels. Having three members of the PE Department, notably Mrs DJ, Ms Lapper and Miss Brown, on our side and a plentiful supply of Haribo on the side-line, certainly helped out. At half time we were 2-0 up but managed to keep our cool and with a few strokes of genius play, similar to the England Hockey team in Rio, we won 2-1! A special mention has to go out to Emily Taylor who, for the first time in her sporting career, played out of goalkeeper and was on the attacking side of both goals. Needless to say we had a bottle of Prosecco at the end and sprayed the whole team with it. Huge thanks to Serena Goodhart, Cosi Berry, Verity Taylor, Georgie Hackett, Beth Joslin and Phoebe Taylor for forming the team.

Molly Manners (2012, former Games Captain)

SEPTEMBER 2016

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Chirpy chicks Nine chirpy little hen chicks, supplied by Living Eggs, hatched in the Biology Department incubator. The life cycle of a chick forms part of Todd’s biology curriculum, teaching them about reproduction and characteristics of living organisms. At 10 days old, the chicks said farewell to Tudor to start a new life with Ottilie Dick’s family.

OTs returned to Gap Fair

Seven OTs returned to Tudor's University & Gap Fair to enthuse about their gap years and chosen universities. It was so useful for the IVs-UVI to hear about gap year opportunities and further education options at first hand.

NG Lecture Series: Dr Helen Pankhurst The academic year’s NG Lecture Series kicked off with a fascinating presentation by Dr Helen Pankhurst, the great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and grand-daughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, leaders in the British suffragette movement. Dr Pankhurst is CARE International UK’s campaign ambassador and is also a Senior Technical Advisor for the Water Team of CARE USA with a remit of support to CARE’s water sector work internationally. She spoke animatedly about her advisory and cameo role in Suffragette the movie (2015), her pivotal role within CARE International, and female equality drawing attention to the powerful #DearDaddy campaign.

SEPTEMBER 2016

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Emily Reid wins silver at National Wakeboarding Championships Emily Reid came 2nd in the Junior Women’s division at the MasterCraft Boats UK National Wakeboarding Championships at Church Wilne Watersports Club, Derby. She is now the national champion in her division for girls aged 10-15.

Emily first started wakeboarding aged seven when on family holidays.

She entered her first competition in 2015, winning the Competition Series in April 2016 before going onto the nationals. She enthuses: “I am so proud of my achievement over the weekend especially as I was competing in the division above. I would like to thank my coach Lee Debuse for all his encouragement and advice and hope I can make it onto the GB Wakeboarding Talent Development Programme.”

Tudor turns 166 years old In keeping with tradition, Tudor Hall celebrated its 166th Birthday in style. The charity committee organised a Mufti Day in aid of Young Minds and there was a wonderful array of costumes from Around the World. In the evening, students and staff enjoyed a three-course meal prepared by our very own catering staff, ably assisted by the Vs who proved to be a formidable team when it came to clearing and re-setting the tables in between sittings. As we gathered in the Hall for the highlight of the evening, the entertainment, this year provided by the students, the whole school enthusiastically joined in the singing of “Happy Birthday� and the candles on the cake were blown out by Itziar and Ana, the two youngest members of our community. Each year group contributed a dance act to the entertainment and there were some stunning solo performances, in particular from Skye and Riya in the IIIs, who dazzled the audience with their acrobatic moves. Happy Birthday Tudor Hall!

SEPTEMBER 2016

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Tudor Fest

Tudor’s inaugural festival – the aptly named Tudor Fest – was held over the first weekend of the autumn term. With Todd, IIs and IIIs on residential courses, it was up to the IVs not on the D of E expedition, IVs, Vs, LVI, UVI, staff and families to raise the roof of the circus style big top. Julie Gunning and her event team organised the festival of all festivals whose line-up included: Mister Gee (Jonathan Galloway), Burnt Norton (3 members of the staff band), Myst, Cactus and the Lilac Sky and Wavey Hills (all from Chipping Norton School) and Tudor’s own Emelie Monye, Jazzy Clay, Mary Eckert and Sofie Svanikier. They all supported the professional bands; Annex, Summer City and Purple Mafia. The evening closed with a DJ set by White Bear, an experienced professional festival DJ.

The pace continued on the Sunday with White Bear and Annex warming the crowd up before a dance off and Lipsync competition between the year groups. The judging panel included members of Purple Mafia, Summer City and Annex; the winning team of UVI girls won a BOSE speaker system for Ashton’s boarding house. A bouncy castle obstacle course, tug of war competitions and pole joust game were enjoyed by the girls and their families with more music in the afternoon by Purple Mafia, Liam McClair, Summer City and our amazing headliners, Seafret. Everyone also enjoyed the street food, henna tattoos and face decoration. We couldn’t have asked for a more amazing weekend that is now set to become an annual event here at Tudor Hall.

SEPTEMBER 2016

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Parsons present to Tudor Mike Fakih, Director of Admissions at Parsons Paris, came to Tudor to talk to A Level textiles and art students about Parsons School of Design, the art and design college located in Lower Manhattan, as

Tony Chan talks poetry at Tudor In January 2015, Tony Chan decided to take a break from senior school English teaching. Unable to dream up better ideas to cover his unemployment, he embarked on a 1,400 mile solo trek across Britain. The 78-day route started at Dunnet Head, Britain's northernmost point, and led to Britain's three other extremities. Each day yielded a sonnet.

Tony visited Tudor to talk poetry with the IIIs, IVs and Sixth Form, inspiring them with his next creative project: a series of prose-fiction vignettes exploring lonesome lives.

well as the Eugene Lang, the College of Performing Arts and other programs across Europe, the Middle East and beyond which form part of The New School. The world’s the girls’ oyster!

IIIs residential trip to the Quantocks The IIIs took part in a residential trip to Lydeard Farm and Quantock Lodge in Somerset. On arrival at Lydeard Farm, the girls split into groups and took part in a number of team building activities including balancing on a beam, building a bridge across water, completing an obstacle course and building a go kart. The next day included a trip to Anstseys Cove in Torquay, coasteering and kayaking on the sea. It was an action-packed, sunny day with the girls really pushing themselves to do things that were out of their comfort zone. The girls returned to Lydeard Farm and took part in archery, air rifle shooting and high ropes. Once again, the girls encouraged each other to face their fears and try new things. A great time was had by all and firm friendships were formed.

SEPTEMBER 2016

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Are we what we eat?

The A-Level biologists attended a morning of lectures at St. Edward’s School, Oxford, entitled Are we what we eat? All the speakers were fascinating, with talks ranging from the genetics of obesity and why people may be obese, to how best to feed people in the future and the energy and greenhouse gas emission implications involved. The highlight of the morning was hearing from TV presenter and broadcaster Dr Michael Mosley, who spoke animatedly about the importance of healthy eating habits.

Macmillan Coffee Morning Tudor staff gathered in the School Ballroom for their annual Macmillan Coffee Morning. With delicious homemade cakes for sale, the auction of a fabulous chocolate and salted caramel cake by Head of Cookery, Jane Haggarty, and a raffle to rival any village fete, the morning raised the grand total of ÂŁ589.60 for this brilliant cause.

IIs Residential Trip to the Gower At the beginning of term, the IIs set off for a residential trip to the Gower. The girls enjoyed a weekend of bonding and outdoor activities. Day one was spent caving and gorge walking, followed by a trip to Rhossili beach on the Sunday to do some surfing and rock climbing. The resident deer – Bruno and Adam – were much admired throughout the weekend.

SEPTEMBER 2016

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OCTOBER 2016

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Ti4C: The Sparrow Foundation School, Johannesburg On arrival, we drove straight to Ngomo Lodge where, even before we were shown our tents, an ostrich ran past! On our first game drive, a rhino crossed just in front of our Landrover and this was just the start of fantastic viewings of zebra, wildebeest and springbok.

That evening, while sitting round the camp fire, we saw some amazing flashes of lightening followed by a dramatic storm.

The next day we headed back to Johannesburg and visited the Apartheid Museum and the Nelson Mandela Exhibition.

The entrance to the museum highlighted how different life in Johannesburg used to be as there were separate entrances for Europeans and Non-Europeans. We then went to Soweto and had a tour of the house Mandela lived in before and after he went to prison. His road is the only one in the world to have been home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners, the other being Archbishop Desmond Tutu. We also visited the Hector Peterson Museum to remember the students who were killed whilst protesting about having to do exams in Afrikaans. Hector Peterson was a 12 year old boy who was killed when he got caught up in the march. After an extraordinary day, we joined our very welcoming host families

The next morning, full of excitement, we set off for our first day at Sparrow School. We were split into pairs and each went to a different classroom. We spent the week helping the children with their lessons; listening to them read, joining in sports lessons and even participated in the Zulu lessons. We also helped with their concert practice, and none of us could resist joining in when the Macarena came on!

After lessons, we painted murals in some of the classrooms. We had to work fast but, with minutes to spare, finished them in time. We all got on so well with the teachers and children during the week which meant that leaving was extremely sad. After lots of hugs, tears and a final Macarena, we drove to Mabula Game Reserve.

At Mabula we went on an evening and a morning game drive, which involved an invigorating 5am start. We saw lots of animals including four of the big five and we even “aimed higher� and climbed some rocks in the bush to view the sunset.

It was an inspiring, memorable and moving trip which we will never forget.

Matilda Ashton (LVI)

OCTOBER 2016

After years of hearing about Tudor in Four Continents and The Sparrow Foundation School, I was very excited to find myself flying to Johannesburg during the autumn half term. Eight members of the LVI accompanied Miss Griffiths and her husband on the week long adventure.

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Cheadle Hulme MUN Tudor Hall represented Panama at Cheadle Hulme MUN 2016.

Molly Levene, Ella Smith, Kate Kot, Orly Stephens, Jojo Darling and Tess Lindsay travelled to Manchester for a weekend of fun and interesting debating. The debated topics ranged from the issue of child obesity to poaching, and all of the Tudor delegates immersed themselves in making the debates as productive as possible. Of the five Tudor girls debating, four won either commended or best junior delegate, with Molly chairing the debates. All girls enjoyed defending views that didn’t necessarily coincide with their personal opinions, and challenging others to do the same. Although the majority of the weekend was spent debating important world issues, there was still time for a trip to the cinema and a delicious meal out. Everyone had a great time, and Tudor managed to win commended delegation, missing the highly commended spot by just one point!

What IS MUN? Greta Scott, Tudor’s MUN Prefect, who has been involved with MUN since the III’s, writes about what MUN is, and why it’s so important to us at Tudor: Model United Nations is a debating competition designed to reflect the workings of the UN. Girls choose countries to represent, and committees within which to debate. The wide variety of committees to choose from means that MUN really helps expand girls’ understanding of topics of interest, whether these are related to science, ethics, history, politics, law or something else!

Thanks to this, MUN often appears in personal statements and references when applying to university. MUN is an excellent way to improve confidence and public speaking skills, both of which are now very employable attributes. It can also help pupils gain a knowledge of current affairs, and the world around them. On top of this, there is a social side to MUN, as the girls often go to other schools to debate, where they can chat to boys and girls who share their interests. This year, Tudor will be hosting its own MUN, which we hope many of the girls will get involved in.

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Embroidery specialist Amy Tang, who graduated last year from Birmingham University with a 1st class degree in Embroidery, held a workshop with the UVI Textiles students. Sara Fordy, Head of Textiles, originally met Amy when attending the Knit & Stitch Show 2015 and invited her to Tudor. Amy showed the girls her outstanding university portfolios, focusing on a series of lace work. Amy is currently working for Russian designer Michaela Frankova who incorporated Amy’s lace work in her latest London Fashion Week show.

OCTOBER 2016

Amy Tang, Embroidery Workshops

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New York Photography, Art and Textiles Trip During autumn half term, I embarked with fellow Photography, Art and Textiles students on a five-day trip to New York which was one of the most amazing weeks of my life. With our aim to expand our artistic influences and experience some of the world’s most iconic artwork, we were enthusiastic from the moment we stepped off the plane.

For the whole trip I was in complete awe of New York; the soaring heights of the buildings, which reflected the energetic city, left us amazed. The theme of being amazed was carried on throughout the trip, after taking the metro to Lower Manhattan we visited the International Centre of Photography Museum followed by the famous Metropolitan Museum. After taking pictures on the Met steps in classic Gossip Girl style we absorbed the wonders of the Museum. We also visited many other art and photography galleries such as The Whitney, the MoMA and the Guggenheim all of which opened our eyes massively to some breath taking work. It was such a privilege to see art from all over the world, modern and old, and especially work I have studied in class, because my pre-learnt knowledge allowed me to appreciate it more and have the ability to connect with the artwork.

Overall, I think being exposed in person to such influential and controversial work has not only broadened my cultural outlook but

has inspired my own artistic ability. As well as the art, we managed to fit in a lot of sightseeing. On taking the boat to Liberty Island, we saw the staggering New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty which was so impressive and reminded us of America’s independence and immigrant history.

The place that will stay with me forever is the 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Centre. The site had an eerie and sombre atmosphere that hit you like a wave as soon as you drew close. It is one of the most reflective and thought-provoking places I have ever been.

Amongst all the wonder of the city, it reminded us of the realties of the world.

After visiting many tourist attractions including the dazzling Times Square, it was a great opportunity for some of us to visit potential universities such as NYU and Parsons. Having seen the city, it has definitely motivated those of us who want to study there and I am now seriously contemplating living in New York in the near-distant future. It really was a fantastic trip and I cannot thank the school and teachers who organised it enough: Lizzi Snoddon (Head of Photography), Bob Roberts (Head of English) and Lindsey Pickering (School Nurse).

Sophie Walker (LVI)

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OCTOBER 2016

Richard of York gave battle INDIGO vain The LVI started their A level Textiles with a project on mark making, drawing on as many different methods and techniques as possible within the given time frame. To introduce them to the very popular method using Shibori and Itjamine dying techniques, the textiles department made an indigo vat. Indigo and Shibori (Japanese for ‘tie’) are traditional partners as the results are so successful due to the chemistry of Indigo. It is a dye that adheres to the surface rather than the molecule of the fabric (like chemical dyes) and only the surface areas of the folded, pleated tied samples receive dye hence the resisted areas that result and rather wonderful patterns.

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Sofie Svanikier Interview, UVI Why did you start singing?

My mum said I sang before I talked, so singing has always been a very innate, natural thing I’ve done. I have always been heavily influenced by the creative arts but especially music. When I was younger I sang the whole time and when I was 12 years I taught myself the guitar using YouTube as I wanted to be able to accompany myself whist singing. When I came to Tudor, I started guitar lessons with Mr Foley who has taught me so much about the guitar as an instrument as well as the music industry. I wrote my first song in the summer term of the IIs on a Sunday afternoon and have fond memories playing it in the half term concert. That’s when I decided to become a singer/songwriter.

Why do you sing?

I sing and play music because it makes me feel alive and happy and I enjoy doing it. That’s why I am taking it pretty seriously now as I want to study music at university and establish a career within the industry.

What made you want to release your debut single and record an EP? I’ve written a lot of songs throughout my time at Tudor but haven’t released any until 12th September 2016 when I released ‘Touch My Soul’. I have always wanted to release a song but timings never seemed right, even now isn’t perfect as I’ve just started my last year

of A levels. I’m the kind of person who loves sharing their work and social media provides the ideal platform as you receive feedback from listeners. I also love creating films and documentaries on YouTube and made a documentary series when I went to Guatemala on Tudor in 4 Continents. I went on a 5 week music programme to Boston this summer and left there feeling heavily inspired to finally get into a studio and record some of my originals and a couple of songs I had written out there.

How did ‘Touch My Soul’ come about?

I had just woken up in bed and was in one of those half awake, half asleep states. I remember singing this melody to myself consciously and subconsciously at the same time…it was so strange. After a few minutes, I threw my duvet off and grabbed my guitar and recorded it on voice notes on my phone because I knew it had the potential to be a really good chorus for a song. That’s how ‘Touch My Soul’ was born! After I had worked out the chords I wanted to use, the lyrics and rest of the melody flowed pretty quickly. The first lyrics of the chorus are ‘Touch my soul then you might get permission to touch my body.’ Those lyrics literally just flowed out of me, it was all so organic. I hope the song reverberates with a lot of young people who get together with a stranger in a random pub or club without even getting to know the name of the person or connecting with them first. That’s not my style. That’s basically what the song is about.

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The 1st XI hockey team have had an excellent start to the season by qualifying for the England Hockey Regional Finals.

The girls were runners up in the County tournament, beating a strong St Edwards side in the semi final in a penalty flick competition. The girls played Bloxham in the final and narrowly lost after drawing with them in an earlier pool game.

Special mention to Gabriella Louro who made four fantastic saves in a penalty flick shootout to secure our place in the final.

This is a huge achievement for the school and the following girls who include: Gabi Louro, Rose Dunlop, Arabella Roche, Lorna Fleming, Maya Rawal, Annabel Robertson, Rosie Bulwer Long, Poppy Mobley, Flora Smiley, Rose Lord, Charli Price (captain), Otti Puckett and Flora Ayres.

Holocaust Exhibition The Lower Sixth’s visit to the Imperial War Museum to see the Holocaust Exhibition, which traces the Nazi persecution and murder of Europe’s Jews from 1933 to 1945, was a truly moving experience. The layout of the exhibit showed the journey that Jews had taken, starting off with documentation of the prejudice against Jews and the rise of the Nazi regime. The girls walked through one of the train carriages that was used to transport people to the camps to demonstrate how small the space was for the amount of people travelling, with videos of interviews being shown. We also saw a scaled model of Auschwitz, complete with signs which showed what each part of the camp was used for. The most moving part of the trip came next, where there was a room dedicated to the people who had died and been in the camp. There was a pile of the shoes which were taken from people as they entered the camp and a wall showing the pictures of inhabitants. Finally, we saw a video of Jews who had survived the Holocaust, asking people not to let this kind of disaster happen again.

OCTOBER 2016

1st XI qualify for England Hockey Regional Finals

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Scholars’ Concert Report The Scholars’ Concert was the first time we have showcased our ‘music scholars’ at Tudor Hall in a dedicated concert, and it turned out to be an unqualified success. Not only did all the performers look very elegant and smartly dressed in their black concert dress; they all performed at an extremely high standard and should be very proud of their achievements.

We had such a diversity of performances, from Alice Allen’s Barbed Wire Blues

by Christopher Norton, which she performed with real gusto and finesse, to the Lutoslawski, Danse Preludes performed on clarinet by Poppy James. It was wonderful to see every year group involved from Todd to UVI, and inspiring to see our two UVI scholars get together with guitar teacher Mr Foley to sing a beautiful version of Oceans by Seafret. This really was a wonderful evening, and I would like to thank everyone for their participation, and Mrs Benlalam for accompanying the girls.

Lindsey Lea-James, Director of Music

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OCTOBER 2016

Autumn Concert The orchestra opened the Autumn Concert with a wonderful performance of Handel’s Water Music conducted by Ms Sanderson, which displayed the instrumentalists’ range of skills and confidence.

The flute group, all senior girls, gave a super performance of Berceuse by Fauré conducted by Mrs Sharam. The Clarinet group played Tango by Cowles, conducted by clarinet and saxophone teacher Miss Tugwell, which was once again a fine and musical performance. The String Group performed Lascia Chi’o Pianga, directed by Miss Tsuzaki, which showed real flair from the lower years.

Our soloists this year were all excellent and the styles varied enormously. India Yorke gave a lovely performance of Le Violette

by Scarlatti, Jenny Look sang a very passionate performance of Hallelujah by Cohen, and Polly Waters sang an emotional and well-presented performance of Someone Else’s Story from Chess.

We were even treated to a performance of Touch My Soul which is Sofie Svanikier’s latest track on iTunes available to buy. This was a committed and mature performance that touched everyone.

It was lovely to see our head girls performing Oceans by Seafret, accompanied by James Foley our guitar teacher. Their voices blended beautifully and this was much enjoyed by everyone.

Instrumental performances included Grace Sale playing the beautiful Chanson de Matin on cello and Grace Hu playing Spring

by Hisaishi on piano. These were both excellent performances and played with real musicianship.

The Chamber Choir closed the concert with a traditional performance of O Sanctissima and a very rousing performance of Be My Baby by Barry/Greenwick.

Lindsey Lea-James, Director of Music

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Aim Higher Conference The Aim Higher Conference proved to be lifechanging for many of the 200 girls in the IVs to UVI who attended. The panel of inspirational speakers, and programme of intensive workshops, encouraged the delegates to review their aims across all aspects of life, follow their passions, discuss and develop the skills required to achieve the unachievable, and to take every opportunity. With Victoria Prentis MP, founder of the Living the Dream Foundation Zoe Jackson, Invictus athlete and anaesthetist Jen Warren, racing driver and motoring journalist Amanda Stretton, England Rugby Player Harriet Millar-Mills, #rowlikeagirl Atlantic rower Gee Purdy and extreme endurance athlete Sean Conway sharing their life stories, the girls couldn’t fail to be moved. The targeted workshops included a dance workshop with Zoe Jackson culminating in a flash mob performance at the end of the day, a Life Goals Review and a Bubblewrap Challenge which resulted in teams creating some fabulous outfits in only 30 minutes. Wise words from Jen Warren succinctly summed up the conference, “Disability might define what you can’t do, but the only limit on what you can do is your imagination”.

Amanda Stretton Gee Purdy

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Victoria Prentis MP

OCTOBER 2016

Victoria Prentis MP

Sean Conway

Jen Warren with Wendy Griffiths

Zoe Jackson

Bubble wrap challenge

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Warriors, South Africa Warriors was the trip of a lifetime. Arriving at Johannesburg Airport to a sea of 23 strangers was initially daunting but by the end of the trip, we had become great friends which made saying goodbye the hardest part of the trip.

After a 10 hour plane journey and 6 hour drive, we finally reached the beautiful base camp of Tzaneen that would be our home for the next 2 days. The daily 5.30am wake-up call was a shock at first however, once we got into the spirit of it, it became rather a laugh, watching everyone emerge with bed hair.

The concept of Warriors is to 'live in the moment' so no matter how much we asked the instructors what our next challenge was, we

wouldn't be told. This was actually a brilliant concept because it meant we appreciated what we were doing at that moment and really got into the task in hand.

The first day included a 25km hike through the picturesque countryside, up and down hills. Spirits were kept high with a constant flow of chatter, laugher and singing. We stopped at a mini waterfall with rocks beneath it which we 'bum slid' down into a rather chilly pool which was invigorating to say the least! That evening we walked across hot coals and marveled at how we didn’t burn our feet – in-explainable but true. After two nights in the log cabins, we started the road trip around South Africa equipped with

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tents, mattresses, tables, chairs and 27 people’s 35 litre rucksacks.

Our first destination was a crèche. Being faced with around 200, 4-7 year olds who just wanted to be shown a little bit of love was the most overwhelming part of the trip. We had taken balloons which the children absolutely adored playing with but they just really wanted a cuddle.

We rose the next morning and climbed a rock face to reach an isolated waterfall with an eel infested pool beneath it. Regardless, we jumped in and took in what an incredible place we were in.

The day only got better with a giant swing into a valley, featuring a 60m free fall backwards. I can barely explain the fear of standing backwards on the edge of a wooden platform, clinging to your partner for dear life with a 60m drop beneath you. It was the most amazing experience and we were all buzzing afterwards. That night in teams of five, we cooked a traditional 'poykie' and put on some

The next day, we visited an elephant sanctuary and were introduced to 5 of these majestic beasts all of whom respond to over 100 English commands. We then returned to the vehicles and drove 7 hours to an unknown destination - the skydiving centre.

Falling out of a plane at 11,000 feet strapped to an instructor and free falling for 45 seconds was insane! At 5,000 feet the parachute opened and we enjoyed 8 minutes of floating back down to earth.

It was all over far too quickly and we all wanted to get back in the plane and have another jump.

The last day we packed up and, full of fore-boding, made our way to Johannesburg Airport to board our flight home. The realisation that it was all over suddenly hit everyone and, although we were looking forward to seeing our families again, were sad to say goodbye to the amazing friends we had made on the trip. They were the nicest group of people I've ever met and I will never forget this once in a lifetime experience.

Rose Lord (LVI)

OCTOBER 2016

Our first campsite was in the most beautiful valley, surrounded by giant cliffs and with baboons running through the camp. We visited an animal rehabilitation centre, where we stroked a cheetah, and a traditional village where we learnt about the villagers’ culture and were treated to a singing and dancing show, which ended with us being given some rather crunchy worms to eat.

very British entertainment, including rather out of tune Beatles’ songs.

