Muse 2015-2016 by Debbie Dawson

AESG Muse Magazine 2014/15

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Contents ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

2 CONTENTS

Welcome

Physics

Nursery

Charity &

Pre-School

Reception

Head Girls

Year 1

House Happiness

Year 2

Election Fever

Year 3

Libraries

Year 4

GCSE Results

Year 5

A Level Results

Year 6

AS Level Results

Art

Staff Leavers

Business Studies & Economics

Dance & Drama

Design Technology

English Literature & Language

Food Technology

Geography

History

IT & Computing

Classics

Maths

Modern Foreign Languages

Music

Model United Nations

Religion & Philosophy

Biology

Chemistry

Chaplaincy

3 WELCOME

Welcome

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Welcome to our new-look magazine! We hope very much that you like the new style and enjoy reading about the achievements of last year. When we reflected on the Muse we wanted to make it an even better representation of the girls and all that they achieved last year, from the youngest pupils to the most senior students. That is why we have given each year group a dedicated page, as well as still focusing on the arts, sport, House and other key areas of school life. 2014 – 2015 was another excellent year in the life of Alderley Edge School for Girls. Not only did the girls enjoy success in a huge variety of areas, both in and out of the classroom, but a great deal of fun and enjoyment was had along the way. Our aim as a school is to equip the girls with the necessary skills, experiences,

qualifications and attributes to prepare them to face the world when they leave us at 18 and this can be seen very clearly as you read the magazine. We were also inspected