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Bolton Lads & Girls Club During half term, six members of the LVI travelled to Bolton, Lancashire, with James Stead and Charlie Pemble to help out at the Bolton Lads and Girls Club (BLGC). As we travelled north, we were excited by the opportunity that lay ahead but nervous of whether the kids would accept us.

On arriving at the club the following day, we were welcomed by Leon who was one of the leaders and took us for a tour of the club.

The facilities were amazing and included a sports hall, boxing / gym area, dance studio, recreational area with TV and a quiet room.

Leon explained that there are different clubs including Junior Club for ages 8 – 12, Senior Club for ages 12 – 19, Holiday Club which is for the Junior Club during the holidays and Evening Club for both seniors and juniors.

We then met Carly next who was in charge of volunteers and the leaders. In order to be able to help, we completed a course on safe guarding and as we were going through the course, Carly gave examples of child neglect that she had come across throughout her career. It was very unnerving and I worried that the kids would be too hard to handle. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

During the week, we mainly helped out with Junior Holiday Club, making Halloween decorations with the children, playing jump

rope (the most popular activity) and challenging them to a game of pool. We went to Senior Club and hung out with the teenagers and at first, as they were a similar age to me, I was very tense and not sure what to do. But then Kate and Jessica and I were introduced to another girl, Lydia, over a game of badminton and we got on so well that we ended up watching X Factor in the recreation room together.

Each of us shadowed a mentor during the week. The mentor takes care of children who have especially unfortunate backgrounds and need someone to be there for them to talk to. I visited a family with my mentor Pippa to meet a 10 year old girl who was thinking of joining the mentoring program. She was great fun and very outgoing, enjoying local drama and netball activities, but needed extra support in life.

The time I spent with the Lads and Girls Club has changed my outlook on life and on what basis I judge people. I learnt that there are kids younger or older than me, who have some of the worst problems to face every day but, thanks to the Club, can still have fun and remain kind and generous. I will always remember the trip to Bolton and will keep everything I learnt with me forever.

Jasmine Clay (LVI)

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OCTOBER 2016

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Beth Tweddle, Women’s Sport Week Gymnastics Olympian Beth Tweddle kicked off Women’s Sport Week at Tudor Hall with a Q&A with the school’s sports scholars. She told of her road to Olympic glory saying it all comes down to hard work, determination and a love for a sport. She hosted master classes with 60 girls from nearby primary and prep schools, as well as with Todds and IIs, throughout the afternoon and into the evening to encourage more girls to get involved in gymnastics and to promote Women's Sport Week 2016 #WSW16.

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OCTOBER 2016

Todd Williams master classes Todd Williams, former Australian hockey international and current Head of Education and First Team Hockey Coach at Magdalen College School in Oxford, gave master classes to Tudor Hall and Carrdus pupils and over 30 children from nearby primary and prep schools.

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Andrea Law ballroom workshop It was strictly ballroom at Tudor when Andrea Law, British National Closed Senior Latin Champion, put Tudorians and girls and boys from nearby primary and prep schools through their paces in a ballroom workshop.

Participants were also treated to a fantastic display by Andrea's dance company. We'll watch Strictly Come Dancing in an entirely different light now!

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OCTOBER 2016

Bianca Walkden kicks off her shoes at Tudor Rio Taekwondo bronze medalist Bianca Walkden took time out of her busy training schedule to introduce girls of all ages, from both Tudor and local primary and prep schools, to the Korean martial art. After mastering front, side and spin kicks, and learning a lot of terminology including Charyot (attention), Kyungye (bow) and Junbi (ready) and Shijah (begin), Bianca hosted a fascinating Q&A, allowed the girls to try on her medal and signed a lot of memorabilia! Bianca urged the girls to try lots of different sports, to never give up and to go for gold. #WSW16 #sport@TH #biancawalkden

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Emily Diamond Masterclass and Workshop Rio 4x400m Olympic bronze medalist Emily Diamond put Tudorians and girls from nearby primary and prep schools through their paces at her fast paced athletics workshop. Girls learnt sprint starts, baton changing and stride control whilst being able to ask burning questions about Emily’s road to the Olympics.

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OCTOBER 2016

Helen Richardson-Walsh master classes Helen Richardson-Walsh, a pivotal member of the Great Britain hockey team that won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, visited Tudor to give master classes to the 1st XI and Under 14s. The girls were thrilled to meet Helen, pick up some tricks of the trade and have their sticks signed. Helen was one of two women who scored in the deciding penalty shoot-out in the final against the Netherlands in Rio. She announced that she would leave Reading Hockey Club to join HC Bloemendaal in the Netherlands after the Olympics and today suggested that she would retire from international hockey.

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Rotterdam Tour During the half term break some of the IIIs and IVs embarked on a flight and headed to one of the world’s best destinations for high quality hockey; Holland.

The base for the trip was Noordwijk aan Zee, a lively and beautiful seaside resort located in between Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

After settling into the hotel the girls headed down to town to soak up the atmosphere, before heading to the beach for some team building. Blue Beach was the restaurant of choice the first night and the girls dined on some excellent food. An early night followed in preparation for a full day of hockey the next morning.

The girls rose early and travelled to Athena Hockey Club, located just outside Amsterdam, to take part in their first fixtures of the tour. With the IIIs and IVs mixed together, the newly formed teams warmed up and prepared for their fixtures. The opposition were older then the Tudor girls and were strong and powerful. Although

the girls fought hard in both matches they were defeated, but it proved to be an excellent learning platform as it uncovered all of the girls' weaknesses and demonstrated how a good team play.

That afternoon the girls were lucky enough to watch some National League Hockey at Bloemendaal Hockey Club, where the men won their game and the ladies lost in a closely contested match. The girls had the opportunity to play on the first XI pitch during the half time team talk, and some got up close to the Bloemendaal head coach Teun De Nooijer, Olympic Champion over many years.

The following day saw the highlight of the tour with a professional coaching session at Rotterdam HC. The girls were very fortunate to have a session with two top Dutch players on the stadium pitch at Rotterdam. The club was somewhat amazing and the girls were over awed by the sheer scale of the club(with 8 astros and a huge club house) and, they had a taste of what it feels like to be involved in high quality hockey. After some exceptional hosting

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OCTOBER 2016

from Rotterdam HC, the girls headed to the world renowned indoor market place in Rotterdam to try some local delicacies. The evening saw a long transfer to face their second opponents of the week, Almere. The standard at Almere was high, and with the opponents reverse stick hitting into the top corners in the warm-up the girls knew it was going to be a tough game. The Tudor girls made significant improvements, the match analysis session had helped them positionally, and they looked strong in defence. Both teams were defeated but the improvements made were very positive in both matches, and the girls learnt how to be strong on the ball and play to the whistle. Almere were excellent hosts and provided a sumptuous meal and the girls mixed together to learn about each other’s cultures.

After a very late night, the girls rose early for a team training session at Noordwijk and were able to practice some passing moves

and link play together in attack and defence. After bowling in the afternoon, the girls headed to Amersfoort for their final fixtures. The girls played superbly during the game, and although both teams lost, they were narrow losses and the development across the week had been astounding. The tour concluded with a stadium tour of Ajax in Amsterdam where the girls were able to see inside the home changing room and soak up the atmosphere of the press room.

The girls worked really hard all week and their individual skills and match play improved as a result. The Dutch are strong at hockey, and it is a way of life that engulfs everybody in Holland. Safe to say the Tudor girls arrived home inspired, determined and ready to take the next step on the playing journey.

S J Lapper, Director of Sport

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Official opening of Drama Studio Serena Armitage, OT and 2016 Academy Award Winner for Best Short Film ‘Stutterer’, officially opened the Drama Studio on Saturday 1st October. Joined by fellow OTs, staff, former staff and Tudor parents at a champagne reception in the foyer, Serena cut the red ribbon and gave a short opening speech. Guests were then treated to short performances by 25 girls including Sacha Robertson’s extract from Jim Cartwright's 'Mobile Phone Show', Isabel Saer and Lara Morris-Marsham’s extract from Eugene

Ionesco's 'The Bald Prima Donna' as well as a performance by girls from the IIs, IIIs and IVs of an extract from last year's junior production of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Serena took a Q&A enlightening the audience on how she became a film producer, what prompted her to make a short film after working on weekly TV programmes, the Oscar application process and what she wore on the big night. The afternoon was washed down by a delicious afternoon tea in the Dining Room.

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The IVs GCSE textiles students visited The Knitting & Stitching Show - the most highly regarded textiles and craft show in the UK – at Alexandra Palace, London, on 6th October. Exhibitor Josey Florence Mendez, an Embroiders’ Guild Graduate, caught the girls’ attention. As Annabelle Walker wrote: ‘Her work consisted mainly of machine embroidered patterns sewn onto large sheets of PVC which was then used to make dresses, wall murals and neck and head pieces. When asked how she made her pieces, Josey explained that she used a digital sewing machine, which enabled her to design and plan on the computer, and then the machine printed the design out digitally. The colour scheme that she used was very mono-tone, with a variety of greys, blues, silvers and blacks creating a contemporary look. The use of a simple colour scheme with a complex design of embroidery was wholly effective and the simple colours made one focus more on the skill of her piece’.

Music School Concert The first music school concert of the autumn term was this year dominated by vocal solos. Many of the pupils were preparing for their forthcoming vocal examinations later in the term, and this provided an excellent platform for them to gain some experience.

It was a full and varied concert, and much vocal quality was heard throughout. Greta Scott gave a moving performance of ‘Send in the Clowns’ by Sondheim, and managed the lower tessitura of this song extremely well. Similarly, Kitty Veale captured the Sondheim style so well as she performed ‘I Remember’.

We had some lovely contemporary songs performed by Millie Courtney, ‘Latch’ by Lawrence and Amelia Douglas, ‘Skinny Love’, and these were sung with real flair and confidence. It was lovely to see Jasmine Davis, both singing and playing the piano in the concert, and renditions of traditional songs, such as Katie Hurst singing ‘O Shenandoah’, were well received.

OCTOBER 2016

The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace

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Todds to Bird Land In preparation for their Bird Project the Todds visited Bird Land in Bourton on the Water, creating line drawings of birds to kick start their visual research. The sun shone and allowed the girls to enjoy the day exploring the park and participating in various feeding and

handling sessions. The drawings they produced contributed to their Bird project at school where they created watercolours, linocuts and plate designs.

NOVEMBER 2016

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Shakespeare Schools’ Festival

NOVEMBER 2016

A cast of 11 Tudor girls from the IIIs, IVs, Vs and LVI performed The Merchant of Venice at the Mill Arts Centre, Banbury, as part of their involvement in Shakespeare Schools' Festival (SSF). It was Tudor's seventh consecutive year participating in what has become the country's largest non-competitive drama festival.

The girls’ understanding and delivery of Shakespeare's verse and embodiment of the bard's wonderful characters was very impressive. SSF organisers praised the girls for their work as an ensemble and the confidence they exuded in 'owning the stage', with humour and pathos aplenty! Well done to Alice Allen, Sonali Balch, Rozzy Higgin, Poppy MacDonald, Maddy Meeson, Tilly Painter, Martha Peck, Izzy Saer, Alice Smith, Orlanda Stephens and Sasha White for their supreme commitment and resilience, and for being so supportive of the students from Bloxham and NOA. Their talent and spirit never cease to amaze.

With mirth and

laughter let old

wrinkles come

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Chemistry in Action at Warwick University Sixth form chemists attended a day of inspirational lectures and workshops at Warwick University as part of Chemistry in Action study day. The day kick started with a fascinating talk on the chemistry behind former medicines like arsenic, which turned out to be effective poisons in Victorian times, and then students were given the opportunity to smell a selection of the fragrances which make up the iconic Channel no.5 perfume.

The talk on examination success, including important dos, don’ts and common errors, was particularly insightful. In the afternoon, Professor Steve Liddle spoke on uranium and the nuclear industry, and Dr Jonathan Hare reviewed the carbon revolution. The day was rounded off by a whizz and bang lecture on rates of various chemical reactions, which saw many visual demonstrations. The whole day showed students the diversity of Chemistry and how it interlinks so closely with other scientific disciplines.

Bloxham Eventer Challenge The Tudor Equestrian Team had a very successful day at Bloxham’s Eventer Challenge at Aston Le Walls bringing back numerous rosettes. In the 80cm individual category, Izzy Rugman riding Bluebell came 5th and in the 90cm category, Annabel Beale on Croagh Lad, Molly Madden and Percy Frenc, Matilda Harvey on Pingu and Izzy Rugman on Ballybay Lady won Team 1st winning a Team Training Voucher with Nigel or Ann Taylor. Individually, Izzy Rugman on Ballybay Lady came 1st and Matilda Harvey on Pingu came 9th.

In the 100cm individual class, Izzy Rugman came 2nd on The Magnificent Pedro, Molly Madden came 5th on Wilma Ruby, Izzy Rugman came 6th on Ballybay Lady, Matilda Harvey came 9th on Pingu and Annabel Beale came 11th on Croagh Lad. To top off a highly successful day, huge congratulations went to Molly Madden on Wilma Ruby who came 1st in the 110cm class.

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Live Lounge

NOVEMBER 2016

On a crisp Friday night in November, we welcomed Purple Mafia back to Tudor to perform at a live lounge evening, following on from their success at Tudorfest in September.

The evening started with a disco; before the boys performed a set that included their original work along with some covers of popular songs. Jazzy Clay, Mary Eckert and Sofie Svanikier joined the band on stage to entertain the crowd. After a Q & A session with the band and an interactive final set which included the girls, the evening finished off with a dance off which was won by the sixth form.

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Christmas Tree Lights go up Christmas trees and lights went up on 30th November to ensure Tudor entered into the Christmas spirit on the first day of advent. A cherry picker ensured the deciduous tree outside C1 was decked with over 400 sparkling lights!

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Autumn Fair Day The Autumn Fun Day kicked off with a fantastic Junior Music Concert which featured vocal solos from Milly Holt, Orly Stephens, Katie Hurst, Caroline Gough, Tilly Sears and Tirkana Stanhope (who accompanied herself on guitar) as well as the Junior Choir singing You’ve got a friend in me and Dancing on my own. Musical solos also included Olivia James on the flute, Kitty Veale and Lilliana Webb on the violin, Lian Dancer on the trumpet, and Jasmine Davies on the piano.

Tudor’s sporting prowess was showcased during the afternoon with eight hockey matches against St Edwards and an inter-school U12 and U13 netball tournament. After some outstanding play, Tudor won or drew five of the eight hockey matches which capped off a week that had seen a massive 24 fixtures.

As night fell, girls, staff and families congregated outside the Dining Room for the Catering Department’s infamous Hog Roast and chocolate brownies. The bonfire was bigger than ever thanks to the care and attention of the grounds staff and the fireworks lit up the evening sky. As guests dissipated, the Vs and Sixth Form were treated to a live lounge with Purple Mafia.

For those who like to plan ahead, the Autumn Fair will be held on Saturday 11th November next year. Save the date!

NOVEMBER 2016

The torrential rain experienced throughout the morning had a positive effect on footfall at the Christmas Fair. Over 700 avid shoppers visited the Fair in the School Sports Hall to escape the elements, enjoying not only the Catering Department’s Hot Chocolate and Mince Pie stall but the goods of over 50 stallholders ranging from Ti4C’s handmade vinyl clocks and hand-printed Kuala bags and prints by Polly Skye to James Stead’s pottery, gluten free Christmas puddings, pyjamas in every colour, silk flowers and OT owned stalls including Davina Combe’s beautiful jewellery (as worn

by Pippa Middleton) and Mel Forsythe’s Ollie’s Shop. The Tudor

Tipple, Tudor’s own branded pale ale brewed by Tudor parents the Lees-Jones in their Manchester brewery, as well as the 2017 charity wall calendar also boosted sales. Over £4,000 was raised and will go to Ti4C and the school’s annual charity Young Minds.

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Henrietta Knight, NG Lecture Series Henrietta Knight, retired English thoroughbred racehorse trainer, came to Tudor as part of the NG Lecture Series.

Having trained over 700 winning horses during her professional career, including the amazing Best Mate, she gave a fascinating insight into her life, how she became involved in racing, exploring the world and training winners. She advised the audience not to stay inside and watch screens, to do their ‘own thing’ and not to follow the crowd or worry about what other people thought.

Henrietta’s most powerful message of the evening was: follow your passion.

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Harriet Millar-Mills voted Player of Match NOVEMBER 2016

Tudor’s Harriet Millar-Mills was named Old Mutual Wealth’s Player of the Match after England Women’s Rugby win over Canada at Twickenham on Saturday. In their final autumn Test, the England women produced a text book display to beat Canada 39-6. In a live interview with Sky Sports immediately after the match, Harriet (No. 8) commented that the combination between the forwards and backs worked really well but firmly believes that the team has more to give. England moves into second place in the world rankings behind New Zealand.

History of Art Trip The UVI Art Historians visited the National Gallery, London, to view the works of art that they have studied at first hand. They spent time viewing paintings in the permanent collection including Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne, Bronzino’s Allegory of Venus and Cupid and Raphael’s portrait of Julius II. They then visited the temporary exhibition entitled Beyond Caravaggio, where they viewed prominent works by the artist and explored the key features and characteristics of his paintings. Paintings created by artists he inspired and influenced were also part of this collection.

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John Fieldsend Lecture John Fieldsend, a Holocaust survivor, came to speak to the IVs to UVI, and two visiting schools, about his experiences during the Holocaust. He told of his comfortable and happy life in Germany and the Czech Republic as a child, and then described the changes that happened to Jews during the Nazi regime and his eventual escape of Germany. Mr Fieldsend was one of the 10,000 children, along with his brother, who escaped Germany on the Kinder transport, set up by Nicholas Winton which moved children from Prague to Holland, and finally to Britain. In Britain, he was sent to a foster family and went to a school with other Jewish children from Germany. He answered many questions from the audience. The most powerful part was his ending; he had been sent a goodbye letter from his parents who wished him luck and happiness. He does not know who sent this after the war. His message was one of hope and forgiveness, and with links to the current refugee crisis in Syria, this still resonates today.

1st XI South Regional Hockey Tournament After a fantastic performance at the County Hockey Tournament, the 1st XI travelled to Cranleigh School to compete in the South Regional Hockey tournament. Tudor fought hard in their opening fixture versus St. John’s but went on to lose 4-0.

In their next game versus Eastbourne College, Tudor started on the front foot and looked most likely to break the dead lock.

Eastbourne scored against the run of play but Captain Charli Price smashed home a short corner on the stroke of half time to level at

the interval. Early in the second half Tudor pressed for a second but conceded again in open play. However this did not stop Tudor who remained patient and kept playing some excellent hockey and it was Rose Lord who pulled one back with a great finish from close range on the back post. Tudor went on to record a 2-2 draw in a game they perhaps should have taken all 3 points.

James Long, Head of Hockey

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NOVEMBER 2016

Open Mic Night The open mic concert was a triumph with some superb performances from all pupils. It was wonderful to see sisters Jessica and Saskia Carter performing guitar and vocals together. We had lovely vocal performances from Olivia Fussell, Mimi Douglas, Alice Smith, Violet Blackburn, Hannah Dobson and Helena Dobbs. Emilie Monye gave a heart rendering performance of Say You Won't Let Go, and later joined with Sofia Svanikier to do a duet of the Allessa Cara song Overdose with the Sixth form band. We were honoured to have a superb performance by the staff band, Burnt Norton,

with stunning vocals from Nikki Jones. Tirkana Stanhope sang and played guitar, with her rendition of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know. Finally, we were treated to a performance of Touch My Soul, Sofia Svanikier’s debut single, and another track from her album which has just been released on itunes and Spotify.

BYHP Food Bank Collection The Harvest Festival Service kick started our annual food bank collection for Banbury Young Homeless Project. Thanks to the generosity of the Tudor community, Dr Jackson delivered a bumper collection of food to their Banbury headquarters. BYHP

told Dr Jackson that ‘the donations go a long way to support our vulnerable young people in the local area’. In the first six months of 2016, BYHP supported over 140 individuals who accessed their services over 800 times.

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We’ll Meet Again Following the success of last year's Remembrance Day event 'Pack Up Your Troubles', the Drama Department and Tudor girls from all year groups presented 'We'll Meet Again'. The focus of the evening was the Second World War, and the girls tackled a range of material which involved drama sketches, poetry and readings on topics including evacuation, rationing, the land girls, Alan Turing and the Holocaust.

The evening provided much food for thought and paid a moving tribute to those who lost their lives during the war, ending with the opening bars of the Last Post amidst a sea of poppy petals. We will remember them.

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NOVEMBER 2016

Art Round Up The Art Department was London-bound on two occasions this month. Art students in the IV’s visited London galleries to inspire their Spanish Art project. They studied the permanent collection of Spanish still life paintings at the National Gallery as well as the Picasso exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.

Lower VI girls studying textiles, photography and Fine Art attended the UCAS Design Your Future Fair to explore the diversity of courses on offer beyond A level. They were able to talk to tutors and students of fashion, graphics, product design, architecture and Fine Art. They then visited the Brick Lane area, known for its small commercial galleries showcasing up and coming artists and designers. The day gave them of taste of opportunities to use their

artistic skills beyond the art studio of Tudor Hall.

U6 Fine Artists also visited Warwick University to attend the Creative Process lectures, part of a series of lectures for Art in Action. Several eminent artists were interviewed about their careers from leaving school onwards, and about their inspirations and their work.

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Junior Music Concert The Junior Music Concert was a fantastic way of kicking off the Autumn Fun Day and we were treated to quality musical performances from all of our junior soloists. To begin, Milly Holt (IIIs) gave a committed performance of A Bushel and a Peck which was followed by the lovely Chanson from the Suite Antique by Rutter, ably played by Olivia James (Todd). Another lovely Todd performance came from Lilliana Webb on the violin playing BourrĂŠe by Somervell. This was followed by Pomp & Circumstance March on the trumpet from Lian Dancer, with all of the IIIs playing and singing at a high standard. A special note must go to Tirkana Stanhope who sang a touching performance of Let it go by James Bay. The Junior Choir ended the programme with two songs and with soloists from all year groups, singing with real gusto and confidence.

Lindsey Lea-James, Director of Music

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OTs Daisy Beor-Roberts, Flossie Cunningham, Davina Daly, Sophie Deakin, Emily Dunlop, Alice Harley, Bea Saunders Watson, Rosie Pruden and Imo Reid (class of 2015) joined Wendy Griffiths at the Girls’ Schools Association’s annual alumnae drinks held in 2016

at the Natural History Museum, Oxford. The Guest of Honour was Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. As Imo said, “It was nice to catch up with everyone and funny being back in a place we've been on so many school trips!”

Tudor 2nd XI Hockey vs Oxford High Tudor’s 2nd XI hockey played Oxford High’s 2nd XI under flood light at Oxford Hawkes’ Banbury Road North Ground.

With two cracking goals by Bella Biggart, Tudor won 2-0.

Huge congratulations to the team, and to Rosie Dunbar who was named Most Valued Player.

NOVEMBER 2016

GSA Alumnae Drinks in Oxford

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Senior Aegon Tennis vs Bedford Girls The first game of the group was against Bedford Girls on their indoor courts. Bedford had reached last year's national final and are amongst the top tennis schools in the country.

Bella Biggart and Charli Price played their singles first, Charli playing at a very high level against a very strong number one player.

With matches lasting one set per rubber, Charli had slipped to losing a number of games before she started to get into her flow at which point it was too difficult to claw back the points. Bella on the other hand went to a tiebreak decider in her match and maintained good composure and level of consistency to win another hard fought match.

RSC at Broughton Castle

Rose Dunlop and Lettie Cripps played their singles after the doubles which they lost fairly magnanimously. The singles were again very competitive; Lettie was close to winning her match but couldn’t quite outwit her strong opponent. Rose settled and managed to produce some excellent service points and created a lot of chances however her opponent was the strongest player on the court for both teams.

The girls were a great credit to Tudor as they dug in, worked very hard and competed well.

Mark Boden, Tennis Coach

A group of Todds and IIs visited Broughton Castle in Banbury to take part in a Shakespeare Appreciation Workshop. The event, initiated by local MP Victoria Prentis, aimed to provide local secondary school children with the opportunity to explore Shakespeare's play, 'Hamlet', under the expert guidance of actors from the RSC. The girls had a terrific time and enjoyed working on the first scene of the play with students from a large number of other schools from North Oxfordshire. The setting of Broughton Castle certainly added to the experience as it was one of the primary locations for the film, 'Shakespeare in Love' for which Gwyneth Paltrow won an Oscar. The current Lord Saye and Sele were also present and provided the girls with some historical knowledge on his ancestral home. A real treat!

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NOVEMBER NOVEMBER2016 2016

Todd’s Neon Dayglo Disco The LVI invited the Todd’s to a neon dayglo disco in the school hall. The Todd’s donned their best party dresses, glow-in-thedark face paint and hit the dance floor. The disco was a huge success with several inter year dance offs; one of which was with the senior hockey squad (complete with a fully kitted out goalie) who made a brief stop off after training.

A special mention for Iona Milne who led most of the group dances so successfully that the Todd’s requested regular disco dancing lessons from her!

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Remembrance Assembly A team of UVI students, led by Lottie McGrath and including Daisy Flach, Iona Frisby and Bella Roche, led the service at Tudor’s Remembrance Assembly. The readings, poems and music took

the congregation back to the sacrifices made by millions during the world wars. Rosie Dunbar’s moving trumpet call of The Last Post signalled the start and end of the two minute silence.

Spanish Social with Radley College 21 linguists from Vs-UVI travelled to Radley College for a languages social involving a cultural team quiz, Venezuelan food and a salsa lesson by a Spanish-speaking Cuban dance specialist. After sampling dishes such as black beans, plantain and a deliciously gooey dessert called tres leches, the students gave it their all in the dance lesson and were showing their inner Latino by the end!

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On the Button 'Don't Panic! It's Challenge Anneka!'

NOVEMBER 2016

The fabulous On the Button theatre company entertained Tudor girls in the IVs-UVI with their show, 'Don't Panic! It's Challenge Anneka!'. The company, comprising Le Coq-trained actors Sophie and Ben, presented a show that was a frank, funny and open exploration of a topic that too often remains taboo: the challenge of overcoming anxiety. On the Button fused live performance with video footage to explore neurological processes behind anxiety disorders and the personal challenges involved in coming to terms with them. Girls studying drama at GCSE and A-Level were treated to a workshop following the event, which focused on developing devising skills in the style of Jacques Le Coq, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. On the Button thanked the girls via social media for being such 'an inspirational bunch of students'.

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First frost of winter The first frost of winter transformed the astro into a glistening carpet of silver.

Music School Concert It was wonderful to see 20 solo performers take part in the Music School Concert, only two days after the Junior Concert. Once again the standard was very high, and notable performances came from Jasmine Davis playing Morning Song and singing Over the Rainbow. Kitty Veale excelled with her violin performance of the Idylle by Elgar and Sonatina by Telemann, and Alice Allen played the FaurĂŠ piano improvisation with real style. There was an excellent performance of The Latte Boy by Greta Scott and it was lovely to see Ella Bridgland back on the harp, playing Butterflies.

Many of the performances were in preparation for the forthcoming Associated Board, Trinity and London College examinations.

Mrs Lea-James, Director of Music

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DofE Diamond Anniversary Service at Westminster Abbey

Hockey supremo visits Tudor to watch great niece in action Carol Bryant, England hockey player (1961 – 1966), came to watch her great niece Sophie Donald (IIIs) play for Tudor’s Under 14s A team vs Bloxham School. Carol played for England against European and American teams throughout the 1960s and, based on her observations of the various styles of hockey played around the world, wrote Hockey for Schools reviewing the techniques she used to coach at all levels. After the Tudor match, Carol went on to watch two more nieces playing for opposing Under 11 teams, Winchester House and Swanbourne, both of whom were voted ‘most valued player’. What a fitting end to the day for an extraordinary advocate of the game of hockey.

NOVEMBER 2016

OTs Iona Cleave, Serena Goodhart, Tatty Milliken and Tilly Rigby were invited to the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme’s Diamond Anniversary Service at Westminster Abbey. HM The Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh were in attendance and were joined by ambassadors Phillip Schofield and Hannah Cockroft. After the service, Tilly emailed Tudor’s Duke of Edinburgh coordinator saying “On behalf of all of us, thanks for so brilliantly mothering us through our bronze, silver and gold awards - it certainly paid off!”

DECEMBER 2016

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The Evening of Dance showcased the depth and breadth of dance at Tudor. The girls, who choreographed and performed solos, duets as well as group dances by the Todds, IIs, IIIs, Ballet, Evolution and Reaction, treated the audience to classical ballet, modern, contemporary, tap, street and hip hop routines. A special mention must go to Sixth Formers Rebekah Knox, Clemmie Laidlaw and Anna Stallibrass who have supported Tudor’s dance department throughout their time at school and have performed religiously with Reaction. Cara Chamberlain has also been an instrumental part of the dance department, injecting energy into her role as Dance Prefect. Rebekah and Anna’s emotional dance ‘Say Something’ to the music of ‘A Great Big World’ and ‘Christina Aguilera’ showcased the girls’ natural ability and flair whilst Clemmie’s solo to ‘Georgia’ and Cara’s solo to ‘Lullabies’ were also beautifully choreographed and showed their great talent.

Enormous thanks go to Director of Dance Bronwen Robinson and Layla Williams for their continued energy and enthusiasm and to Tess Lindsay on lighting who was a huge support to the performers.

Comment from Rebekah Knox: “I have been in Reaction since I was 12, so ending with a bang was extremely important to me. After we decided on the music, we tried our hardest to channel our ‘inner Kanye’ by creating lots of fun street movement. The highlight of the rehearsal process was working with the enigmatic Daniel Brown who came to rehearsals full of energy. His complex movement was hard to grasp at first but it made us work that much harder as a group. It was an incredible opportunity to work with a professional dancer; his ideas were fresh and exciting and he got us thinking in character, making us that little bit more edgy and sassy.”

DECEMBER 2016

An Evening of Dance

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Festive Cheer The Catering Department put on the most marvellous Christmas Food Market, with festive stalls serving nonalcoholic gluhwein, hot dogs, chow mein, waffles drizzled with chocolate, candy canes and lots more. Huge thanks to our very own Master Chef Darren O’Neil and his staff.

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Around the World in 60 minutes Students from Todd, Bishop’s Carpenter CE Primary School, Carrdus School, St John’s Priory and Shenington Primary School were held in awe by Neal Nichols Jnr’s Geography Gameshow. Neal drew a map of the world entirely from memory in 60 minutes, challenging and enhancing the audiences’ comprehension of the world through the clever use of geographical and historical knowledge. Clever but simple points of reference – like colouring the country of Greenland in green and stating that there are seven breeds of penguin in the Antarctic like there are seven continents – greatly helped information retention. The students all walked away with a better understanding of the world we live in.

Singing for Syrians raised going to those in the greatest need in and around Syria.

Many shoppers commented on how lovely it was to hear traditional carols being sung so beautifully. Huge thanks to our tinselled bucket-shakers Ava, Gaby and Isla who collected £182.

DECEMBER 2016

The Chamber Choir, joined by members of staff and their children, sang carols in the Market Place, Banbury, to raise funds for Victoria Prentis MP’s fledgling charity Singing for Syrians part of The Hands Up Foundation. The people of Banbury gave generously, with funds

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IIIs’ pre-Christmas Trip to Berlin

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On arrival, the efficient Germans transported us from Berlin Airport by train and metro to our central hostel located within a stone's throw of the Brandenburg Gate. We explored the local area on the first evening and the girls tried out their German by ordering Schnitzel and other specialities.

The first full day kicked off with a German lesson at Berlitz Language School. The lesson was taught totally in German and equipped the girls to order snacks and buy gifts at the Christmas market. The girls had been issued with a booklet of activities to complete and one of these was to interview some German people. They wasted no time interviewing the teacher and course administrator, and it was very rewarding to see their confidence grow and keenness to practise the language.

The girls put these skills into practice at the beautiful Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Market, perusing the festive stalls and ordering their lunch in German. Next, we visited Checkpoint Charlie, an important border crossing between the Russian and American

zones when Germany was divided into two states, and saw where many East German citizens attempted to escape to the west.

The highlight of the afternoon was the chocolate making workshop at Ritter Sport Schokowelt. After learning about the chocolate making process in German and English, the girls were able to make their own Ritter Sport bars with fillings of their choice. The day culminated with a meal in the famous rotating restaurant at the top of the Fernsehturm (TV tower), enabling us to enjoy ever-changing views of Berlin as we dined.

Highlights of the second day included a visit to the Eastside Gallery to see the remains of the Berlin Wall and a visit to The Gate museum where we learned about the history of Berlin via a multimedia room full of screens. Finally, there was time for shopping. The girls must be commended for throwing themselves into all the activities with enthusiasm and seizing many opportunities to practise their German.

Holly Thomas, Head of German

DECEMBER 2016

The IIIs’ German class had been looking forward to the trip for a long time; Berlin hoodies had been ordered and they had completed a research project about the history and sights of the city.

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Head Girl Team Autumn Term Elva King What did it feel like to be asked to be Head Girl?

To be honest, it was a bit of shock! I wasn't expecting it at all but after it sunk in I was over the moon because I felt like I must have done something right. I was asked to be head girl before the summer holidays during Mark Reading so I had the whole holidays to mull it over. My parents were thrilled and we felt like blurting it out any time we saw someone we knew.

What are the highs and lows of the job?

I have to say this is probably not your usual high or low for a Head Girl. I really enjoyed assembly, which was both a nerve racking and exciting experience, because you wait in anticipation to see

Rosie Dunbar What did it feel like to be asked to be Head Girl?

As Head Girls before me have already said – it was a great honour to be made Head Girl. The pressure is suddenly on though as you are representing the school in everything you do, which is a huge responsibility. I’m so pleased I had the opportunity to step up to the challenge of fulfilling everyone’s expectations.

What are the highs and lows of the job?

Lows: Eyes are on you all the time. Setting up chairs every Sunday night for prayers!

Highs: Being asked to do important tasks as people believe that you’re the best person for the job, especially when you do get

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if Miss Griffiths is going to hand you anything to read to the whole school and then you have a moment to digest it before it's time for the 'please stand'. You rush in, sit down and then pray that you know the reading well enough not to mess it up. After what seems like forever, Miss Griffiths finally gives you a nod and you stand up, cough a little because your throat always seems to go dry and then you're off. I always found this slight emotional roller coaster really quite exhilarating - it's the small things...

What have you learnt from being Head Girl?

With the role comes responsibility which requires a lot of juggling with academic work and other commitments so my time management has definitely improved. My public speaking has improved hugely too and I've definitely had a lot more practise writing speeches.

What have you learnt from being Head Girl?

A LOT goes on behind the scenes that you have no idea about – especially in preparation for open days. I learnt that working together with the whole head girl team is definitely the most efficient way forward and if you act in a confident manner – even if you’re really nervous underneath – you will give other people confidence. Smiling is definitely the best way to seem at ease!

Are there any particular events and/or jobs associated with being Head Girl that have stuck in your mind?

I’ll never forget my first speech at the Prep Heads’ lunch where I had to address 20+ headmasters and mistresses. It was a great

For me, it was the beginning and the end of term that will always remain etched in my mind. I went to the Tatler Schools Awards at the start of term and exchanged stories and tips with fellow head girls and boys over some delicious nibbles. The term ended with Head Girls’ Prayers, which I really enjoyed. We managed to pull off a musical of sorts that we’d written about the term (luckily my fellow head girl Rosie is very musical) and although the quality of singing was varied, it was great fun to perform.

What advice you would give to future Head Girls?

The term flies by so make the most of it and instead of dreading certain events like I did, try and just enjoy what you’re doing in the moment.

confidence booster to see heads listening to my every word and enjoying what I’d put together.

My last Hoorah as Head girl was in Head Girl’s Prayers where Elva and I summed up the term with a series of extracts from our favourite musicals. Putting it all together was great fun, but pulling it off was even better.

What advice you would give to future Head Girls?

Make the most of your time as a member of the head girl team as it really flies by and you’ll actually miss not having the same responsibilities when the baton gets passed over. Don’t stress too much about writing speeches or how you’re going to be perceived as everything comes together in the end. Just enjoy being given the opportunity to be in such a position of responsibility and being able to tell people what you love about Tudor.

DECEMBER 2016

it right and you do the school proud. I really enjoyed meeting prospective parents as you can give them a flavour of what Tudor’s all about.

Are there any particular events and/or jobs associated with being Head Girl that have stuck in your mind?

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House Dance The House Dance competition certainly made for an entertaining afternoon. With themes of ‘Capital Cities’, ‘Heroes’ and ‘Stomp’ to base the dances around, the girls’ creativity, energy, clever music choice and ability to work in teams came to the fore with costumes ranging from Cadbury’s chocolate bars to Super Heroes. Tudor won ‘Capital Cities’ starting with a clever image of Big Ben and whipping the audience on a whistle stop tour of capital cities and their associated national dances. Stuart won ‘Heroes’ with a storyline that incorporated a damsel in distress and a dance off between Batman and the Joker villain. ‘Stomp’ was also won by Stuart who dressed in eye-catching camouflage outfits and used wooden spoons, bin lids, hands and feet to create a rhythmic dance to ‘Sale’ and ‘We Will Rock You’. Stuart won overall, bringing Head of House Amanda Brauer to near tears! Most Promising Performer was Itziar Castellano Echaniz of Todd. Big thanks to the judging panel which included Pete Garrett, Emma McGowan, Cara Chamberlain, Rosie Dunbar and Elva King.

Cara Chamberlain, Dance Prefect UVI, Stuart, commented “The girls worked so well together in their academic houses to create short dances based on the various themes given to them. All of the performances were outstanding and exceeded the expectations of myself and the judges.”

Orlanda Stephens, III, Lanc, commented “The Reaction Dance was incredibly fun to participate in. From choreographing the piece to performing it, it created a real sense of teamwork and achievement within the group. The dance was mainly urban themed and was based around Kanye West’s music using snippets from Wolves, Diamonds from Sierra Leone, Fame, Touch the Sky, Gold Digger and Jesus Walks to create an 8 minute piece. For Jesus Walks, a professional dancer named Daniel held a workshop at school, which gave a fascinating insight into the life of a dancer.”

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Jasmine Davis, III, York, commented “Evolution is a new dance group and at the moment consists of 11 girls from various years.

The group ‘evolved’ in October 2016 and since then has performed in the Christmas Dance showcase. We are all eager to dance and express our creative ideas through movement.”

Molly Levene, IV, Tudor, commented “For our house, we decided to use lots of different traditional dances from many capital cities. We decided to start and finish with London, and ensured everyone was involved in various dance routines. It was really fun directing such a fun group; we enjoyed trying to adapt many dance styles from around the globe.”

Alice Allen, IV, Stuart, commented “I choreographed the ‘Heroes’ dance and together we came up with various ideas based along the lines of a classic comic strip, using lots of colour and posters throughout the dance. As we rehearsed every Friday, the choreography started coming together, and the group started to become more confident. The group preformed amazingly, full of confidence and life, which not only won them first place, but also won Itzi a special mention. When the judges announced the winners, we all congratulated each other, with a massive smile on our faces, as not only did we win the house dance, but we also won a large amount of chocolate. House Dance is a great way to get to

know girls in different year groups, and is an amazing chance for the junior school to try something new.”

Annabelle Walker, IV, Stuart, commented “Dancing in Tudor’s House Dance competition is always fun, but I most enjoyed choreographing the Todd’s, II’s, and III’s dance this year, as is the tradition at Tudor. My theme for house dance was based on the dance group STOMP. STOMP creates routines that entwine everyday objects into their dance to replace background music, for example stomping feet, banging broomsticks and bin lids together in a rhythm, instead of using a song. As you can imagine, this gave us a wide range of ideas and possible routines to use in our dances, resulting in every house’s dance being different. With rehearsals once a week, our group came up with ideas (with input from all the years involved), developing new rhythms using hands, bin lids and wooden spoons or anything that we could find from around the school! Everybody brought in their own costumes, and the dance finally came together in the final rehearsals. Stuart won the STOMP category which was incredibly rewarding after all the hard work put into choreographing and performing.”

DECEMBER 2016

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Sparrow Visitors Tudor is delighted to welcome Noval Pettersen, Sparrow Combined School Teacher, and Kagiso Magano, Primary School Teacher, from The Sparrow Schools Foundation. Having spent time with the staff and pupils of Dulwich College, Noval and Kagiso are observing lessons and general school life before returning to Johannesburg in time for Christmas.

To the Poles and Back On the final day of term, staff and students were treated to a fascinating lecture by Tom Avery. Tom is part of an elite group of only nine people in history to have completed the polar trilogy; full-length South and North Pole expeditions and a coast-to-coast crossing of Greenland. He is also the youngest Briton to have reached both Poles. Via a series of footage and photography, Tom brought the joys expeditions to life showing imagery of huskies and humans falling into the Arctic Ocean, kite skiing across frozen landscapes and the Gift Shop at the South Pole!

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Double whammy at Aston le Walls In the 90cm class, all girls rode brilliantly over a course of 30 jumps.

It was lovely to have Emilie back in the team. Despite having not been to a competition for two years and riding a pony she did not know, Emilie tackled the course with true determination. Indy and Otti rode clear rounds and Matilda looked like she was heading that way too, until she knocked the joker fence down. Izzy had one show jump down too. Congratulations to Indy who won the class,

to Otti who came 5th and to the whole team who came 1st.

The girls were only given 5 minutes to walk the new 100cm course of 30 jumps! OT Emma Rugman (Sewell, 2004) walked the course with the team, imparting her invaluable equestrian knowledge of the course which was built within three arenas. Both Indy and Izzy (on The Magnificent Pedro) jumped clear, Otti and Matilda did great rounds but had two poles down apiece and Izzy, on her second pony Ballybay Lady, had 4 faults. Indy came 1st on Parkmore Boy, Izzy came 2nd on The Magnificent Pedro and 7th on Ballybay Lady and Otti came 8th on Freeway IV. Once again, the team came 1st.

Clothes Show Live The IIIs headed off to Clothes Show Live at the Birmingham NEC, an annual event showcasing the latest trends in fashion, beauty and music via large and often interactive features and stands. The day started with two hours browsing the plethora of make-up, hair,

clothes and food stands before heading to the main event in the grand hall – the fashion show. The show was magnificent with models showcasing the latest fashions whist strutting down the longest catwalk in often immensely high heels.

DECEMBER 2016

The Tudor Equestrian Team excelled at Bloxham School’s Eventer Challenge held at Aston Le Walls, with Otti Dick, Matilda Harvey, Emilie Richmond-Watson, Izzy Rugman and Indy Yorke competing.

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PRIZES: MARK READING AUTUMN TERM Art

for effort & achievement

Matilda Lahiff

Classics

The Bourne Cup for excellence in Classics

Greta Scott

GCSE DT Trophy

for effort & achievement

Katherine Morley

GCSE Drama Trophy

for effort & achievement in Drama

Tilly James, Madeline Meeson

English

for effort & achievement

Matilda Ashton, Molly Barry, Emilie Richmond-Watson, Vanessa Zard

GCSE Food & Nutrition

for effort & achievement

Anna Roberts

Geography

for effort & achievement

Eliza Lord, Tilly Torgersen-French, Jenny Yang

History

for effort & achievement

Julia Green, Greta Scott, Lucy Scruton

Mathematics

for effort & achievement

Francesca Dove, Katherine Kot, Charlotte Price, Lucy Scruton, Jenny Yang

Modern Languages French

for effort & achievement

Eliza Lord, Vanessa Zard

The Karin Konig Cup

for achievement in German

Katherine Kot

Spanish

for effort & achievement

Jessica Miller

The Wade Cup

for achievement in Modern Languages

Olivia Jowett

Music (Key Stage IV)

for effort & achievement

Anna Roberts

GCSE PE

for effort & achievement

Rose Lord

Dual Science

for effort & achievement in Core

Olivia Jowett, Isabelle Rucker

for effort & achievement in Additional

Greta Scott, Ulla Smirnova

Biology

for effort & achievement

Iona Lowe, Lucy Scruton

Chemistry

for effort & achievement

Georgia Berry, Katherine Kot

Physics

for effort & achievement

Jasmine Banister, Francesca Dove

Religious Studies

for effort & achievement

Jessica Carter, Iona Lowe, Adèle Tumilty

Textiles

for effort & achievement

Lara Browning, Amelia Veale

Granville Cup

for contribution to life in the Vs

Iona Milne

Alice Dixon Cup

for contribution to Sport in the Vs

Charlotte Price

The Melville Prize

for outstanding academic achievement in the Vs

Francesca Dove

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Happy snappers The Photography Department received some outstanding entries for the Autumn Term Photography Competition. With an apt ‘autumn’ theme, students were invited to submit images taken on any camera from a mobile phone to DSLR. Sonali Balch and Annabel Cave (Vs) were invited to judged the competition, naming Violet Blackburn, Rose Weatherby and Jasmine Davies as winners.

Lizzi Snoddon, Head of Photography, commented, “The range and quality of images submitted by the girls was breath-taking, making the judging process incredibly difficult. In the end, it came down to composition, use of natural light and creative interpretation and my congratulations go to the deserving winners.”

DECEMBER 2016

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Politics Trip to Poland After a very busy end of term, a group of history, politics and RS students set off on a three-day trip to Poland. On the first morning, we toured the city of Krakow with local tour guide Marta, who told us that Krakow was 1000 years old, making it one of the country’s oldest cities. She described Poland’s unfortunate position in Europe, having been invaded by the Prussians, Czechs and Soviets, and took us to Wawel Castle to learn about the history of its tapestries and ornate ceilings. She also took us to lots of churches and cathedrals, including the beautiful St. Mary’s, and never failed to amaze us with her encyclopaedic knowledge.

After exploring the Christmas market and the shops in the main square, the focus of the tour changed to Krakow’s Jewish history.

We visited a Synagogue, and discovered that Krakow’s previously thriving Jewish population now totalled 300. We then visited the cemetery and saw the gravestones on which the Nazis later based the design of the walls around the Jewish ghettos. We walked to a square which had been used as the setting for the Ghetto in the film ‘Schindler’s List’ and then visited the real square where 68,000 Jews had been resettled. Marta told us that, in spite of the war, the Aryan Poles were relatively free whilst the Jews suffered massively. In the square, there are now 68 empty chairs, one for every thousand Jews in the ghetto. All of the chairs faced the Eagle Pharmacy except one, which faced the wall where Jews would be executed by Nazis. The Eagle was a pharmacy run by a brave Aryan, who chose to live in the ghetto to provide healthcare to the Jews.

On our second day we travelled to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where we were met by the words ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ (work will set you free). As we entered, we were greeted by our tour guide Lucas and were instantly frightened to see the high, barbed wire fences and watch towers. We went inside one building which had housed two thousand prisoners, but was now used to display the prisoners’ belongings including glasses, carefully-named suitcases and the hair shaven from the heads of the women after they were killed.

We saw the cells where prisoners endured gruelling punishments and slow deaths and were disturbed to see cells for standing punishment, where prisoners would be forced to stand all night in a tight space and work all day until they died of exhaustion and starvation. There were also two stakes, where a prisoner would

hang from their arms tied behind their back, until they dislocated their shoulders. Elsewhere in the camp, there were gallows where the man responsible for the Auschwitz atrocities was hanged after the war. It was hard to comprehend what we saw.

We visited a museum, formerly a living area for prisoners, which included a huge book filled with the names of all of the victims of the Holocaust. It was incredibly moving to flick through the pages and take in the enormity of the genocide. Finally, we went inside one of the gas chambers; it was completely silent, and we could feel the horror of the room. You could still see the holes in the ceiling where the cyanide was dropped into the room and scratch marks on the wall made when prisoners had tried desperately to escape. We were all extremely moved by the tour of Auschwitz.

In the afternoon, we took the two mile bus journey to Birkenau.

We were instantly struck by the iconic entrance and few remaining buildings; the Nazis burnt most buildings down when they left, but the ones that remained were enough to give an idea of the conditions. To our surprise, our guide told us that the ‘best job’ in the camp was considered to be cleaning the sanitary units, because it meant you weren't being guarded by SS Officers as they didn't want to go in. The least popular job was Sonderkommando, who had the harrowing task of clearing bodies from the gas chambers, where they would often find relatives. Because they knew this job let them in on many of the Nazis' terrible secrets which would ultimately lead to their death, they revolted in 1942. Hundreds

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of prisoners escaped but were rounded up again and executed, one gas chamber was destroyed and three SS guards were killed.

The saddest part was the childrens' area; most children were killed upon arrival as they weren't strong enough for work. Those who survived were subjected to terrible scientific experiments by Mendelsohn. Only 600 children survived Auschwitz.

To end the trip to Birkenau on a slightly happier note, our guide told of a successful escape from Auschwitz. One man, who was being punished along with 200 others, formulated an escape plan.

Whilst the guard was having lunch, all 200 prisoners made a break for it and ran to the woods. Sadly all of them were shot however the man (who had a pair of trainers) was faster than the others. When he got to the safety of some bushes, he stripped off his striped uniform so his identity wouldn't be known and continued to run.

He reached Krakow, where he was concealed for eight weeks and then moved on. The man was never returned to Birkenau.

After this we gathered our belongings and headed home with the bitter sweet realisation that the trip was over, but that it was also nearly Christmas!

By Greta Scott and Lucy Scruton

DECEMBER 2016

On the final day, we woke up to snow. Our first stop was the Schindler's Museum, which told the story of how Schindler saved 1,200 Jews. The last room on the tour was filled with quotations from Holocaust survivors, which reminded us how we must fight to prevent such genocide from ever happening again. After this, we looked around a museum filled with ornate palaces depicting nativity scenes, made by the children of Krakow. They were utterly stunning and something we will remember for a long time. Our final stop was the Salt Mines, they were absolutely beautiful with striking statues and even a church.

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MM Browne Poetry Prize Winners

The list of winners included: Ist prize Joint 2nd prize Joint 3rd prize Commended

OT and published poet Mo (Maureen) Browne (1959) presented for the second year running awards for her eponymous MM Browne Poetry Prize, joined by friend and actress Claire Nielson. Congratulations to Orlanda Stephens (IIIs) who won first prize with The Kiwi Haikus.

Special Mention

Orlanda Stephens , The Kiwi Haikus Angelika Marr, Moonrise Emily Mullin, Painting is a Journey Katarina Gyὅrkὅs, Silver Moon Bella Kingsley-Bates, Flying Tilly Dollar, Flying Zara Bailey, Leaves Falling Lois Wright, Children Alice Fielden, Flying Eleanor Rowley, Flying in a plane

The Kiwi Haikus by Orlanda Stephens Feathers clumped, wings slumped.

Mr. Kiwi was as blue As the big blue sky.

Then, he saw the king, The iridescent aura, That lit the whole sky.

“But Tree, you don’t fly.”

“Haw’d you think I grow?” laughed Tree “I can touch the sky.”

The bored Kiwi said, To the flying bird above, To the bird nearby,

“Oh King, please help me, All I want to do is go, Go up there, go high.”

“Then teach me sir, please Teach my miniscule wings to Spread, flutter and fly.”

“Hey Mr. Robin!

Teach me how to get up there, Teach me how to fly!”

But Kingfisher cried: “I cannot help you Kiwi,” The Kiwi thought: Why?

“Believe in yourself.”

The rustling tree exclaimed “Then you’ll go up high.”

“I can’t” Robin said “I wish that I could help you, You seem a nice guy.”

Kiwi drooped as he Tried to flap his tiny wings, Then began to cry.

So Kiwi believed, And gazed at the chalky fluff.

That floated mid-sky.

“Oh sure” Kiwi yelled, As the brown bird flew away, The Kiwi thought: Why?

But old Mr. Tree, The jade whispering giant, Was standing close by.

Then he felt his wings, Swish and swoosh and lift his feet Off the field of rye.

Then the small bird left Still set on reaching the sun Or to at least try.

“Mr. Kiwi, come.”

And the little bird wandered Through the field of rye.

The Kiwi did zoom, Through the sea foam and bleached clouds Through the big blue sky.

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DECEMBER 2016

Hark the Herald Angels Sing The Tudor Hall Carol Service of nine carols and lessons at St Mary’s Church, Banbury made for a wonderful end of term.

Josie Lord (Todd) sang the opening verse of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’, with wonderful carols by the Chamber, Senior and Junior choirs. The retiring collection was in aid of Tudor in Four Continents and BYHP raised £1211.24.

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Tudor Tipple Members of the Tudor community had a very merry Christmas thanks to parent, William Lees-Jones, Managing Director of the JW Lees & Co (Brewery) Ltd in Manchester, who created Tudor’s very own all-malt English pale ale – the Tudor Tipple. Adorned with an eye-catching label designed by LVI student Matilda Lahiff, this delicious pale ale was sold in cases of 8 bottles at numerous events, including the Christmas Fair, in the lead up to Christmas. All monies raised went to Onside Youth Zones which supports the Lads & Girls Club in Bolton, one of our four Ti4C charities.

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Vs’ Christmas Party The Vs’ annual Christmas Party did not disappoint. With compères Coco Cunningham and Holly Mann dressed as Father and Mrs Christmas, staff and girls were treated to an SMT skit, the Sisters’ Custard Pie Challenge, lip sync and dance routine. The maths department won best costume for their tetras outfits. Huge thanks to Nikki Jones, Debbie Sellars and Harriet Millar-Mills for directing operations on their favourite night of the year!

Le défi du vocabulaire des langues étrangères modernes The Modern Foreign Languages Department launched the Tudor Hall Vocabulary Challenge for I to Vs. They challenged the girls to learn as much vocabulary for their French, Spanish and German using www.vocabexpress.com from 5th December 2016 to 6th January 2017. The points they accrued over the period were

judged and the highest scores for each year group and overall were rewarded with Amazon vouchers. The aim of the competition was to raise awareness of the importance of learning vocabulary regularly and to get the girls used to using the website as a useful independent learning resource.

DECEMBER 2016

U19 County Netball Tournament

The 1st Netball VII took part in the Under 19 County Netball Tournament at the Oxford Netball Centre. The tournament was based on a round robin with each team playing seven matches.

Tudor’s 1st VI won 3 matches, lost 2 (by one goal each) and lost to the winners and runner up of the tournament. The girls played with determination and were pleased with their result given that netball is not the main sport in the autumn term.

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Good tidings we bring…

The Chamber Choir had a lovely afternoon entertaining the residents at Godswell Park Care & Nursing Home in Bloxham. The choir sang beautifully, with vocal solos from Rosie Dunbar and Mary Eckert and a violin solo from Kitty Veale. The concert ended with a rousing rendition of We Wish you a Merry Christmas that helped everyone get further into the Christmas spirit.

O Tannenbaum Members of Todd travelled to St Mary’s Church, Adderbury, to decorate Tudor’s sponsored tree in the Christmas Tree Festival in aid of The Children’s Society and St Mary’s Church. The girls covered the tree with handmade decorations and paper chains and the organisers commented, ‘The standard of your tree decoration was amazing and your creativity was much admired by our visitors throughout the weekend. We hope that you enjoyed decorating them as much as our visitors enjoyed seeing them’.

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Christmas Bake Off Entries to the Christmas cake competition would have delighted Mary Berry.

The expertly iced cakes by UVI Leith’s students included a remake of the John Lewis ‘Boxer on Trampoline’ Christmas ad by Isabel Batt, Thea Barden’s ‘Merry Christmass’ wreath design, Sophie Walker’s Exhausted Reindeer, to intricate silver snowflakes by Tish Bulwer-Long and Flora Bourdillon’s Christmas tree design. After much conjugating by ever discerning staff members, Lucy Barnes took first place with her ‘Christmas Baubles’ design.

DECEMBER 2016

The Spirit of Christmas Members of Todd put on a fabulous performance in the Ball Room for the more elderly members of the Parish of St John’s.

Entertainment included some super festive performances on piano

and violin, as well as some well-known, vocal solos. The audience and performers then enjoyed a Christmas afternoon tea complete with mince pies and Christmas cake.

JANUARY 2017

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British School Girls’ Ski Races JANUARY 2017

A jubilant Tudor Hall ski team returned from the British School Girls’ Races in Flaine for the 13th year running. Riya Mehra (IIIs) and Lauren Statton (V) were new to the team, joining Maria Agustdottir (IIIs), Lorna Fleming (IVs), Jessica Carter (Vs) and Jessica Miller (Vs).

The team competed in three races – Slalom, Giant Slalom and Parallel Slalom – over two days in the French Resort. Maria came a highly respectable 44th out of a field of 134 skiers in the giant slalom recording a time of 2:02.13, with Jessica Carter coming 50th with a time of 2:03.61. Jessica Millar came 86th out of 116 entries in the slalom recording a time of 2:14.50. Verity Redrup, Tudor Hall’s Ski Team Manager, commented, “With excellent instruction from Colas from the ESF, the girls learnt to really attack the slopes, perfecting their techniques and recording some new personal best times”.

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MUN moves to Manchester 12 girls travelled to Manchester High School to debate at their third Model United Nations conference. Tudor represented the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Syria with Jojo Darling representing the Health Committee for Syria and truly taking herself out of her comfort zone by speaking on anti-biotic resistance. Mia Berridge represented the DPRK in the Youth Committee, and witnessed Turkey being evicted for its undiplomatic behaviour, and having to dance to Shakira to be allowed back into the committee. In the Human Rights Committee, Ella Smith represented DPRK and witnessed delegates writing amendments stating that walls should be built between various countries! In the Environment Committee Lucy Scruton, as the representative of the DPRK, urged her committee to learn North Korean propaganda songs. Lucy’s committee was not the only one that played songs as Adele Tumilty, who represented Syria in the Human Rights Council, witnessed a Russian YouTube video whilst passing amendments to pass capital punishment in all states. This seemed strange especially as Adele was in the Human Rights Council. The second day finished with the General Assembly debates focusing on a crisis based on a future break out of disease caused

by China. This saw a lot of lively debate as well as some complicated amendments.

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JANUARY 2017

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Equestrian Team return to Aston Le Walls On a cold, wet Sunday in January, five girls competed in the Bloxham Schools Series Eventers’ Challenge at Aston Le Walls wearing their very smart new equestrian kit. The classes were ferociously competitive as all children were trying to qualify for the final on 26 February.

Four girls competed in the 90cm class; Izzy Rugman on Ballybay Lady and Indy Yorke on Parkmore Boy rode perfect rounds with Izzy getting close to the time and coming a fantastic fourth. Otti Dick on Freeway IV had a great round but was unlucky knocking the joker fence down and Matilda Harvey on Pingu had a memorable round, knocking a couple, and jumping the 1*jump by mistake which was huge. Well done Pingu for being so obliging and to Matilda for sitting tight and not getting a dunking!

Molly Madden joined the others to compete in the 100cm Class.

The results were as follows: Indy Yorke and Parkmore Boy Izzy Rugman and Ballybay Lady Otti Dick and Freeway IV

4 faults 6th Place 8 faults 0 faults 5th

Matilda Harvey and Pingu

4 faults

Molly Madden and Wilma Ruby

8 faults

Otti was incredibly lucky with her 5th place, having managed to remember the show jumping course she started the cross-country and ground to a halt as she became ‘geographically challenged’ and could not remember where the next jump was. She stopped for about a minute whilst she worked out where to go next and then gathered up her reins and kicked on with a speedy clear and managed to come 5th. With Indy and Matilda having fantastic rounds and only getting 4 faults, Indy was lucky with her time and came 6th and Izzy and Molly less lucky this time.

In the 110cm class: Molly Maddan and Wilma Ruby

4 faults and 3rd Place

Molly had a fabulous round, she had the last pole down in the treble but still managed to come 3rd, well done Molly.

Well done to you all. Let’s hope for a warmer day next time.

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GCSE Music Recital Members of the IVs and Vs who are taking GCSE music had their own recital in the music school. All students performed a piece which included vocal performances from Jenny Look and Mimi Douglas, instrumental performances from Grace Hu, Poppy James, Eliza Lawton, Saskia Pougatch and Jacqui Zhong, and a violin duet performance from Lizzie Coombs and her teacher, Mrs Tsuzaki. As part of the GCSE syllabus, the girls compose two pieces, one of which is a set of variations on an original theme, the other a short piece to cover a scene change for a musical set in the 1950’s. Everyone put tremendous effort into their pieces, and their hard work made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Play in a Day JANUARY 2017

Tudor Hall held its annual ‘Play in a Day’ for 60 children from local prep and primary schools: Carrdus School, St John’s Priory School and Wroxton CE Primary. Four external actors and directors worked with the children throughout the day to create unique and original pieces of theatre developed from six given props: a newspaper, a flower, a picture frame, a rope, a bin liner and a black hole! Every single one of the pupils from all three schools thoroughly enjoyed their dramatic experiences and all contributed to an excellent series of short plays. The pupils' imaginations transported the audience on a journey through portals in space and time, cleverly incorporating each of the six props into the action and narrative of the plays. Pupils were able to blend pathos with humour, include excellent moments of tension and create some terrific characters in their final presentations; the security guard in the art gallery was particularly memorable. The pieces were performed to parents and teachers at the end of the day to great acclaim. A huge thank you to actors: Anne, Lucy, Matt and Mark for a fantastic day.

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Photographic exploration of natural form at Kew Gardens LVI Photography students braved the cold to go and explore Kew Gardens in London for their new project on Natural Forms. The girls expanded their creative knowledge and explored various themes including colour, form, pattern, texture, abstraction and many other areas. The greenhouses played a vital role in keeping the girls warm between minor snow flurries. We were especially lucky to be there to see the preparation of their Orchid Festival. Now the girls will continue to use images they took at Kew as well as new ones to develop a project under their own interpretation. We look forward to seeing the results.

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JANUARY 2017

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County cross country crowning glory for Jenny and Rose Jenny Hannah and Rose Lord, who both run for Banbury Harriers, produced fantastic runs at the Oxfordshire Cross Country Championships held at Stowe School on 7 January in conjunction with Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. Jenny was crowned under 17 Oxfordshire cross country champion, coming first with a time of 24.07, and Rose Lord came third with a time of 25.42 over a 6km course. The Banbury Harriers team came first overall and were rewarded with places in the Oxfordshire team.

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Discover new worlds at Tudor Hall Book Club By popular demand, the Tudor Hall Book Club was set up by Librarian Alison FalconerHall and Head of Learning Support Lily Gulliver. The inaugural meeting for book worms in Todds, IIs and IIIs reviewed the book ‘We are all made of molecules’ by Susin Nielsen which prompted much debate.

Holocaust Study Day JANUARY 2017

Year 9 students from Blessed George Napier, Sibford School and The Warriner joined Tudor girls at Dr Sylwia Holmes’ Holocaust Study Day. Students broadened their knowledge of the subject and enhanced their understanding of the issues of causality, agency and responsibility in the context of the Holocaust. Through use of a variety of resources, group activities and discussions, students furthered their awareness of chronology and geography of these events. The programme addressed the issues highlighted in the recent report ‘What do students know and understand about the Holocaust?’ by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education and used some of the resources offered by the centre.

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A day in the life of a chemistry student A Level Chemistry Trip to Warwick University Lower Sixth A-Level students visited Warwick University to experience a day in the life of a chemistry student.

Katherine Kot (LVI) wrote: “The wonderful staff a Warwick University really showed us the many aspects of their daily lives. Throughout the day, we conducted two experiments ourselves trying to produce nicesmelling organic compounds. Although only one of the compounds turned out smelling good, we thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. In between the two experiments, two phD students took us on a tour around the Chemistry department. To say we were impressed at the level and complexity of both the machinery and the work being conducted would be a massive understatement.

“We were all so grateful to be offered this opportunity - which is very rare - to not only see Warwick’s department, but to truly engage with people there, to use the equipment, to ask questions. We all benefited greatly from the trip, whether it inspired us to pursue Chemistry or apply to Warwick itself.”

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Tudor’s U15A netball squad played in the county tournament at the Oxford Netball Centre. The squad played Cokethorpe School first winning 16-2 but then drew against Our Lady’s Abingdon with a nail biting 10-10 score line. The girls then played Headington School losing 10-6 in a hotly contested game. The last match in the section was against St Helen & St Katherine’s ‘B’ team who, through sheer determination, they beat 11-7 to go through to the semi-final.

The girls then faced St Helen & St Katherine’s ‘A’ team who proved

from the start to be a force to be reckoned with. A slow start from Tudor allowed the opposition to gain a head start and at half time St Helen & St Katherine’s had pulled away. A quick team talk and the girls were back on side and played a better second half with the final being won by the opposition 22-10, who then went on to win the whole tournament. Congratulations to Martha Dunlop, Anna Lord and Saskia Pougatch who were voted MVPs during the tournament.

JANUARY 2017

County Netball Tournament

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Equestrian Team travel to Chippenham Three girls boxed their horses and travelled to Chippenham to compete against over 100 children in the West Wilts Eventers Challenge. Hannah had the earliest start, which means that she can claim to be the first girl to represent Tudor Hall in the new equestrian kit. She rode a lovely double clear in the 80cm class and though she was not quite fast enough for the optimum time, she beat 70 other children to come 26th.

Helena Dobbs and Tilly Dollar represented Tudor in the 90cm class.

The course was up to height, quite twisty and Tilly was the first to go.

She did a super double clear on Imp and was only four seconds off the optimum time however, in a very competitive class this wasn’t good enough to be placed. Helena had to wait three hours before it was her turn and she did well to stay focused. Though she was close to the time, Calvin tipped a pole and together they ended up with four faults. Tilly rode Imp in the 100cm class and had two poles down which hopefully wasn’t noticed by the judge as it was nearly dark by then!

Ancient Drama Day Eleven members of the Sixth Form attended Warwick University's Ancient Drama Festival, which attracted students from as far away as Glasgow and Taunton. It was a great experience for the girls, giving them a taste of life at university and what studying at Warwick would be like. They heard a variety of talks on Sophocles' "Antigone" from Warwick lecturers including Dr Michael Scott, discussing Greek Theatre, burial practice in ancient Greece, themes within the play and chorus and character. The day culminated with a performance of the play by current university students, which gave the girls the opportunity to see their text come to life and led to much discussion on the way back to school.

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Toon Army Wendy Griffiths, Rani Tandon, Ian Edwards, Kate Hart, Jonathan Galloway and Emma McGowan packed their overnight bags and headed north by train to visit 25 OTs currently studying in Newcastle and Durham. On Harriet Bracey’s perfect recommendation, the gathering was held in The Botanist, a great bar in which to catch up with everyone’s news. After much persuasion, the party moved onto Soho Bar for a spot of dancing to ‘We are family’ and ‘Good times never seemed so good’. Mr G was the last to leave the dance floor after a thoroughly enjoyable night out.

JANUARY 2017

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Music School Concert A wonderful array of pianists as well as stunning performances by Clemmie Beale on the flute and Teaghan Moon on the clarinet made for a thoroughly enjoyable Music School Concert. Matilda Harvey’s rendition of ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ from Harry Potter and Grace Sale’s ‘Ninette’s Musette’ by Nevada were spine tingling piano pieces.

Oxford School of Drama The LVI drama students visited the Oxford School of Drama along with students from Oxford High School and Bedford Modern. The girls shadowed the school's students for the day, observing both movement and voice workshops, and participated in a workshop

led by the drama school students themselves, focusing on animal characteristics. In the evening, the girls travelled to Oxford High to watch a performance of a play devised by the students.

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Science Live!

Science Live! is a series of annual events for GCSE science students held at venues across the UK. The Vs attended a fast-moving, exciting, thoughtprovoking day of lectures at Birmingham Symphony given by five of Britain’s top scientists. The day featured an exam skills session delivered by a chief exams officer, which included recognizing key command words in science exam papers as well as common misconceptions. Talks, given

by Prof Andrea Sella, Prof Jim Al-Khalili, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Prof Alice Roberts and Prof Mark Miodownik who all work at the cutting edge of their specialisms, included lectures on evolution, the wonders of water, materials science, telescopes and gravitational waves and the science behind the film Interstellar and whether time travel is possible. Professors Khalili and Roberts were recognisable having featured in BBC science documentaries including Coast and the Volatile History of Chemistry.

Life as a Vet JANUARY 2017

Doctors Peter and Kate Kettlewell gave a fascinating lecture into Life as a Vet to over 60 girls from Todd to UVI. Peter is a veterinary surgeon and co-director of the Chipping Norton Veterinary Hospital and Kate a former vet and now biology teacher at Tudor Hall. Together, they introduced the girls to their route into veterinary science and a series of case studies ranging from a Sifaka lemur caesarean to a cat requiring a major skin graft. Peter, who is a member of the Council of the British Veterinary Zoological Society, looks after zoo patients and exotic pets, in addition to being an experienced surgeon. His zoo work includes the Cotswold Wildlife Park and ‘Amazing Animals’ at Heythrop.

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Afghan Connection Inspired by a gap year working in rural India, Sarah Fane decided to switch from her degree course in French and Latin to study medicine at Bristol University. Her elective was spent in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, where she met with the Guildford Surgical Team. She returned with them the following year to Pakistan, and worked from a Mujahideen border camp, seeing female patients from the surrounding refugee camps.

Ten years later, and having married, had four children and done various in hospital jobs between children, she was asked to go to the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan, to assess a mother and child clinic.

The visit and the people she met inspired her to set up the charity Afghan Connection.

Dr Fane spoke passionately about how the charity has grown to the point where she estimates that it has played a role in the education of 200,000 children. She told of her collaborative work; the local community donates the land for schools and local men labour, often into the night, to provide a school to educate their

girls. Reassuringly Dr Fane said that if sensitively handled, most Afghans are happy to send their daughters to school and recognize that education offers hope for their future. She estimates that the charity can educate a girl for £50 a year and a donor is in place to match every £50 raised. We say it every time, but this work was inspiring and has already motivated a group of girls.

John Field

Winter Wonderland They say you can’t control the weather, but you can certainly luck out! With torrential rain forecast for Britain, the Charity Committee could not have arranged the Winter Wonderland Weekend on a better date. The Sports Hall was transformed into a snow scape complete with indoor ice skating rink with foam snow maker and disco, deep blue giant inflatable slide and a six-hole crazy golf course. Ti4C ran numerous stalls including ‘throw a custard pie’, face painting and a delicious hot chocolate stand. What better way to stay dry and work on your triple toe salchow!

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Year of the Rooster Wendy Griffiths took a group of Chinese girls to celebrate Chinese New Year in China Town, Birmingham. The girls watched displays of traditional Chinese artistry before visiting a delicious Chinese restaurant which served cold, steamed chicken feet amongst other delicacies.

Fog Whilst making for tricky driving conditions, the January fog created a mystic aura around school making for some wonderful photographic opportunities.

JANUARY 2017

FEBRUARY 2017

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Oliver! which combined menace with pathos; Anna Stallibrass was a suitably bullish Bill Sikes and scared the living daylights out of some members of the audience; Harriet Gough impressed with her cheeky Dodger but still managed to maintain that innocence of youth; Alexandra Cooper and Ruby Cripps as Bumble and Widow Corney respectively provided much of the humour with their pacey banter; and Mary Pool's Oliver produced more than one lump in the throat! However, the greatest reward of this fantastic show was to see the entire cast and crew supporting each other, having fun and experiencing the magic of theatre.

FEBRUARY 2017

The drama department’s whole school performance of Oliver! was truly stunning. Alan Christopher, supported by Lindsey Lea-James, Jo Benlalam, Layla Williams and a team of other staff, produced Tudor’s best show to date showcasing the school’s unbelievable talent. Lionel Bart's magical tunes were delivered with feeling and gusto in a production that had you laughing out loud one minute, crying the next. Special mention must go to the terrific leads: Thea Barden's Nancy was simply outstanding and she has rightly become a source of inspiration for the younger girls in the school; Olivia Gough delighted as Fagin and delivered a performance

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The Sacred Made Real The Aim Higher Lecture by Elizabeth Fulton, Head of History of Art, entitled ‘The Sacred Made Real’ delved into the exciting religious context of 17th Century Rome, a period of Catholic resurgence known as the Counter-Reformation. It explored the dramatic impact that this movement had on religious art at this time in the work of the legendary Baroque artist, Caravaggio. His art responded to the requirements of the Council of Trent who sought to bring people back to the Catholic faith. Elizabeth enthused, “Caravaggio’s works are immediate, compelling, dramatic and powerful in their representation of sacred events. They involve the viewer both physically and emotionally, making us feel part of these religious scenes.”

Chloe Pickford talks fitness and body building

FEBRUARY 2017

Chloe Pickford spoke to sport scholars and senior girls about her career in the fitness industry and her pastime as a body building fitness model. Chloe started her career in the fitness industry after going to university and studying sport science, giving her a solid foundation on which to build her fledgling career. After turning her hand to teaching and coaching, Chloe decided to try something new and train for a body building competition. Chloe came 3rd in her first competition and went on to the British Finals coming a very respectable 10th place. Her presentation focused on effective training methods, nutrition, general well-being and determination.

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Tudor Riding Team wins Eventer Challenge Cup The Bloxham School Eventer Challenge Series was run over six events throughout the winter months whereby the girls accumulated points to reach the final. The event was held at Aston-Le-Walls and in the 90cm team series final, the Tudor Hall team came 1st with Otty Dick, Izzy Rugman and Indy Yorke competing to the highest of standards and winning the cup. Although Matilda sadly was not able to compete at the final, she was a key member of the team at the qualifying events in the series and her scores helped put Tudor on the podium. In the 90cm individual series final, Izzy Rugman came second and Indy Yorke came 5th. In the 100cm individual series final, Indy Yorke came 2nd, Molly Madden 4th, Izzy Rugman 7th and Otty Dick 10th. Indy also won the 100cm stand-alone final with the only faultless round in the class.

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ARTiculation Greta Scott took part alongside five other candidates from across Oxfordshire in ARTiculation – a forum designed to give young people a platform to express their own ideas on art. She spoke with clarity and enthusiasm about a political cartoon by Roy Peterson entitled 'Your move'. The adjudicator was delighted

by Greta's choice of artwork for the competition and praised her for her in depth visual analysis, political discourse and detailed knowledge. All candidates were of an exceptionally high standard and sadly Greta was not chosen to go through to the ARTiculation final. However we hope she will continue to engage with art in such an enthusiastic way in the future.

Confirmation February saw two services of confirmation. On 9th February several of our Roman Catholic girls were confirmed at St. John the Evangelist, Banbury. The evening service was celebrated by The Right Reverend William Kenney CP, KCHS, auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham and included girls from Tudor Hall as well as many students from other local schools. Following this, on Saturday 24th of February, 23 girls from Year IV were confirmed in the Church of England. The Saturday morning service was held at St. Mary's Church, Adderbury, and was conducted by The Right Reverend Colin Fletcher OBE, Bishop of Dorchester.

FEBRUARY 2017

Above: The girls with the Bishop of Dorchester in the church chancel under St Mary’s east window

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Ti4C: Ebenezer Living Word Matriculation School As part of the Tudor in 4 Continents scheme, 8 girls plus Rani Tandon and Helen Wilks travelled to Chennai in southern India to work at the Ebenezer Living Word Matriculation School. We spent a week teaching children aged 2-18. It was hard work as we were with the children for 6 hours a day in challenging conditions, but incredibly rewarding.

Before setting off we had planned activities for the week based

around the theme ‘Under the Sea’. We took suitcases full of craft resources with us to make things like tie dye t-shirts and masks, and taught the children dances and songs to perform in a show at the end of the week. The children loved the dressing up sessions we organised; another highlight was teaching the children to play the recorder. We also help a party for the boarders at the school – ‘Duck Duck Goose’ and ‘Pass the Parcel’ were very popular!

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Dr Wilks taught science throughout the week and showed great ingenuity in adapting the available resources to demonstrate key concepts.

All in all we had a really wonderful week.

FEBRUARY 2017

As well as working at the school, we enjoyed some amazing trips to visit temples and museums, and a wonderful cookery lesson and food tour. We formed a special bond with our cookery demonstrator and were thrilled when she was able to visit us at

school in May so we could return the favour by taking her and her family to the pub to show them some English cooking. At Mahabalipuram, 60 km south of Chennai, we were privileged to see some extraordinary carvings and shore temples, and chose crab from a tank to be freshly cooked before our eyes.

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German Play

by Onatti Tudor Hall Germanists and 120 students from The Warriner and Chipping Norton Schools enjoyed a fun German play, performed by native German actors from the Onatti Theatre Company. The play was set at a campsite and designed to reinforce GCSE vocabulary. The story line was hilarious and held everyone's attention with lots of audience participation, giving students the chance to use their German.

Step into the NHS 16 members of the IIs produced entries for the ‘Step into the NHS’ national competition. They had to choose an NHS career (of which there are over 350) and write a job description and advert. Lulu Persaud was awarded a highly commended certificate for her entry and the judges said that her entry was ‘a tremendous achievement, especially as they received entries from over 2000 students across the country’. They were delighted that Tudor pupils had ‘got involved & hoped it helped them to think about the breadth of career opportunities in the NHS, develop their jobseeking skills & make informed choices about their important GCSE courses’.

In search of Alice Auditions took place for the junior production of 'Alice'. The proceedings were kick-started by an introductory workshop, followed by formal auditions. Justine Stephens and Alan Christopher were astounded by the talent and could have cast the show at least three times over!

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Intermediate Maths Challenge Mathematicians in the IIIs and IVs took part in the UK Mathematics Trust ‘Intermediate Maths Challenge’, a nationwide scheme encouraging children to think outside the ‘curriculum box’. The hour long challenge was sat under exam conditions and was no mean feat. Marie Chenwei and Hu Zueyun won gold medals, Martha Dunlop, Molly Levene and Ana Wormhortelano won silver medals whilst Ella Bridgland, Sophie Donald, Coco Morris-Marsham, Orlanda Stephens and Heyuan Zhong won bronze medals.

Dedication’s what you need in the Chiltern League swimming galas and club gala. The girls are so committed to swimming that after finishing a 3 mile session on a Thursday night, they’re back in the Tudor pool on the co-curricular pool swimming session at 7am the next morning. Dedication’s what you need, if you want to be a record breaker!

FEBRUARY 2017

The Tudor Swim Squad continued to train weekly with the Banbury Swimming Club in the 25m pool at Spiceball Leisure Centre, Banbury. The sessions allow the girls to raise their training, swim against other competitive swimmers and experience a varied training programme. Ultimately, the girls will compete for the club

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Passo Del Tonale

The annual ski trip, this time to Passo Del Tonale in Italy, was held during half term with 22 Todds to IIIs flying from Luton into Milan accompanied by Verity Redrup, James Long, Jonitha Peterpillai and Cherilyn Preston. The group enjoyed wall to wall sunshine all week, with fantastic skiing conditions throughout the resort. The girls worked hard at their skiing with many of them progressing extremely well, especially those who had never put skis on before. One morning the whole group took several cable cars to the top of the resort to see the Presena glacier and enjoyed a hot chocolate at the top. The views extended for miles across the Dolomite Mountains providing a fantastic opportunity to take some great photographs. Aside of hitting the slopes, the girls enjoyed ice-skating and evening sledging, which was definitely one of the week’s highlights.

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FEBRUARY 2017

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Tudor Roses meet England Roses After watching the England Roses beat Italy’s women’s rugby team at Twickenham 36-15, the Tudor girls went pitch side to have their photo taken with England Rose and Tudor maths teacher Harriet Millar-Mills and the Roses squad.

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Tiny Tudorians Staff and girls were thrilled to welcome Kitty Wells with baby Cosmo and Shazia Gleadall with baby Amara back to Tudor.

The queue for cuddles was a long one!

Alzheimer’s Research UK voted as school charity FEBRUARY 2017

Tudor Hall was delighted to announce that the school’s chosen charity for 2017/2018 is Alzheimer’s Research UK. The girls voted on one of three short-listed charities, with Alzheimer’s Research UK winning 48% of the votes. Fundraising for the charity commences in April 2017 for 12 months.

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Ti4C - Guatemala

After 24 hours of travel via the USA, the TI4C Guatemala team finally arrived in the land of eternal spring. The first part of the trip was devoted to learning about the Guatemalan culture and charity Niños de Guatemala. An orientation talk about the charity’s work with underprivileged children and a tour of two of their schools in nearby Ciudad de Vieja gave us a great insight into the lives of many local families. Many cannot afford to send their children to school or to feed them a balanced diet. The charity sets up schools in poor communities to offer education and two meals a day. We also learned about local trades such as coffin making and converting old American school buses into the colourful local chicken buses.

indigenous Mayan culture. The people of this area still wear traditional Mayan attire and engage in traditional trades such as weaving and painting. The girls had a go at the local style of painting with great success and also tried their hands at processing and dying cotton. Later, the team had the privilege of visiting Maximón, a Mayan deity, who is hosted in a different family’s house each year. On the way back to La Antigua, we were fortunate to visit the Mayan ruins at Iximche and participate in a personalised Mayan ceremony run by a shaman.

The weekend was spent in picturesque Lake Atitlán, where we visited local towns around the lake by boat to learn about the

Surrounded by volcanoes, the UNESCO World Heritage city of La Antigua with its cobbled streets and colonial architecture was our

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breathtakingly beautiful base for the final leg of our visit. A walking tour of the city enabled us to discover the city’s colonial past and the many ruins remaining from the 1773 earthquake which resulted in Guatemala’s capital moving to Guatemala City.

With much excitement, the team set off for El Porvenir School in the rural community of San Lorenzo del Cubo, where we spent the next four days helping as classroom assistants and running afternoon workshops. Assigned to the youngest two classes, the girls assisted their young charges with their work and helped with their English lessons. In the afternoons, they ran a mini sports day with a variety of fun races and craft workshops, enabling older students to

decorate caps and bags. They also visited the De la Gente coffee cooperative to learn how coffee is grown and processed and tried their hand at making worry dolls with a parent of the school. It is humbling to think that this lady makes hundreds a day to earn a few dollars, whilst we struggled to make one tiny doll in the hourlong session!

Julia Green, Chloe He, Alicia Horn and Oli Jowett gained a lot from our visit to this stunning country and its friendly, positive people.

by Holly Thomas, Head of MFL

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Banbury Young Musician of the Year Ten girls made it through to the finals of The Banbury Young Musician of the Year Competition 2017 held at Tudor Hall and run by The Banbury Rotary Club in association with our Music Department. In the Junior Strings section, Lillianna Webb came second and Jasmine Skowronski came first winning the Cherwell Trophy. Jasmine also won the Junior Singing section, taking home the Fred Timms Trophy. The Intermediate Woodwind class was of a particularly high standard, with Poppy James coming third. Kitty Veale came second in the Intermediate Singing, with Ellie Rowley and Indy Yorke sharing joint third. Clemmie Beale and Amelia Veale

were second equal in Senior Woodwind, with Amelia also coming second in Senior Piano. Jennifer Look came first in the Senior Singing, winning the Woodruff Trophy, and Mary Eckert came second. The One Man Band Trophy for most improved competitor over the last three years was awarded to Mary, and Jennifer was crowned Banbury Young Musician of the Year winning the Alcan Trophy. Both Jennifer and Mary made it through to the district finals with Mary coming runner-up and proceeding to the regional finals in Maidstone.

Hedda Gabler The LVI girls visited the National Theatre to see the highly-acclaimed production of Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler'. Ruth Wilson (of 'Luther' and 'The Affair' fame) was mesmerising as Hedda and Rafe Spall was a superb Brack in Patrick Marber's modern adaptation of Ibsen's classic play.

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1st Lacrosse XI draws with Eton Tudor’s 1st lacrosse XI played Eton securing a 3-3 draw with the girls rising to the challenge of playing a bigger, stronger and faster opponent. Despite their limited lacrosse playing experience, the Eton team were formidable and really challenged Tudor. Rebekah Knox led Tudor from the centre of the pitch despite being half the size of her opponent for the centre draws. The girls responded well to double teaming and the pressure placed upon the midfield and attack. In low defence, Lucy, Hattie and Lottie supported Tessa well in goal, pressuring the ball carrier, communicating well and double teaming effectively. Tessa made some great saves and cleared the ball to midfield where Sacha, Clemmie, Flora and Lorna attacked confidently under pressure. Goal scorers: Rebekah Knox (2), Katherine Wibberley (1).

U14A Netball Team shoot 33 goals at tournament

FEBRUARY 2017

The Under 14A netball team played in a tournament at Bromsgrove School, Birmingham, against six other schools. They scored 33 goals in total, winning two matches with some good attacking plays between Lola Barlow and Skye Adams. There were excellent interceptions made throughout the tournament by Tilly Dollar and shooters Coco Morris-Marsham and Skye Adams worked really well together feeding to each other in the circle. Throughout the tournament the team’s confidence varied and as games progressed their decision making wavered as fatigue set in. Tilly Dollar and Lola Barlow who were nominated as most valued players.

MARCH 2017

Chambers Mud Run raises money for Alzheimer’s Research UK Over 300 runners took part in Tudor Hall’s Chambers Mud Run in support of Alzheimer’s Research UK. The 3km course wove through the school grounds and surrounding fields and included 10 obstacles which saw runners crawl through ditches, wriggle through tunnels and leap over straw bales. With girls, staff, family and friends tackling the course, it was hard to recognise those crossing the finishing line.

Runners were rewarded with a special edition T-shirt and lunch of pulled pork and brownies. Huge thanks to everyone who gave up their time and energy for supporting this fantastic cause and raising £4,500.

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Banbury Young Enterprise Awards Budding entrepreneurs from 10 Oxfordshire schools congregated in Banbury town centre as part of the Young Enterprise Awards. The awards immersed students in the world of business for an entire year, encouraging school teams to design, plan, sell and market their own products whilst learning how to run a business. The Tudor team demonstrated how they had successfully created and marketed their Kuala t-shirt range.

Young Vic turns Midsummer Night’s Dream on head Sixth Form drama and theatre students visited the Young Vic in London to see an innovative production of Shakespeare’s classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Director Joe Hill-Gibbins completely dashed expectations and as the lights faded, the audience was confronted with a stage covered in thick soil and knew they were in for something different. The production looked through a magnifying glass at the frailty of both human and fairy relationships; the lovers became the focal point of the play and Hill-Gibbins deftly communicated the insecurities and immaturity of their relationships in an unexpectedly darker mood. The usual ‘magic’ of the fairy characters also purposely lacked lustre: with Oberon and Titania being presented as a couple whose marriage had long lost its sparkle, and Puck as a fairy who couldn’t be bothered with magic anymore! This was a refreshing take on a popular classic and reactions to it were clearly divided, but it demonstrated the richness of Shakespeare’s legacy by making the play so relevant to a modern audience in what was an incredibly moving production.

Bath Spa Undergraduates visit Tudor Textiles Bath Spa University textiles undergraduates Martha Fennell and Grace Burt, who were in their final year studying Textiles for Fashion and Interiors, showed L6 students a portfolio of their work. The undergraduates gave tips on the application process and recommended that Tudor girls gain work experience to maximise their chances of getting a university place.

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Dame Evelyn Glennie enthrals all

In advance of her NG lecture, Virtuoso percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie was adamant that the girls should be involved in planning her visit and, in a break from the norm, asked to run a chat show style format instead of a formal address to the school. The result was a three piece suite onstage with seven girls interacting with a playful Dame Evelyn who had her audience straining to hear the sounds produced by instruments she had not even touched.

Her mantra was that individuals should listen to one another more carefully and, throughout her performances and interactions with the audience, this charism was witnessed with authenticity. However, watching Dame Evelyn play a solo on the snare drum and then the water phone, her star quality and commitment to the moment became wholly apparent.

Canadian Exchange with Havergal College Three girls from Havergal College in Toronto, Canada, joined Tudor for the last two weeks of the spring term. Lauren Anderson, Emily Hardie and Rachel Turnbull took part in academic and co-curricular lessons, giving them a great insight into boarding school life in the UK. This was the first time Tudor had entered into an exchange programme with Havergal College and hopes to develop the relationship over the coming years.

Parsons School of Design offers Sixth Formers places Sixth formers Hannah Mills and Ployd Rojchuphan were offered places by the Parsons School of Design in New York to study fashion. On accepting the places, Hannah and Ployd chose to follow in the footsteps of Old Tudorians Izzy Bowie (2012) who graduated in July 2016 with a BFA Honors in Fashion Design, Isabel Manns (2013), Jemima Allison (2015) and Hermione Gee (2016). Parsons was the first school in the United States to offer programs in fashion design, advertising, interior design and graphic design, and is currently ranked as the premier art and design school in the United States falling just behind the Royal College of Art in London in the world rankings. It has educated some of the most respected designers in the industry including Donna Karan (founder of DKNY), Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Anna Sui, Jason Wu and Jenna Lyons (Creative Director of J.Crew).

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Tainted Love The UVI drama cohort performed their final practical devised drama piece entitled ‘Tainted Love’. Following their mesmerising performance of Berkoff’s ‘Metamorphosis’ last year, Thea Barden, Olivia Gough, Rebekah Knox and Anna Stallibrass did not disappoint with their clever and engaging take on an alternative future inspired by the German film ‘The Lives of Others’ (2006) directed by Florian Henchel von Donnersmarck. Their devised drama plot revolved around the lives of various people living under an oppressive regime.

They utilised research into the events of World War II to inform a social commentary on the fundamental flaws in human nature and how this can lead to history repeating itself. The girls deserved hearty congratulations for an outstanding performance.

European Youth Parliament A team of eight Tudor girls travelled to the Debating Chamber of the Oxford Union to debate the current challenges facing the European Union as part of the regional stage of the Thames Valley European Youth Parliament competition. The girls took part in two debates on the selling of arms to countries like Saudi Arabia and on the independence of small regions of certain countries. They also took part in a multi-language debate at the end of the day. The day provided the team with an amazing opportunity to improve their public speaking, catch up on current affairs, work in a team and respond to unfamiliar situations. Although Tudor didn’t progress through to nationals, the true reward was that girls and staff had an amazing time; they dealt with unfamiliar situations and had to think logically and creatively.

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Sixth Formers run Reading Half Tilly Daly and Fenella Redding ran the Reading Half Marathon in 2 hours and 15 minutes on 19th March. The entrepid sixth formers had been training since September 2016 with the ultimate goal of running the Virgin Money London Marathon and raising money for 'Walking with the Wounded’, 'Beat' and 'UNICEF'. Fenella commented: “Whilst the training has been fun it has been both mentally and physically challenging on our bodies, but we are both really excited to be running the London Marathon.”

Careers in Medicine The Careers in Medicine event was a resounding success with speakers from the fields of general practice, paediatrics and dentistry giving an insight into the reality of working within medicine. The inspirational talks made reference to the life-

changing opportunities available, both at home and abroad. The informal tea after the talks gave the girls a chance to speak to the professionals individually and gain further valuable advice.

Language Leaders UVI language leaders completed their award after spending 12 months learning to teach languages. They successfully delivered their final assessment lessons at Carrdus School with the fun, interactive lessons being well received by the children.

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THE TUDORIAN . March 2017 . 138

Pygmalion As part of the Vs’ GCSE drama revision course, the girls visited Cheltenham Everyman to see a fresh and exciting production of George Bernard Shaw’s classic play. Headlong Theatre Company directed by Sam Pritchard delivered a fast-paced realisation set in modern day. Eliza was no longer a Cockney flower seller in the 1910s, but an equally feisty teenager from an unspecified Northern town. Natalie Gavin’s Eliza really connected with the girls and encouraged them to consider their own lives and the way that people often make judgements about others on the way that they speak. The production’s opening scene, in particular, hit this point home by having characters from all backgrounds entering the stage. However, when each character opened their mouth to speak, a recording of a voice contrary to expectation, emerged to deliver the line!

Though the original play was written in 1912, this production proved that the themes and social message of the play are just as resonant in today’s society.

UKMT Team Maths Challenge Maths teacher Pete Garratt accompanied Lian Dancer, Tilly Sears, Orlanda Stevens and Ana Worm-Hortelano to the regional finals of the UKMT Team Maths Challenge at Oxford University’s Mathematical Institute. There were teams of 4 pupils from 28 schools competing, and the first round was a group round where the girls had to work through a set of problems under timed conditions. The second round incorporated a mathematical cross-number puzzle where half the team had ‘across’ clues and the other half had ‘down’ clues. Then they completed a shuttle activity where one pair would answer a question and then the second pair would answer a follow up question based on the first answer, so accuracy was very important. The final event was a relay whereby the girls were in two teams of two. One pair would run up and get a question, answer it, and if correct would collect a question to give to the other pair, trying ultimately to answer as many questions in the time limit. Whilst not placed, the team did remarkably well and most importantly learnt a lot about team work and tactical maths challenges!

Polo at West Wycombe Park The polo team took part in Rugby School’s Polo Tournament at West Wycombe Park. The tournament started very well with the girls showing great team work which led to them winning their first chukka. They lost their two subsequent chukkas, coming 3rd overall in their section.

Outstanding LAMDA achievements Speech & Drama pupils took their LAMDA examinations and received excellent marks with the majority passing with distinction.

Altogether five sixth formers passed grades 6 and 7 in the bronze and silver medal examinations in Solo Acting and Reading for Performance, three passed with distinction and two with a high merit. The acting candidates all received medals with Rose Lord and Tilly James receiving 88 marks and Kitty Chetwode attaining 84 marks - an outstanding achievement at this level.

The majority of pupils taking grade 5 Solo, Duologue or Combined Acting examinations passed with distinction including Sonali Balch, Molly Maddan, Scarlett Cripps, Alice Smith, Matilda Painter, Rosie Bulwer-Long, Skye Brooke, Coco Cunningham, Lara MorrisMarsham, Isabel Saer and Sasha White; also Julia Green for her Grade 5 Reading for Performance examination and the Group Acting examination pupils who also passed with distinction.

Congratulations to all thirty two pupils.

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House Music Competition The sound of music reverberated from the Hall throughout the bi-annual House Music Competition. The two-part competition combined individual and group performances with the girls opting to sing or perform a piece of their own choice as well as an interhouse sing-off.

With 136 entries in the opening rounds of the individual/group performances, 26 candidates went through to the finals which were adjudicated by Reverend Sarah Bourne and Tudor’s Marketing Director Shanna Wells. Jasmine Skowronski won Junior Musician of the Year with her vocal performance of As long as he needs me, Ana Worm Hortelano won Intermediate Musician of the Year with The

Bach Violin Concerto, and Emily Gaselee became Senior Musician of the Year and was also crowned the overall winner playing The Dance of Watergrass on the piano. Mimi Douglas and Polly Waters won Ensemble of the Year with their vocal piece You Raise Me Up. The girls then got together in their vertical houses and performed a chosen song from the hit film Mamma Mia and a capella version of Queen’s We Will Rock You. With a fantastically rehearsed and choreographed performance of Dancing Queen followed by the Queen hit, Lanc won the competition with House Captain Jazzy Clay collecting the cup. The afternoon’s entertainment was finished off with a rousing performance by the staff band Burnt Norton.

Spring Concert The Junior Band comprising vocalist Issy Rice, Tess Lindsay on keyboard / vocals and Georgia Tinney on guitar, opened the Spring Concert with a fantastic rendition of ‘She’s so lovely’. The orchestra followed with an arrangement of 'Scarborough Fair' and ‘The March’ from Carmen. Assured solo performances were given by Emily Gaselee on piano, Amelia Veale on flute, Jennifer Look on violin, Mary Eckert and Harriet Gough on vocals as well as Grace Sale and Ana Worm Hortelano on cello. Duet performances included Poppy James and Eliza Lawton on the clarinet, and a Glee mash up of 'I feel Pretty' beautifully sung by Tess Lindsay and Jennifer Look. The String Group, directed by Noriko Tsuzaki, gave a wonderful performance of the ‘Libertango’ by Piazzolla, with the Junior, Senior and Chamber choirs performing individual pieces.

Junior Schools Science Day As part of National Science Week, Tudor hosted a Junior Schools Science Day with 60 students from Great Rollright and Hill View primary schools enjoying a series of science-based activities.

The students played with and learned about a range of animals including a chinchilla, a tarantula and a snake. As well as watching some controlled explosions take place within the laboratories, they took part in experiments using liquid nitrogen and fire. The children constructed mini volcanoes which led to green and blue lava, and participated in an egg tower challenge whereby they worked in groups to create the tallest tower that could hold an egg.

They also explored the Science Dome which focused on the topic of space, watching videos on the solar-system and planets.

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Victoria Prentis MP joins the Wombles for The Great British Spring Clean After a shout out on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, Tudor Hall girls and staff wrapped up warm and did their bit for the nationwide campaign ‘The Great British Spring Clean’. Victoria Prentis MP and Wombles Orinoco and Great Uncle Bulgaria joined the fray, with Victoria telling the girls how important it is to bring people together from across the country to clear up the litter that blights our towns, villages, countryside and coastline.

The Great British Spring Clean was the brain child of one enthusiastic individual - Melissa Murdoch – who had an idea to get people from all walks of life together in cleaning up the UK’s rubbish. Together with Keep Britain Tidy, Country Life Magazine and a range of supporting partners, the Clean for The Queen campaign inspired 250,000 people to get involved in local clean ups through March 2017 and inspired 500,000 people to clear up from 3-5 March.

Wendy Griffiths, Headmistress of Tudor Hall, commented: “Whilst the supermarkets are working towards reducing packaging, we continue to buy goods with containers taking years to biodegrade. It takes over 500 years for a plastic bottle to biodegrade, with most ending up in the oceans. We need to act now as a community at Tudor Hall and on a worldwide scale to save the environment from further damage.”

U12 County Netball Tournament Todd girls played in Section 2 of the U12 County Netball Tournament. They played four matches; winning 4-2 against Cokethorpe, losing 1-4 to Oxford High A, winning 3-2 against St Helen & St Katharine’s B team and winning 10-0 against Bloxham’s B team. They came runner up in their section and qualified for the semi-finals where they were up against St Helen & St Katharine’s experienced A team who won the tournament overall winning all of their matches. The girls played some great netball and worked really hard as a team.

Jenny competes at UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Jenny Hannah ran an impressive race for Oxfordshire in her first year as an under-17 entrant at the UK Inter-Counties Cross Country meet held at Loughborough’s Prestwold Hall. The 5km undulating and highly demanding course had a 280-strong field and Jenny recorded a time of 22 minutes and 40 seconds coming 86th. Jenny’s team mate Emily Thompson (daughter of Richard Thompson, Tudor’s Head of Economics and Business) ran a fantastic race recording a time of 21 minutes and 27 seconds claiming 23rd spot. Emily and Jenny’s runs made it a one-two for Banbury Harriers in the county team.

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THE TUDORIAN . March 2017 . 144

New York City Ballet Workout The dance department launched a New York City Ballet Workout for keen dancers. The weekly session incorporates a gentle warm up of plies and tendus, followed by stretching, a floor barre section which includes abdominal strengthening leading into

leg extension exercises, grand allegro and finishing with a cool down. The workout both challenges and inspires students and continued practise will increase core strength, flexibility, stamina, concentration, balance and strengthened muscles without bulking.

Tudor community gathers in Edinburgh Members of the Tudor community living in Scotland and Northern England joined Wendy Griffiths and staff for a drinks reception at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh. OTs ranging from class of 1955 to 2016 mingled with former, current and prospective parents as well

as Canon Gunner who was the Tudor Chaplain from 1970 to 1986.

Edinburgh undergraduates sang the university’s praises, sighting the capital as the perfect university destination.

Sofie performs at Ghanaian Gala Evening UVI Sofie Svanikier was given the opportunity to perform at the gala evening at the Diaspora Home Coming Conference in Accra to celebrate Ghana’s 60th year of independence. The gala evening included well established Ghanaian artists including Fuse ODG, Becca and Gyedu-Blay Ambolley. Being Ghanaian it was a real honour for Sofie to meet and share the stage with them. Sofie performed some of the songs from her debut EP as well as one of her earlier songs Hold On Tight. After the performance Sofie said “It was definitely one of the most memorable moments of my career because I really came out of my comfort zone and felt alive.”

Success for Jasmine at Chipping Norton Music Festival The Chipping Norton Festival is an annual local music festival run over 16 days in March. Seven girls from Todd to IV entered the 105th festival and received high praise from the adjudicators. Special mention must go to Kitty Veale who entered four different categories and Jasmine Skowronski who was Highly Commended for her violin performance of Sonata in F Major (1st Movt) by Handel. The adjudicators were so impressed that they asked Jasmine to perform at the concert arranged to close the festival.

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For the Record Tudor’s Young Enterprise 2016/17 adventure began in September 2016 when it hosted the area’s launch event attended by participating local schools. Over the following months, the businesses developed their product ideas, set pricing points, worked on packaging and booked into eight trade and school fairs.

Kulala, led by Managing Director Ottie Puckett, devised a branded range of bed-time products including a mug for warm milk, a T-shirt that doubles as nightwear and lavender bags to soothe the senses.

The team’s core of Ottie, Tilly Ashton, Emily Gaselee, Eliza Lord, Iona Lowe, Alejandra Rodriguez and Rose Weatherby took up the challenge boldly, gave readily of their time and grew in focus as the year progressed.

For the Record, led by Managing Directors Georgia Berry and Adèle Tumilty and with team members Lottie Harries, Kat Morley, and Amelia Veale, converted CDs, vinyl 45s and LPs into working clocks which appealed to all generations with sales steadily growing across the fairs they attended. The company took £822.50 in sales, with net profits totalling £398.34.

In March 2017, For the Record submitted its company report to the Young Enterprise Area Board and was subsequently asked with eight other schools to attend the North and West Oxfordshire Area Finals held at Bicester Technology Studio. Three would qualify for the Regional Finals in May. Each team was questioned by three judges looking not only for excellent products, new sales ideas, use of new technologies and customer service skills, but also evidence that participants had grown in the process, become more resilient as they met and overcame challenges, and developed leadership and team skills.

The judges said that Tudor Hall had given the best presentation of the night and awarded For the Record a glass trophy, with Adrian Mason, Chair of the Young Enterprise Local Board, saying he was “utterly blown away” by their performance. Sadly Tudor took 4th place, however every team member commented on how their business knowledge and understanding had grown over the year.

Huge thanks to Matthew Harper for engaging over 20 members of the LVI in this thoroughly rewarding and innovative process.

Mary Eckert wins Young Musician District finals Mary Eckert, runner-up in the Banbury Rotary Young Musician senior singing section, won the district finals securing a place in the regional finals. She impressed the judges with her virtuosity by singing ‘Vedrai Carino’

by Mozart, ‘Somewhere’ from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story and ‘Per La Gloria D’Adorarvi’ by Giovanni Bononcini.

U12 County Hockey The U12 County Hockey tournament was held at Cokethorpe School, with Tudor girls playing four matches - winning two and losing two – and claiming points from Oxford High’s A and B teams. The team showed great determination from the initial whistle and their hard work paid off with goals from Ella Bartle-Jones, Zara Chick, Bea Ingham-Clark and Holly Sheldon. The defense was led by Olivia James and Alicia Novis who showed strength on the ball.

Flora Ritblat showed quick reactions and excellent goal keeping skills, making it particularly hard for Headington and Cokethorpe. Midfield players Pheobe Shaw and Rejoice Edjejovwo provided passing options for defenders and were always willing to do the hard running to get behind the ball and help relieve pressure off defenders. This team will be a force to be reckoned with over the coming years.

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Whenharrymetsalad Head of Hockey James Long ran a nutrition seminar focusing on food intake for a healthy, balanced and active lifestyle. After observing large numbers of people who struggle through life on low calorie diets and lack the knowledge on how to exercise effectively, James decided to set up the blog whenharrymetsalad with friend Chris Beck to educate their 25,000 Instagram followers and give readers the knowledge they need to create and choose meals that are realistic, enjoyable and flexible. To reinforce the message, the V’s prepared some of the recipes from whenharrymetsalad within their house.

Purple4polio Crocus Concert The Purple4polio Crocus Concerts, set up by the Rotary Club of Banbury, brought together local school choirs at St Mary’s Church, Banbury, to raise money to help towards the eradication of polio. Following individual school performances, the Tudor Chamber Choir joined singers from Blessed George Napier, Bloxham and Chenderit schools on stage for the traditional rousing finale of ‘Sing’, ‘You Raise Me Up’ and ‘World in Union’. The evening was a huge success and raised £90.10 in the retiring collection for Purple4polio.

Spanish Lorca Lecture UVI Spanish students were invited to Radley College for a lecture on their A2 cultural topic on the author Lorca and his works. The lecture was delivered by Dr Laura Lonsdale from The Queen’s College, Oxford and, following the informative lecture, the girls took part in a revision workshop.

Young Shots The shooting team took part in the Oxfordshire Schools Challenge - the largest young shots’ organisation in the UK teaching shooting skills to the next generation - held at the Oxford Gun Company. Open to schools, colleges and universities in the Oxfordshire areas, the girls shot against some very experienced ladies from all over the region with Lara Browning shooting 27/50 and ranking herself 12th. The team included: Lara, Jazzy Banister, Honor Buscall, Iona Lowe, Daisy Persaud, Tizzy Ritblat and Willow Weatherby.

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THE TUDORIAN . March 2017 . 150

Rugby School Shooting Challenge Tudor’s shooting team took part in the Rugby School Challenge at Honesberie Shooting School. In the high gun section, Jazzy Bannister shot 32/50 clays.

Le Café

IVs and Vs French students and over one hundred visitors from Banbury Aspirations Academy, Chipping Norton School and Warriner School were treated to the interactive and amusing French play Le Café delivered by the Onatti Theatre Company. There was plenty of opportunity for audience participation and the students were reassured by how much they could understand.

Biology field trip to Pembrokeshire Coast UVI biologists travelled to the Dale Fort Field Centre on the stunning coast of Pembrokeshire to study the biodiversity of rocky shores and succession on salt marshes.

The girls enjoyed studying different habitats in a new environment, boosting their A2 Level topic knowledge of biodiversity and population studies and practiced statistical analysis on the data they collected.

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Jennifer sings at Birmingham Symphony Hall Jennifer Look took part in a concert spectacular at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Oxfordshire County Music Service. The performance showcased its advanced instrumental, vocal and performance groups along with three hundred Oxfordshire school children. As a member of the Oxfordshire County Youth Choir Jennifer sang Words, and then as a member of the massed choir sang two especially commissioned works entitled Apollo’s Lyre by Debbie Rose and Nick Blake’s B’s Juke Jointwill feature.

Theatre-in-Education The drama department introduced Trinity Guildhall’s Bronze Arts Award as the focus for the IIIs’ drama curriculum. In order to achieve their Bronze award, each girl had to provide evidence of having participated in a theatrical event, researched an inspirational figure from the arts world, reviewed a dramatic performance from the perspective of an audience member and taught drama skills to others.

As part of the requirement to teach drama skills to others, the girls created and then performed a dramatic piece to a target audience. The girls visited Year 5 and 6 pupils at Carrdus School as well as Shenington and Hillview primary schools in order to present their plays which focused on the history of chocolate, global warming, Charles Darwin, World War II, the history of animation and the Vikings. Following the performances, the girls led a practical workshop in which they taught the children a variety of drama skills including still images and thought-tracking. The children from all three schools thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are all eager for the Tudor girls to return.

Jenny comes second in Oxford Mail Cross Country League Banbury Harriers claimed the second team position on the final day of the Oxford Mail Cross Country League season. After torrential rain overnight, the ground was saturated and the hilly course at Farmoor was very muddy. Needless to say, Jenny Hannah worked her way through the field to secure a well-deserved second place in the under 15/17 combined races and was awarded a trophy.

England Roses win Six Nations Grand Slam Tudor’s very own Harriet Millar-Mills was voted Woman of the Match after the England Roses completed the Six Nations Grand Slam with a 34-7 victory over Ireland in Dublin. Now a fullyprofessional squad, the England Roses’ hard-fought victory ensured that they claimed their first Six Nations title since 2012.

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THE TUDORIAN . March 2017 . 154

Rambert’s Ghost Dances Girls and staff were fortunate enough to watch three fantastic dance performances by the Rambert Dance Company at The New Theatre, Oxford. The evening began with the superbly choreographed Transfigured Night which was based around a couple at crisis point - seen from different perspectives – with three sections danced in a series of tense and emotive duets.

The outstanding lifts and powerful partner work emphasised the passion, betrayal and rejection that was created between the dancers. The bold choreography was flawlessly executed which captured the audience’s attention from the very start.

This was followed by a thought-provoking and utterly mesmerising piece called The Three Dancers inspired by Picasso’s painting of the same name. The choreographer Didy Veldman not only applied the form of Cubism to the movements, but also incorporated themes

from Picasso’s life into the dance such as passion, love, tension and manipulation. It was incredible to watch how the performers carried out a succession of spectacular skills, whilst linked to each other for a long period of time.

Ghost Dances by Christopher Bruce was the final and most eagerly anticipated dance of the evening. It was created in response to the political oppression that was occurring in South America in the 1970s and is an evocative homage to these victims. Stories of love, compassion and the daily lives of ordinary people are interrupted by the iconic ghost dancers which signify death. The distinctive movements along with the traditional South American music and the elaborate skeleton costumes had a tremendous impact on the audience and conveyed an extremely haunting, powerful and eerie atmosphere.

IVs to Barcelona The theme for the IVs ART GCSE this year is Spanish Art so the Art department organised a trip to Barcelona to study the city which is full of the work of architect, artist and designer, Antonio Gaudi.

Gaudi transformed the city of Barcelona having found architectural inspiration from drawing natural forms and the Catalan Modernism.

was completed. German and Japanese engineers and architects have been working hard to interpret Gaudi’s drawings to complete his dream ever since. Mrs Craske hopes to lead another trip to Barcelona when the cathedral is completed, perhaps in time for Gaudi’s centenary in 2026.

Prior to the trip, the IVs have been creating ceramics inspired by natural forms and have been creating oil paintings inspired by the traditional Spanish ‘bodegon’ or tavern paintings depicting fruit, flowers and vegetables. We were lucky our hotel was central in the Placa Reial and we were able to visit the famous Spanish markets with its displays of exotic fruits and vegetables and fish; the exact fish that Grace and Jojo had been studying in the seventeenthcentury paintings of Luis Melendez, as well as the same collection of fruit and vegetables that Bianca and Polly had been patiently painting.

The girls were bowled over by the Casa Batlo, a house designed

by Gaudi with no straight lines and situated in the leafy district of Passeig de Gracia. The museum staff were impressed by the way the girls took their time to look and explore. Most school trips just rush through, they commented, but your girls have shown a genuine interest. Another hightlight was Salvador Dali’s eccentric museum in Figueres. Margarita came out of the exit door with a look of amazement on her face declaring it was the most aweinspiring art gallery she had ever visited.

The city is an ideal teaching aid to show how ideas and inspirations develop from observational drawings of a culture, most notably the famous Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Gaudi reinterpreted the traditional Spanish Gothic Church and fused it with art nouveau and modernism. The Sagrada Familia’s construction started in 1882 but sadly Gaudi died in 1926 after only a quarter of the building

On returning to school, the girls seemed to shift a gear with their practical work, creating clay sculptures, etchings, oil studies and watercolours, having been truly inspired by their trip. Journals are jam-packed with photographs, postcards and notes and the girls are already planning their final pieces. Look out for the final outcomes in next year’s magazine.

MARCH 2017

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Trinity Music & LCM Exams Many congratulations to the girls who successfully passed their Trinity Music Exams:

In the LCM exams, Sofie and Maddy did incredibly well in the following fields:

Jenny Look

Grade 6 Violin

78%

Merit

Clemmie Beale

Grade 8 Flute

65%

Pass

Annie Liu

Grade 6 Violin

63%

Pass

Sophie Donald

Grade 4 Singing

76%

Merit

Jennifer Zhao

Grade 3 Violin

71%

Merit

Matilda Harvey

Grade 2 Piano

80%

Merit

Grace Hu

Grade 5 Piano

81%

Merit

Sofie

Grade 8 Recital

Pop vocals - exam syllabus

Maddy

Music Theatre

Singing – exam syllabus

Mary comes second at Young Musician Regional Finals The District Finals of The Young Musician Competition was hugely successful for Tudor Hall with Mary Eckert coming Runner Up and being put forward to the Regional Finals held in Maidstone. She performed Per la Gloria d’adorarvi by Bononcini, Somewhere by Bernstein and Vedri Carino by Mozart at the Kent venue coming second against some fierce competition.

Miranda Hart in conversation with Wendy Griffiths As part of the fundraising programme, Tudor Hall was delighted to welcome members of the Tudor community to ‘Miranda Hart in conversation with Wendy Griffiths’. Miranda is a strong advocate of single sex girl’s boarding schools, stating her school gave her ‘the freedom to become who I was’ with no extra pressure or social anxiety.

Her advice to Tudor Hall girls was to live in the moment, enjoy your youth, share your feelings, take regular time out to play and to try galloping for 30 seconds a day!

MARCH 2017

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Head Girl: Lucy Scruton What did it feel like to be asked to be Head Girl?

My first thought was me, really? I was very surprised, but so happy. I remember the first hurdle being the three cheers at the end of Mark Reading; I didn't really know what to say and as I stood up I realised that perhaps Tudor isn't that small after all! However, I just thought of Miss Griffiths always telling us to 'step up' and miraculously I survived. I had the Christmas holidays to mull the job over, and I became more and more excited for the term ahead. I had really wanted to be Head Girl and it was so nice to be asked as it showed that the effort I have put in throughout my time at Tudor had not gone unnoticed.

What are the highs and lows of the job?

What I loved about being Head Girl is that you get to see and be a part of a side of Tudor that you wouldn’t otherwise get involved with. I loved seeing things that I had organised come together; helping with the Evelyn Glennie NG Lecture was amazing and probably one of the big highs of the job. I also went with the Deputy Head girls to the Miranda Hart development evening, which was an incredible experience and something I will always remember. Head Girls' tea was also a highlight and always lots of fun. I would say the lows were setting up chairs on Sunday evenings, or even worse, forgetting to set them up!

What have you learnt from being Head Girl?

I've learnt a lot about myself, and how much responsibility I can take on. At first it was quite hard balancing work, extra curricular and the responsibility of Head Girl, but this has made me more hardworking and determined as I go in to my exam year. I have also become more confident in my decisions and abilities as a leader, and have learnt that if you work hard with enthusiasm and energy, then so much more is possible than you first thought.

Are there any particular events and/or jobs associated with being Head Girl that have stuck in your mind?

Doing Head Girls' prayers was really fun and I hope everyone enjoyed it, although I don't think I will be watching Harry Potter any

time soon! I really enjoyed the public speaking opportunities as I enjoy debating, and so introducing lectures and making a speech at Mark Reading were really fun, and something I’ll miss.

What advice would you give to future Head Girls?

I would say don't get too worried about things, as you probably will have done enough work so there's no point imagining what can go wrong. Have fun doing things you wouldn’t normally as it goes really quickly. Also don't forget to set out the chairs!

New Head Girl Team

The new Head Girl team for the summer term was announced at the end of Mark Reading with Kate Kot and Ottie Puckett sharing the role as Head Girl and Poppy Clark and Jazzy Clay being named as Deputy Heads.

Rathbones’ Small Schools Lax Tournament The 1st XII lacrosse team participated in the Rathbones’ Small Schools Lacrosse Tournament at Rendcomb College against six other schools. Tudor finished as runners up after the first round of games and went on to play the winners of the other section, narrowly losing but finishing 3rd overall in the tournament.

MARCH 2017

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APRIL 2017

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Art historians visit Venice and Florence viewed works such as Sansovino’s architecture in St Mark’s Square, Titian’s paintings at the Frari, Tintoretto’s works at the Scuola di San Rocco, 16th Century Venetian Painting at the Accademia Gallery and Palladio’s churches of San Giorgio Maggiore and il Redentore.

The trip was exciting and a fantastic opportunity for the girls to consolidate what they have studied in class and will be an excellent source of revision for their exams in the summer.

APRIL 2017

History of Art students visited Venice and Florence to view at first hand the works of art which they studied for their AS and A level courses. The trip began in Florence where they viewed examples of Florentine Renaissance sculpture in the Loggia dei Lanzi followed by 16th Century Italian painting at the Uffizi including the works of Titian, Michelangelo, Bronzino and Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia and the New Sacristy. The group then took a train to the stunning city of Venice where they

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The Easter history of art trip was a wonderful five days and our eyes were opened to Italy's amazing culture and Renaissance history. It was incredible to see the art and architecture that we have been learning about in the classroom up close and in its original location, vastly increasing our knowledge and understanding. In Florence we focused on 16th Century artworks concentrating on the High Renaissance and Mannerist works, for example Michelangelo’s David and the Mannerist sculptures in the Loggia Dei Lanzi. We had a bit of a work out climbing the 414 steps up the bell tower of the Florence Cathedral, but it was definitely worth it as it was lovely to see the city of Florence embedded in the Italian hills. We found Venice equally as stunning with its own definite style. We instantly noticed the Middle Eastern influence in the floating architecture. We were able to view the beautiful churches of Santa Maria Della Salute by Baldassare Longhena, Palladio’s Il Redentore and the famous Saint Mark’s Basilica. As well as viewing the amazing artworks, we also indulged in a lot of pizza, pasta and gelato (Miss Fulton especially loved the ice cream!). Our tour guide from AHA made it even more amusing and interesting not only through his knowledge of Italian art but also by the fact he was a former actor from a famous teenage film! We would definitely recommend this trip to anyone who has an interest for Italian Culture and Art History. This trip has set us up in good stead for studying History of Art at university.

Sophie Walker and Lucinda Barnes, UVI

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Girls Lead the Field

The Firefly Story: from school project to global business Simon Hay, one of Firefly's two CEOs, closed this year's Nanette Godfrey Memorial Lecture series with a frank and challenging presentation on his experiences with Firefly.

Firefly was created by the then GCSE schoolboys Simon Hay and Joe Matthewson during their time at St. Paul's. They could see a better way of doing things and wrote Firefly for their teachers. It was some time before the school's management realised what had happened but by then, it was too late. Firefly had become an integral system and its on-going development was initially funded by the school. Since then, the idea has blossomed into an international edtech business.

Simon was a challenging speaker: on recruitment he said that Firefly are not interested in qualifications and grades. Nor are they interested in what you can already do.

Instead, they look for values, commitment and an ability to learn and to try new things.

He dismissed the grand narratives so often peddled by motivational speakers ('I always knew that I wanted to be a...'). Simon did not know what he wanted to be when he was at school. He was honest about the lack of certainty people really have when they make decisions. His advice: be flexible and keep options open. Life is messy and the road ahead is rarely clear.

APRIL 2017

Ten girls from the IIIs were selected to attend the 'Girls Lead the Field' conference at Loughborough University which was run by the Youth Sport Trust. The day was designed to help the girls develop leadership and team work skills by undertaking a variety of different workshops with a selection of elite athletes. Each group had specific guidance throughout the day on developing confidence and leadership skills through sport and undertook a variety of activities in which they learnt the soft skills which are so important for securing future employment. The finale was a dragon dens-style presentation in which they marketed the healthy initiative they had devised to four dragons. The girls worked incredibly hard and hope to devise and run a similar day at Tudor Hall.

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Classics Trip to Rome and Sorrento

Thirteen girls flew to Italy for a classics trip to the glorious cities of Rome and Sorrento accompanied by Lindsey Cullen and Jenny Lewis. Upon arrival, they were whisked off to visit Emperor Hadrian’s summer residence - Villa Adrianna in Tivoli near Rome – to explore its huge, sprawling complex of buildings. The girls even found evidence of Tudor times with roses discovered around the complex! They then travelled to Ara Pacis which was built to commemorate the peace that Augustus brought to the Roman Empire. It was then time to see some of the more modern sights of the city including the Piazza Navona via the Spanish Steps for some gelato, shopping and a walk back to our hotel via the Trevi Fountain.

The rain fell on day two but spirits were not dampened as the group visited the National Museum of Rome, before making their way to the Capitoline Museums to see the statues and artwork collected there. After lunch, they headed out to Ostia, which was the ancient port of Rome, exploring the different houses, forum and theatre.

The final day in Rome saw a whistle stop tour the Pantheon, Trajan’s Column and the Imperial Fora, before visiting the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill after.

The group then travelled to the Bay of Naples, reaching Herculaneum by lunch. They explored one of the other cities

destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, witnessing the style of houses and some of their decorations that still survived. Their journey carried onto Pompeii and finally the town of Sant’ Agnello.

With the sun shining, they travelled the coastal route from Sorrento to Amalfi and were astonished by the beauty of the region and the steep cliffs. They travelled further south to Paestum; originally a Greek colony and with three outstanding examples of Doric temples for the girls to study. They were given the chance to walk inside two of the temples, something reserved only for priests in ancient times, before spending time in Sorrento.

On the final day the group visited the Villa Oplontis, a large villa thought to have belonged to Poppaea Sabina who became the wife of Emperor Nero. The wonderful wall paintings and decorations still in situ, made it easy to imagine how the wealthy would have lived in Roman times. The group then moved onto Naples and visited the Archaeological Museum. Extraordinary treasures were on display ranging from mosaics, paintings and statues found at Pompeii to other treasures collected over the years, including the Farnese sculpture collection. From there, we bid goodbye to Italy and headed to the airport for our flight home.

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Tudor qualifies for Hickstead at Wickstead

Lucy, Annabel, Ottie and Tilly represented Tudor Hall in both the 90-95cm and 1m-1.05m classes. In the first class, both Lucy and Otti produced fantastic clear rounds with Otti placed 6th individually and the team placed 3rd behind Cheltenham College and Pangbourne and narrowly missing out on a Championship qualification.

The next class caused problems for children from all competing schools. Otti produced one of the few clear rounds of the afternoon and came 5th individually.

Given the challenging nature of the course, Lucy, Annabel and Tilly’s rounds were good enough to place the team in 2nd place behind Cheltenham College. This qualified the team for a place at the NSEA Eventer’s Challenge Championships in May at Hickstead - an amazing opportunity for the girls to compete at a prestigious International Show Jumping venue.

Orchestral Day Carrdus School, Deddington Primary School and St John’s Priory attended an orchestral day at Tudor Hall. Young musicians of varying abilities kick-started the day with a warm up rendition of ‘heads, shoulders, knees and toes’. The children then worked on three different pieces including a blues/ jazz piece and two more traditional songs from the 18th and 20th centuries. Sessions were for full orchestra or sectional rehearsals, with a fun vocal workshop where everyone practised vocal exercises and broke up into canon to learn a new song. The day ended with a final performance of all three pieces to the children’s parents.

APRIL 2017

Annabel Beale, Sienna de Gale, Ottie Dick, Tilly Dollar and Lucy Scruton enjoyed a sunny day at Wickstead Horseplay competing in Burford School’s Eventer Challenge.

There was a full height course of show jumps leading on to a challenging set of crosscountry jumps with an exacting optimum time. It was Sienna’s first outing for Tudor Hall and she rode a lovely clear round in the 70-75cm class on her handsome pony Ben.

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NSEA ODE at Calmsden On Good Friday Otti Dick, Hannah Dobson, Matilda Harvey, Lucy Herbert, Molly Maddan, Emilie Richmond-Watson and Lucy Scruton enjoyed the first of this season’s school one day events at Ampney Downs in Calmsden.

Hannah and Otti both rode as individuals in the 80cm class, a first time outing for Otti on her new horse Tri Coloured Toyko. Hannah did the most beautiful dressage test placing her 6th in her section after this phase but unfortunately Hannah had a nasty fall at the last show jump breaking her arm but putting on a very brave face.

Molly competed in the 1m class, riding a super double clear on Wilma Ruby and was one of only a few competitors not given many time faults. The last class of the day was the 90cm class with over 90 children competing in school teams. The Tudor Hall team of Emilie, Lucy Herbert, Lucy Scruton and Matilda did brilliantly and were placed 5th overall. On her debut ride for Tudor, Lucy Herbert produced a fantastic double clear. Lucy Scruton did a beautiful dressage test putting her in second place after this section and Matilda was one of the few competitors to read the speed of the course and finished with no time penalties.

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APRIL 2017

1st VI progress to Aegon group semi-final The 1st tennis VI travelled to Headington School, Oxford, to play in the Aegon Tennis quarter-finals. The team performed at a high level and won all four singles and two doubles matches. Rosie Dunbar won her first National Championships singles tie, producing a performance arguably her best during her time at Tudor.

Sadie Lapper awarded Coach of the Year Tournament Sadie Lapper was crowned Coach of the Year 2017 at Banbury Hockey Club’s annual awards. She was presented with an engraved silver whistle and praised for significantly increasing the number of ladies playing for the club (the ladies’ now have five teams) and for growing the number of junior players. Sadie has set up and established the Banbury Hockey Junior Academy which has attracted more players to BHC and enabled more juniors to play for the senior teams.

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Tilly and Fenella run London Marathon Tilly Daly and Fenella Redding ran the 37th Virgin London Marathon. Tilly completed the gruelling course in 4 hours and 43 minutes and raised £3,467.50 for Walking with the Wounded and Fenella completed the course in 5 hours and 45 minutes and raised £2,548.75 for Beat and Unicef. The girls trained throughout the dark and wet winter months, competing in the Reading Half Marathon as a ‘warm up’!

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Not a dry eye

Tennis Tour to Portugal The tennis squad travelled to Val do Lobo, Portugal, for Tudor’s first ever tennis tour. Over five days, the squad learnt new drills and techniques and focused heavily on improving match play in both singles and doubles. The girls had five hours of private coaching each day, putting their new skills into practise in matches against Bryanston School, Surbiton High School and Bradfield College. The squad stayed in the nearby Ria Park, cooling down in the hotel’s pool after a long day on the courts.

Tennis Captain Jess Carter commented: “We all improved day by day and have been inspired by the coaching staff and professionals that we met. We look forward to putting our new found skills into practice.”

Aegon Tennis vs Cokethorpe The 1st tennis VI travelled to Cokethorpe School for what turned out to be a very tough match against a strong team with some high level players competing. Tudor worked hard in their singles with a stand out performance from Alice Sitwell who played one the highest rated players losing 6-1, 6-3 but having close games throughout the tie.

APRIL 2017

It is always wonderful to see a year group leave on a musical high, and this year’s Leavers’ Concert was no exception. Parents and tutors were treated to a musical feast, with wonderful performances by the upper sixth on flute, piano and vocals alongside contemporary style pieces on guitar, saxophone, clarinet, guitar and vocals. Emotional tears were shed as the girls gave truly heartfelt performances. During their time at school the girls have supported the music department whole heartedly, with many taking part in the orchestra, choirs, pop bands, woodwind and brass groups. Many have reached Grade 8 in standard, and have represented the school externally and even recorded and released their own material – true musical artists. In the words of Plato, ‘Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything’.

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Photography competition The winners of the spring term photography competition on ‘animals’ were:

Thea Barden

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APRIL 2017

Violet Blackburn

Mariyah Shah

MAY 2017

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The IIIs have been studying contemporary music trends from the 1960s to today and, as part of their class work, recreated existing album covers. With visuals ranging from Bowie to Britney and Blondie, the girls’ work was both ingenuous and eye-catching.

MAY 2017

MAY 2016

Album Covers

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Debating team wins MUN Bowerman Street Prize Tudor Hall’s debating team travelled to Wycombe Abbey School to discuss the topics: ‘The rights of women & the girl child’ and ‘Women in politics’ which were very enjoyable and eye-opening. They represented Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Guatemala and Vatican City; all countries with widely differing views about the roles and positions of women. After a weekend full of high level debate and passionate speeches, Tudor was pleased to be awarded The ‘Bowerman Street Prize’; named after two former pupils of Wycombe Abbey who both excelled in fighting for women’s rights.

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Woyzeck at the Old Vic

MAY 2017

The UVI enjoyed a thrilling production of their A-Level set text, Georg Buchner's 'Woyzeck', at the Old Vic. The girls were excited to see John Boyega, who is best known for his role as Finn in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’, in the title role. John displayed a completely different side to his acting in Jack Thorne's modern adaptation of the play, which was set against the backdrop of Cold War 1980s Berlin.

John played ‘Woyzeck’, a British soldier stationed in Berlin who is struggling with his mental health whilst trying to provide for his young family. The icing on the cake of a very entertaining evening came when the girls met John when he kindly posed for photos and signed programmes after the show.

Mimi represents U15 Surrey County hockey Mimi Newsome (IIIs) played the final county games of the season for Surrey’s U15 hockey team, winning both games and beating league leaders Kent and a very strong Buckinghamshire team. The results made the Surrey team Under 15 league winners and South of England champions. Congratulations to Mimi who fought hard to be selected for the squad, playing half back and setting up a number of goals.

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Mock General Election With the General Election on the horizon, Tudor Hall hosted its very own mock election. Adele Tumilty (Liberal Democrat), Greta Scott (Labour), Rose Lord (Green), Kate Kot (UKIP) and Alejandra Rodriguez (Conservative) took to the stage to try and convince the school to vote for their party. The girls’ passionate three minute speeches highlighted the key beliefs of the individual parties but were specially tailored to fit the audience in front of them. The five participants also had an extensive knowledge of the other parties’ policies which enabled some very comprehensive arguments to

Bronze D of E visit the New Forest In the early hours of a sunny Saturday morning, 38 intrepid IIIs headed to the New Forest for their first D of E Expedition. They were greeted by stunning scenery and five energetic A to Z instructors who soon had them packed and ready for the day ahead. Day one was all about training in navigation and learning how to work together as a group; camp was soon set up at the end of the day and great quantities of pasta and tomato sauce consumed, whilst dodging the midges. The sun took some time to appear on day two, but it broke through in the end and, even with one or two diversions, all arrived at the final destination on time and in good spirits.

be formed. There were especially heated debates between Greta and Alejandra as they made it very clear how different some of the views are between the Conservative and Labour parties! After 40 minutes and many questions, it was time for the ballot paper to be marked and collected from the staff and pupils: the results were surprisingly close between Conservative and Labour but with just one vote in it, Greta achieved a well-deserved victory for the Labour Party with her animated speech and responses.

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Celebration of Drama

MAY 2017

A very receptive audience was delighted with an evening’s entertainment provided by the IIIs. The first half of the evening showcased a number of IIIs’ girls who are currently working towards their LAMDA speech and drama examinations. The girls impressed with some superb acting in a variety of pieces ranging from Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Little Women’ to Judith Johnson’s ‘Scary Play’. The second half of the evening was devoted to a presentation introducing the Bronze Arts Award, which has become the focus of the IIIs’ drama curriculum this year. All of the girls succeeded in achieving their arts award and shared their experiences with the audience. It was uplifting to see the girls so inspired by their work which involved performing at local primary schools, reviewing a film, teaching drama skills to others and researching their inspirational person.

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Swalcliffe and Stonar Success NSEA One Day Event at Swalcliffe Annabel Beale, Ottie Dick, Matilda Harvey, Lucy Herbert, Molly Madden, Emilie Richmond-Watson, Lucy Scruton, Helena Yates and Indi York competed at the NSEA One Day Event at Swalcliffe for the second of this season’s school one day events.

With over 180 children competing in teams from schools including Bloxham School, Bradfield College, Cheltenham Ladies College, Marlborough College, Stowe School and St Edwards, it was always going to be a long day. However, the Tudor girls in the 90cm class were not put off by their early starts.

There were good dressage tests from Emilie (who was 9th in her section after this phase), Matilda, Annabel and Indy. Matilda’s 4 faults in the show jumping and Annabel and Indy’s cross country time faults were costly - with all three girls missing out on individual rosettes. Emilie was unlucky on the cross-country course and sadly for Lucy, Kevin was not his usual self so she very sensibly retired him. However, the competition in all three sections was stiff and the team was placed 4th in what was the biggest class of the day.

Ottie and Tokyo were our only competitors in the 80cm class, and it was only the second time that Ottie had competed with him.

However, she proved that her new horse clearly likes his job and they ended up 13th out of the 40 children their section.

We were delighted that Lucy Scruton was able to make up a team with Helena and Molly in the 1m class. Lucy’s great dressage score (25.8) and double clear was well deserved and put her in 2nd place at the end of the day. Helena also rode a beautiful dressage

test putting her in 8th place after this phase, but sadly a pole down show jumping and a couple of spooks on the cross country course prevented her from joining Lucy with an individual rosette.

However, with only three in the team all the girls’ scores were important and congratulations should go to them all for taking away a team 4th in such a competitive class.

Finally, a huge thank you should go to Mrs Tandon who braved both the wind and the rain on the side of a hill to come and watch the girls at Swalcliffe. Everyone was thrilled to see her and really appreciated her support.

NSEA One Day Event at Stonar In the end, the hard ground and injury prevented quite a few Tudor girls from competing at Stonar. However, Ottie was keen to try her first 90cm course on Tokyo and Matilda wasn’t going to miss out either. They were well supported by ‘Team Tudor’ as Helena, Tabitha and Tilly all came to watch.

The heavens opened as Matilda and Pingu began their dressage, but they managed a nice test despite the rain. Pingu knocked a pole show jumping, but their cross country looked good and they were home inside the time. Sadly, the 4 show jumping faults cost Matilda a rosette, but she was proud of 12th place in a very competitive section.

Ottie’s dressage score of 26.5 was great for their first 90 test together. Sadly, Tokyo knocked a couple of poles show jumping, but they went on to have a fantastic time on the cross country.

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Music School Concert It was wonderful to see thirteen solo performers and one vocal duet take part in the Music School Concert.

The standard was extremely high and included notable vocal performances from Jasmine Clay, Grace Chism, Hannah Dobson and Eleanor Rowley.

Marie Shen, Kitty Veale and Lillianna Webb played the piano with real style, taking the audience through various genres.

MAY 2017

Heather Clatworthy inspires all Open sea swimmer Heather Clatworthy talked to the girls and staff about a challenge she set herself and undertook in summer 2016. Fulfilling a childhood ambition, Heather swam 13 miles between two beauty spots off Ireland's north coast. Heather brought her story to life with her words, images and video clip (as her story was picked up by The One Show), as well as the props she brought along to illustrate the size of the lion's mane jellyfish she encountered during her swim. Heather focused on how she broke her challenge down into steps and the importance of hard work and resilience in order to reach it. Stating that any hurdles she encountered were 'not reasons not to carry on, just excuses', the talk was inspirational from start to finish. Heather completed the swim in 4 hours 18 minutes, smashing the time of 8 hours previously set by a woman.

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Junior Speech and Drama Showcase Following the junior LAMDA examinations, the Todds and IIs performed their pieces to an audience of parents, teachers and peers as part of the Junior Speech and Drama Showcase. The girls provided many laughs and moments of tension in a varied programme of drama which included amongst others: Roald Dahl’s ‘The Twits’, ‘The Railway Children’ by E. Nesbit, and ‘Memories of Lizzie’ by David Foxton. It was great to see the growing confidence of these young performers who all acted with huge aplomb!

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Four Love Pupils from Bloxham, Bishop Loveday, Deddington and Sibford Gower primary schools attended a day of tennis coaching at Tudor Hall. The day included: technical & tactical game practices, movement & footwork dynamics, playing points (how to score games) and fun based competition based on mini tennis. The children gained invaluable experience and new skills, and the sun also put in an appearance! The winners of the afternoon tournament were from Sibford Gower School.

MAY 2017

The Two Harrys Maths teacher Harriet Millar-Mills had a royal visit during training for the England Roses.

HRH Prince Harry popped in to wish the team well and allowed time for a few photos #THSMaths#goteamtudor

Flowering red magnolia To celebrate HM The Queen’s 90th birthday in April 2016, Old Tudorians planted a red magnolia tree to mark the momentous occasion. One year on, and with a plentiful supply of sunshine, the tree is in full bloom.

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GCSE Duologues

The Vs’ GCSE drama groups presented work for their final practical assessment of the course. The girls performed extracts from a variety of plays written by Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg as part of their study of naturalism. An external moderator from AQA was amongst the audience members, and the girls should be congratulated for the outstanding display of their acting skills.

The performances resonated on so many levels and we were all delighted with our first year of 100% A*/A grades for the practical coursework. The group have set the bar very high. The following

girls deserve huge congratulations: Kitty Chetwode, Isabel Saer and Maud Swanborough for ‘Easter’; Fenella Campbell-Preston and Helena Dobbs for ‘Ghosts’; Hebe FitzRoy-Newdegate and Holly Mann for ‘Miss Julie’; Scarlett Cripps and Coco Cunningham for ‘The Father’; Sonali Balch and Alice Smith for ‘The Master Builder’; Rosie Bulwer-Long and Tilly Painter for ‘Hedda Gabler’; Lara MorrisMarsham and Phoebe Simoes for ‘The Ghost Sonata’; and Poppy Mobley and Sarah Ziegler for ‘A Doll’s House’.

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Electioneering In preparation for the general election, politicians John Colegrave, Roseanne Edwards, John Howson, Ian Middleton and Sean Woodcock spoke to the IVs, Vs and Sixth Form about their policies in the hope of winning the girls’ support.

The girls were also given the opportunity to ask questions, which included questions on the ‘dementia tax’ and alliances between parties during elections.

MAY 2017

Rose wins Banbury Triathlon After taking up triathlon in February 2017, Rose Lord took part in her second competition in Banbury. She competed in the sprint triathlon, which consisted of a 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run, and completed the course in a time of 1 hour and 18 minutes. Rose se came first in the junior women section and a fantastic third overall out of 52 women.

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Women in Tech Members of the Sixth Form attended an internal workshop at Microsoft’s Reading offices which focused on ‘Women in Tech’. The day inspired over 100 girls from across the UK on what can be achieved in the tech industry and broke down some of the preconceptions. Microsoft’s UK CEO Cindy Rose addressed the delegates giving an insight into the careers and opportunities available in the tech industry and at Microsoft.

Warwick in Africa Eight teachers from Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania who visited the UK on Warwick University’s Warwick in Africa teacher training scheme visited Tudor Hall. The teachers observed a variety of classes across the age groups from maths, history and physics to music, art and textiles.

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Two by Jim Cartwright The LVI A-Level Drama and Theatre group performed Jim Cartwright’s ‘Two’. Set in a pub in a northern town during the 1980s, the play focused on the lives of the pub’s landlord and landlady, as well as a selection of their regular customers. The production generated both laughs and poignant moments of pathos and really showcased the developing skills of this very talented bunch of actresses.

MAY 2017

Open Day Tudor was delighted to welcome 70 girls and their families to the May Open Day. The day kicked off with speeches from Head Girls Kate Kot and Otti Puckett and Headmistress Wendy Griffiths, before the visitors were taken on tours of the school, classrooms and co-curricular facilities. Visitors were treated to performances by both the Chamber Choir and Young Musician of the Year Regional Finalist Mary Eckert in the hall before a highly competent panel of five girls from across the year groups ran a light hearted but informative Q&A session. With a watermelon, lime & kiwi smoothie and strawberries & marshmallows kebabs as a mid-morning snack, as well as a party bag containing a whole host of goodies, what more could a girl want from an open day!

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JUNE 2017

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DECEMBER JUNE 2017 2016

Tudor goes down the rabbit hole!

70 girls spanning the Todds, IIs and IIIs concocted a wonderful cocktail of magic and colour in the junior production of Lewis Carroll's surreal adventures of 'Alice in Wonderland'.

The audience knew from the moment the White Rabbits ushered them to the tree stump outside Inglis that they were probably in for something unusual. The journey through the rabbit hole to Wonderland proved a particularly big hit with everyone. It was like the entrance to a ride at Alton Towers!

All the girls, both cast and crew, excelled themselves, exploding onto the brightly coloured set and delivering their roles with

aplomb. The episodic structure of the play meant that each of the cast had an opportunity to shine in individual vignettes. The three Alices, Ottilie Swan, Orlanda Stephens and Emilia Batt wove their way through the scenes effortlessly and were supported superbly by strong performances from an excellent cast: whether it was Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the Mad Hatter and March Hare, or the Queen and King of Hearts, every single member of the cast and crew worked together to create the perfect ensemble. It made for a wonderful start to the last week of term and a welcome respite at such a hectic time. Well done to everyone involved!

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GCSE Art

Annie Liu

Ella Taylor Cross

JUNE 2017

Jenny Hannah

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JUNE 2017

Annabel Cave

Flora Smiley

Collection of work inspired by Gaudi

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Tudor Hall Boards the Waves To launch the BSA’s National Boarding Week, which runs from 19-25 June, Tudor Hall has played with words and photographed student Emily Reid, a member of the GB Wakeboarding squad, with fellow members of Year 8.

Emily Reid came 2nd in the Junior Women’s division at the MasterCraft Boats UK National Wakeboarding Championships at Church Wilne Watersports Club, Derby in September 2016. She is the national champion in her division for girls aged 10-15. In June 2017, Emily was invited to join the GB wakeboarding squad and looks forward to going to the European Championships in 2018.

Emily first started wakeboarding aged seven when on family holidays. She entered her first competition in 2015, winning the Competition Series in April 2016 before going onto the nationals.

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June Music School Concert magnificent full-size harp, and coping very well with the transition from the lever harp. Other performances included a commendable clarinet performance from Poppy James and two excellent piano solos from Marie Chen and Lucy Scruton.

Schoolstrader Tudor Hall has joined www.schoolstrader.com - the #1 independent school community trading platform – where you can buy/sell/rent anything from sports kit, uniform, bikes, musical instruments and holiday homes, to cars, boats and even houses. All free. Schoolstrader has been established for 10 years, has tens of thousands of users and is listed as a Sunday Times ‘Top 10’ website.

JUNE 2017

Anna Lord and Amelia Veale both played ‘Romance’ by Schumann on the flute with a beautiful tone in preparation for their Associated Board examinations during June. Ella Bridgland demonstrated her tremendous dexterity performing Butterflies by Schlomovitz on her

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Nesta’s Girls…

Wendy Griffiths was thrilled to welcome 25 OTs, who attended school during Nesta Inglis’ years as headmistress from 1935 to 1960, to Wykham Park. As Gilly Nester-Smith (Hedges, 1955) later wrote, “ The day went with a real swing… a treat to lunch in the old drawing room where Nesta used to teach cello lessons and where we were prepared for our confirmation. The girls who took the tours were exceptionally self-confident and the vibes all around were first class. Thank you very much indeed for letting us “old girls” have such a happy day and relive some great memories of 60 and 70 years ago!”

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Harriet Granville awarded MBE

Tudor Hall Past, Present and Future Over 30 members of the Tudor community met at The Assembly House in Norwich to celebrate Tudor Hall past, present and future. Former staff including Sandra Blakey, Harriet Granville, the Reverend Canon Laurence Gunner, Diana Muirhead and Jane Tindle mingled with Old Tudorians, former and current parents, a former governor and Beeston Hall School’s Headmaster Fred de Falbe and his wife Juliet.

JUNE 2017

Harriet Granville was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for 45 years of service to education.

Harriet joined Tudor in 1971 to teach history and fencing as well as sixth form studies. She soon became involved in all aspects of school life as an historian, a group mistress, a head of York and later as deputy head. Tudor fencing teams reached the national finals and she also taught at local schools and youth clubs. Bloxham fencers came to Tudor and Harriet went to Bloxham to impart the excitements of Latin American revolutions to their last two years. She ran both MUN and EYP; Tudor's national finalists only just failed to qualify for the European finals in 1997. Harriet initiated the school trip to Krakow and Auschwitz, the trips to the Western Front and cemented Tudor' association with the Ebenezer Living Word Matriculation School in Athipet, Chennai, taking groups to work in that orphanage school for many years. Latterly Harriet created and instigated the 'We Will Remember' programme which aims to familiarise primary children across the UK with the horrors and impact of World War 1, locally and globally.

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GCSE Textiles

Amelia Ash

Lara Morris Marsham

Eliza Roche

Hebe Fitzory Newdegate

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JUNE 2017

Jessica Cunningham

Poppy Symington

Constance Brownhill

Molly English

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The Crucible The IVs' GCSE Drama students delivered the final drama event of the academic year with their performance of extracts from Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible'. The girls took advantage of the studio's flexible seating configuration and utilised the entire studio floor for their performance with the audience watching from the balcony. This created an intimate atmosphere and was particularly effective in generating that 'fly-on-the-wall' feeling for the audience. The girls tackled Miller's wordy play with aplomb and really managed to evoke the tensions surrounding the inhabitants of Salem in 1692. They delivered their lines with conviction and Poppy Denison-Smith (John Proctor) and Violet Blackburn (Elizabeth Proctor) deserve a special mention for their moving duologue - not a dry eye in the house!

Women in Computer Science The Computer Science GCSE class travelled to Oxford University to take part in the Women in Computer Science day. The girls attended a variety of micro-lectures covering different aspects of Computer Science, including a presentation on quantum computing and the associated use of particles smaller than atoms to transfer data in a computer, and a cyber-talk. An exhibition of post-grad research projects enabled girls to ask post grads about the theory behind their projects. One project that stood out focused on computer simulation being developed to test medicine instead of testing on animals. The day finished with a tour of Mansfield College by a third year student guide, who talked animatedly about student life in Oxford.

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OTA Drinks at The Goring 70 OTs from classes of 1954 to 2013 descended on The Garden Room at The Goring, London, for drinks.

Staff enjoyed catching up with girls, swapping news and catching up on ‘the gossip’.

JUNE 2017

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A Level Art

Varvara Kot

Varvara Kot

Olivia Gough

Varvara Kot

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JUNE 2017

Varvara Kot

Ployd Rojchuphan

Hannah Mills

Olivia Gough

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Rose crowned England’s U20 Sprint Triathlon Champion Rose Lord was crowned England’s Triathlon Sprint Distance Under 20s Champion at Thorpe Park on Sunday 4th June. Rose completed the course, which comprised a 750m swim in the lake, a 21km bike ride and 5km run, in 1 hour 15 minutes and 38 seconds. Rose modestly commented that not all the elite triathletes in her age group were competing as they were doing the Blenheim triathlon, however we firmly believe that to be crowned England’s Under 20 champion at this distance at her third ever triathlon is totally amazing! Rose returns to Thorpe Park in September for the European age group qualifier for the championships in August 2018.

Facts about Rose Age: 17 Took up triathlon: March 2017 Favourite discipline: the run Make of bike: Boardman Total hours spent training on a weekly basis: 10 hours Trainers brand: Adidas Idol: Jess Ennis-Hill What made you change from cross country to triathlon: a more varied sport which is tougher and challenges me more

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Carrot Cake Heaven Jasmine Davis and Madison Sole (IIIs) made it through to the finals of the BSA’s Boarding Bake Off Competition at the Hospitality and Catering Academy of South Thames College in Merton, London. After a hotly contested final, Jasmine came third impressing judges Jane Tanner of Independents by Sodexo and Robin Fletcher of the BSA with her three tier carrot cake. Madison was not placed but her white chocolate and raspberry cake tasted delicious!

Road to Wimbledon 24 girls participated in Tudor’s annual Road to Wimbledon tennis competition.

Competitors played a straight knockout format tournament which was well competed and produced some interesting and entertaining matches. As the day progressed, the players found a rhythm and the matches became tighter with the girls fighting for every point.

Fine Arts Society of Banbury Guests at The Fine Arts Society of Banbury’s annual dinner at Tudor Hall are always treated to musical entertainment by the girls. The repertoire included a wide variety of solos ranging from an own composition by Sherri Shi on the harp, Minna Barker

playing ‘Memory’ on the cello and Martha Prestidge playing the first movement from Bach's ‘A minor Concerto’. The Chamber Choir and IVs Choir sang 'Landslide' and the 'Cups Song' from Pitch Perfect, with solos by Violet Blackburn and Mary Eckert.

JUNE 2017

In the semi-finals, Olivia Brounger played Laoise McNamara with Mimi Newsome against Alice Whitney. Mimi and Alice went to a deciding tiebreak which went down to the wire, Mimi just edging what was a very good semi-final. On the adjacent court, Olivia produced a fantastic display to beat Laoise, with the match illustrating how the girls’ attitudes and play has improved. Mimi and Olivia played a tight final which could have gone either way, Mimi just pulling out the performance needed to see Olivia off!

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BSA’s Big Boarding Sing Mary Eckert and Jennifer Look took part in the BSA’s Big Boarding Sing. The Boarding Schools’ Association brought together the biggest boarding choir ever in London, with orchestral and choral conductor Dominic Peckham leading a four hour workshop before an outstanding performance.

Film in a day Smartphones, tablets and easy-to-use editing software delude us into thinking that we are expert movie makers, but the IVs spent a day with the Young Film Academy at the end of term and learnt that there was more than meets the eye to making a successful movie.

The girls reached into the history of movie making – all the way back to Sergei Eisenstein’s The Battleship Potemkin – to learn about the grammar of film making and how a sequence of specific, formal shots constructs narrative. Then, moving forwards through history, all the way to the work of established modern masters like Steven Spielberg, they discovered that those foundational rules from the early twentieth century remain fundamentally unchanged.

Using simple point and shoot cameras and one of Georges Politi’s dramatic situations, the IVs were ready to storyboard their film shorts, each comprising 10 shots. Working as groups, they horrified, delighted and warmed the hearts of their peers.

Their films were screened in the drama studio, recently opened by the Old Tudorian and Academy Award winner, Serena Armitage. On the strength of some of their films and performance, we look forward to watching more films produced, directed by and starring these talented girls.

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JUNE 2017

Junior MUN Tudor Hall’s Junior MUN 2017 kicked off with 4 schools, 11 expert chairs and some fascinating topics for discussion: terrorism and child marriage.

Although many delegates were apprehensive to speak at first, any nerves were soon brushed aside. Some very informative points were made - particularly good points of information were offered

by South Africa, Israel, DR Congo and Germany. Many thoughtful (and bizarre) debates took place - perhaps the most bizarre was about whether terrorists should go to work on sheep farms!

During the general assembly, a crisis broke out, crafted by Secretary General Jasmine Tumilty and her team. This allowed the delegates to work within their countries to try to find a solution to this fabricated problem within one hour. The crisis became notably topical when Donald Trump declared war on the DPRK‌ Overall, the standard of debate was extremely high, and we hope to see the girls who participated in Junior MUN take part in many MUNs as they move up the school.

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A Level Photography

Thea Barden

Cara Chamberlain

Thea Barden

Izzy Batt

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JUNE 2017

Clemmie Beale

Thea Barden

Clemmie Laidlaw

Sofie-Louise Svanikier

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Izzy Batt

Izzy Batt

Cara Chamberlain

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Emilia short-listed at Deddington Festival The Deddington Festival Writing Competition celebrates the creativity and imagination of young writers in the local community.

The 2017 theme for the writing competition for children from Years 3 to 11 was 'discovery' and 224 children entered from 13 Oxfordshire schools. 37 girls from Tudor entered and Emilia Batt was selected as a short-listed author with her entry being published in a commemorative book:At only thirteen years old I was living a dull, mundane life. A stereotypical, middle class teenage girl, I was at one of the most prestigious all girls’ boarding schools in the country and I was approaching my GCSE’s, life was planned out and perfect.

One day when matron was yanking a metal nit comb through my hair, scraping down my scalp she found a small bump. Every time I ran my hands through my auburn hair there it was, every tiresome Latin lesson, when I leant back on the back of my chair and fiddled with my hair It was there, haunting me growing in size with my fear of it.

Then I blacked out.

I woke up the next morning in a stinging white A&E bed, the fluorescent lights wavering and flickering like they were in a storm, with every breath in, the un-natural hygiene of the place assaulted my nostrils and stung my eyes. My head was pounding outwards; I feared it might explode, shattering my skull. A nurse scurried into the infirmary and darted towards my bed, she reached to the drip.

Her rat shaped features flicked over my face. She mumbled about the doctors having done some tests, and that “They don't know anything yet lovey, but it ain’t looking too good”. She sat on the end of my bed and exhaled loudly. I shrank away from her scrawny

After hours of being tested, and falling into unconscious gaps, I awoke to my whole family who were scattered around my hospital bed like restless ants, my mother’s beautiful face was weathered and her crystal blue eyes fluttered with exhaustion. My father sat the other side of the room unshaven, with his head between his hands, and my sister sat biting away her usually pristine nails.

After hours of being tested, and falling into unconscious gaps, I awoke to my whole family who were scattered around my hospital bed like restless ants A doctor rushed in with his white coat thrashing behind him, his face was flushed and whilst surveying the room with distaste he whipped off his surgeons plastic gloves. His eyes met mine and he scrutinized my face then each of my parents in turn. He abruptly started talking, rambling on about himself, then he sighed then said the few yet terrible words “I regret to inform you Isabella, but you have Glioblastoma grade 4 brain tumour and the results aren’t certain yet , but it is unlikely that you will live till the end of your teen years...” I started sobbing, uncontrollably weeping. Nothing else was important.

At only thirteen years old I am a victim of terminal brain cancer and my life is not stereotypical or dull.

JUNE 2017

I finally confronted my parents, over the phone, it was dismissed by my mother, drunk on vintage wine exclaiming to me “oh darling, I’m sure it’s nothing, you know you’re always falling off walls and down stairs. Well it’s probably a bump from that!” and promptly hung up.

Her shrill laugh was left echoing in my ears.

hand. She checked the anaesthesia machine once more and scuttled out of my room.

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William Morris Primary School Community Painting Having painted a successful mural at Adderbury Library in 2015, Tudor’s Lower Sixth fine artists were approached by Julie Hiddleston, Headmistress of the William Morris Primary School in Bretch Hill, Banbury, to revitalise an old building. The building is due to be demolished in three years’ time but needed to be brought to life for the sake of the youngest children known as the Acorns.

Sheila Craske, Minna Barker, Frankie Dove, Matilda Lahiff and Martha Prestidge created stylised, woodland and farm land scenes

across the external walls. Planning and drawing out of doors in January, February and March proved challenging due to the extreme winter, but the girls wrapped up warm and showed great stamina.

During the summer term, the same group of girls returned accompanied by Sheila Craske, Matthew Craske, James Stead and Ian Edwards to add colour, with three long stretches of wonderful artwork bringing a smile to every child’s face.

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Open Mic Night The Open Mic concert was extraordinary from start to finish, with so many impressive and memorable performances. Anne-Marie Sanderson (who left Tudor in July to pursue her own solo career in vocal music) performed ‘Holloway’. Throughout her time at Tudor, Anne-Marie was a real inspiration to the orchestra and within class music and we hope she returns to Tudor to perform in the future. Her partner Erin was also an amazing support to our bands and it was great to hear his unique singing talent and masterful guitar performance with the staff band. The IVs singing group sang two songs with beautiful harmonies and Orly Stephens gave a captivating and professional performance of ‘No One Knows Me’ by Sampha. Outstanding solo performances followed from Georgia Berry, Mimi Douglas, Mary Eckert, Jenny Look and Indy Yorke, with a wonderful duet from Flora Ayres and Bella Biggart and trio performance by Jess and Saskia Carter and Mimi Douglas.

The Junior Band, under the direction of James Foley, blew the roof off the house with its performance of ‘Stitches’ and ‘What Do I Know’.

The French Department organised trips to the Europa Centre for the Todds and IIs. The Centre is set out like a Continental village with streets, shops, a market square and a puppet theatre. Native speakers are in the village and students need to talk to them to complete the activities set to them during the few hours they are visiting. The main part of the visit included activities like role-plays in shops and looking for a missing person. Our students found the experience really enjoyable and it was fabulous to see our youngest ones so confident while speaking to the native speakers in the market, train station and other settings using their newly acquired language skills.

JUNE 2017

Todds and IIs practice their French speaking skills

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Sports Day 2017 Sports Day 2017 was a fantastic celebration of sport with record numbers of entrants in all events. We were blessed with some great weather and enjoyed a new venue at Tilsley Park. The atmosphere on the day was fabulous, and the house spirit was in full force. Every single girl helped to contribute to their house score, worked hard and displayed exceptional comradery.

The senior girls were outstanding. With nearly every girl in the Lower 6th taking part in several events each, the level of competition was exceptional and as a result several school records were broken.

On the day there were some outstanding performances from Ottie Puckett smashing two school records in the 100metres and the hurdles. Jazzy Clay also wrote two new records in shot putt and discus which is a phenomenal achievement.

Lanc 1268 Tudor 791 Stuart 753 York 726

Junior 1. Lanc 281 2. Stuart 252 3. York 207 4. Tudor 189

Inter 1. Lanc 425 2. Stuart 285 3. York 279 4. Tudor 233

Senior 1. Lanc 562 2. Tudor 369 3. York 239 4. Stuart 216

Overall Winners 1.

2.

3.

4.

New Sports Day records • Tatty English Junior 75m hurdles 13.75 • Lola Barlow Inter 80m hurdles 13.12 • Coco Morris-Marsham Inter shot 19.4m • Ottie Puckett Senior 100m 13.32 • Ottie Puckett Senior 80m hurdles 13.22 • Lanc Senior relay 0:58.1 • Rose Lord Senior long jump 4.3m • Jazzy Clay Senior shot 7.77m • Jazzy Clay Senior discus 20.9m • Jazzy Bannister Senior Javelin 18.1m

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JUNE 2017

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A Level Textiles

Nareeratn Rojchuphan

Rebekah Knox

Matilda Daly

Sophia Walker

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JUNE 2017

Clemmie Beale

Katherine Wibberley

Hannah Mills

Lucinda Barnes

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Mark Reading Summer Term Ashtons Academic Awards ART

Varvara Kot

BUSINESS STUDIES - The Dolman Cup

Iona Frisby

CLASSICAL CIVILISATION

Clemmie Laidlaw Letitia Bulwer-Long

DRAMA - The Preston Cup

Olivia Gough

ECONOMICS

Daisy Flach Milly Kaye

LATIN MATHEMATICS - The Dinkeldein Cup

Anna Stallibrass

FRENCH - The Nutter Cup

Camilla Ingham Clark Sacha Robertson

SPANISH - The Sewell Cup for progress - The Senora Lane Cup

Kitty Packe Katie Bromwich Arabella Roche

PHOTOGRAPHY

Clemmie Laidlaw

ACADEMIC PE

Iona Frisby

POLITICS - The Politics Cup

Amelia Leeming

Flora Bourdillon Lottie McGrath Alexandra Cooper

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

GEOGRAPHY

SCIENCE - The Science Cup

- The Geography Cup

Tilly Daly Rose Parker Cressida Harley

HISTORY - The Tanya Hagen Cup

Milly Kaye Lottie McGrath

HISTORY OF ART

Sophie Walker Cara Chamberlain Lucy Barnes

BIOLOGY - The U6 Biology Cup - The Marshall Cup

Letitia Bulwer-Long Clemmie Beale Emily Beor-Roberts

Rosie Dunbar

Daisy Flach Rose Parker Elva King

CHEMISTRY - The Mary Moore Flask - The Davis Cup

Charlotte Dogley Rosie Dunbar

Sophie Walker Flora Bourdillon

PHYSICS - The Langer Cup

Varvara Kot

Rose Dunlop Harriet Hope Katie Radford

TEXTILES - The Textiles Cup

HOME ECONOMICS

HUMANITIES AWARD - For progress & perseverance

Joey Zhou Daisy Flach

MODERN LANGUAGES AWARD - For progress

ENGLISH

- The Leiths Book Prize - The McAlpine Cookery Cup

Sacha Robertson

Hannah Mills Rebekah Knox

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Ashtons Other Awards Olivia Gough Ployd Rojchuphan

Photography portfolios

Thea Barden Isobel Batt Cara Chamberlain Clemmie Laidlaw Sophie Svanikier

For contribution to Dance

Leiths Introductory Certificate in Food and Wine

JUNE 2017

For girls going on to Art Foundation courses

Commitment to Piano

Arabella Roche

Anna Stallibrass Rebekah Knox Clemmie Laidlaw Cara Chamberlain

The Senior Woodwind Prize

Clemmie Beale

Contribution to Contemporary Music

Sophie Svanikier

Thea Barden Lucinda Barnes Isobel Batt Flora Bourdillon Letitia Bulwer-Long Sophie Walker

The Victoria Bridgeman Cup for singing

Ollie Gough

The Solo Singing Cup

Sophie Walker

The Katie Arkell Cup for Contribution to Music

Rosie Dunbar

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Ashtons Whole School Awards The Gurney Cup for contribution to life in Ashtons

Emily Beor-Roberts

The Johnson Cup for altruism

Katherine Wibberley

The Vestey Cup for attitude and contribution to sport in Ashtons

Iona Frisby

The Phillips Cup for contribution to the school community

Rebekah Knox

The Blakey Cup for contribution to the co-curricular life of the school

Thea Barden

The Snowden Cup for effort in academic work

Flora Bourdillon Letitia Bulwer-Long

The Margaret Blyth Cup for outstanding academic achievement

Lottie McGrath Sasha Robertson

The Nanette Godfrey Award for outstanding leadership

Rosie Dunbar

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Tudor’s STEM Conference & Careers Fair met its primary aim of engaging the girls in STEM careers opportunities. A line up of outstanding speakers demonstrated the various routes into STEM careers with talks by former RAF fighter pilot Mandy Hickson, structural analysis engineer at Mercedes Formula 1 Patricia Amor Alegria, founder of YIPO and the Gallery Guardian app Daniel Skowronski, product design engineer Lindsay Kerr of Jaguar Land Rover, food technologist Samuel Higginson of Marks and Spencer and founder of 23 Code Street Anisah Osman Britton. The careers fair enabled the girls to quiz over 20 companies, with the Todds and IIs joining the National Enterprise Challenge Team to design a campaign around a new ride at Alton Towers. Tudor parent Bettina Goodall gave a talk on logistics, shipping and how to present yourself in a man’s world, and the M&S team ran a practical session with Leith’s and Food Technology students.

JUNE 2017

STEM Conference & Careers Fair

JULY 2017

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Tudor Hall Summer Camp 2017 Captain Awesome took up residence once again this summer at Tudor’s everpopular Summer Camp. Over 200 local children experienced a huge range of activities from African drumming, encaustic wax painting and pizza making to rugby, tennis and swimming.

Captain Awesome (aka Ryan Pickering, Head of Summer Camp) says: “What makes TH Summer Camp really special is that there is something for every child.

Children can be as creative or physical as they like using Tudor’s wonderful facilities and grounds, and every year we see individuals making extraordinary leaps in confidence, learning new skills and conquering their fears.”

The camp runs over 5 weeks every summer. This year an exciting new initiative enabled 16 children from William Morris Primary School in Banbury to attend for free as a prize for 100% attendance at school. – this proved a brilliant incentive to attend school every single day, and enabled some children who might not otherwise have had a holiday to have a wonderfully rewarding week.

JULY 2017

AUGUST 2017

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A level results Students and staff celebrated outstanding A Level results with all students achieving excellent outcomes and going on to a range of top universities. The girls achieved the highest percentage of A*s since they were introduced, with approximately one in five of all passes at A*. 45% of grades achieved were A*/A and 79% A*- B. 25% of all candidates achieved a minimum of 3 passes at grade A and ten departments achieved 100% A*-B, including Maths, Chemistry, Economics and Drama.

Wendy Griffiths, Headmistress, said: “This has been a challenging year for teachers and pupils all over the country with the uncertainty surrounding standards in examinations due to the introduction of linear A Levels. Our fantastic results highlight the systematic and rigorous preparation of the girls and their teachers.

We are particularly delighted with our highest ever percentage of A* grades but this is only part of the story. We are proud of the results of all our students and the progress they have made. We welcome girls with diverse talents and it is wonderful to see all our girls leave us as confident young women ready to embark on diverse degree courses in universities including Bristol, UCL, Newcastle and Parson’s New York. We all feel privileged to have played a part in their journey.”

enough for all their support, encouragement and for getting me to the end! I am so excited to see what my future holds and cannot wait to get started.”

Tish Bulwer-Long, who achieved two A*s and an A said, “It was a lot of hard work but I am so glad it all paid off in the end. Thank you to all the staff at Tudor for helping me through it. I was surprised but elated with my results and I am now looking forward to studying Marketing and Management at Exeter.”

Anna Stallibrass, who is going on to study Drama at the Oxford School of Drama said, “I am very pleased with my results but I couldn’t have done it without the help and support from all my teachers.”

Congratulations to all our girls as they move on to life after Tudor Hall. We wish them the best of luck as they continue on their life journey.

Sophie Walker, who achieved three A*s, commented, “I am absolutely delighted with my results and cannot thank Tudor Hall

GCSE results This year’s GCSE results show that Tudor girls can hold their own on the national stage and whatever their interests or passions they exceed expectations. 30% of all entries were awarded an A* grade, a significant increase on 2016. 61% of all passes were A* or A which reflects the hard work put in by both pupils and staff. 25% of all students achieved nine passes at grade A or A*. Overall, the girls achieved 100% 5 A*-C grades.

Wendy Griffiths, Headmistress, commented that “Tudor Hall focuses on the pupils as individuals and recognises that all pupils have different strengths. The staff work closely with the girls, always encouraging them to aim higher, and our results today show that Tudor girls persist with their studies even when things are difficult.

This training will take them way beyond good GCSE results to success in the world of work.”

AUGUST 2017

Annabel Beale and Lizzie Coombs each achieved 11A* and both were delighted. Annabel is committed to a future in veterinary science and these grades have put her in a very strong position

to pursue her dream. Lizzie is not sure what she wants to study at university but is excited about embarking on A levels in English, history and French.

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2017 Leavers’ Destinations September 2017 Charlotte Dogley

Newcastle

Biochemistry

Rosie Dunbar

Bristol

Medicine

Ollie Gough

Royal Drawing School

Art Foundation

Milly Ingham-Clark

Oxford Brookes

International Hospitality Management

Vavara Kot

Bath

Architecture

Hannah Mills

Parsons USA

Fashion

Joey Zhou

UCL

Economics

Flora Bourdillon

Exeter

Applied Psychology

Tish Bulwer Long

Exeter

Management with Marketing

Cara Chamberlain

Bristol

Religion and Theology

Ba Cooper

Newcastle

Politics

Tilly Daly

Edinburgh

Performance Costume

Rose Dunlop

Newcastle

Politics

Daisy Flach

Exeter

Business and Management

September 2018

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This photograph has been reproduced by kind permission of Gillman & Soame photographers and is available to purchase, along with other photographs, from their website (www.gsimagebank.co.uk/tudorhall)

Cressie Harley

Edinburgh

Geography

Milly Kaye

Exeter

History

Clemmie Laidlaw

Falmouth

Photography

Lottie McGrath

Edinburgh

History

Kitty Packe

York

Social and Political Sciences

Bella Roche

Exeter

Modern Languages

Ployd Rojchuphan

Oxford Brookes

Art Foundation

Sofie Svanikier

Berklee USA

Music

Katherine Wibberley

Bristol UWE

Geography

Post A level applications Ruby Cripps

Rose Packer

Clemmie Beale

Iona Frisby

Katie Radford

Emily Beor-Roberts

Harriet Hope

Sacha Robertson

Katie Bromwich

Elva King

Sophie Walker

Olivia Burgess

Rebekah Knox

AUGUST 2017

Lucy Barnes

Index Aim Higher Art Athletics

32-33, 113 10, 18, 49, 61, 155, 188-9, 198-9

118, 137, 184, 196, 217

Chapel

66, 87, 115

Classics Community

Cookery Cross Country

59, 73, 108, 123, 129, 148 106, 164 5, 9, 15, 16, 20, 55, 65, 72, 88, 109, 123, 142, 157, 193 91, 201 100, 143, 153

Dance

71, 78-9, 144, 154

Drama

7, 51, 60, 64, 67, 97, 106, 111, 118, 126, 130, 132, 134, 138-9, 152, 175, 177, 180, 182, 185, 187, 196, 202

Duke of Edinburgh

82, 214-6

Maths

119, 138

MUN / Debating

24, 94-5, 115, 135, 174, 203

Music

28, 30-1, 53, 59, 62, 68, 73, 90, 97, 106, 126, 140-1, 145, 147, 152, 156, 165, 169, 173, 179, 191, 209

210-11

Careers

Charities

Mark Reading

6, 69, 176

Netball Old Tudorians

89, 103, 127, 143 13, 46, 63, 69, 105, 144, 181, 192, 197

Photography

83, 98-9, 170-1, 204-6

Politics

84-5, 176, 183

Religious Studies

84-5

Residentials

8, 19, 21

Results

221

Rugby

57, 122, 153, 181

Running

136, 168

Science

12, 20, 52, 102, 107, 141, 151

STEM

184, 196, 217

Shooting

149, 150

18, 86, 101, 207

Skiing

93, 120

Equestrian

52, 81, 96, 104, 114, 139, 165, 166, 178

Sport

38-43, 148, 210-11

Geography

73

Head Girls

76-7, 158-9

English

History History of Art Hockey Lacrosse

29, 84-5, 101 57, 161-2 11, 29, 39, 44, 63, 69, 147, 167, 175 127, 159

Languages

66, 75, 89, 118, 137, 149, 150, 209

Leadership

163

Leavers Lectures

222-3 13, 56, 58, 80, 108, 113, 163

Summer Camp

219

Swimming

119, 179

Tennis Textiles

64, 167, 169, 181, 201 18, 25-7, 47, 83, 131, 133, 194-5, 212-3

Triathlon Tudor in Four Continents Warriors Water Sports William Morris Primary School Young Enterprise

183, 200 23, 36, 80, 116, 124 34 14, 190 208 130, 146

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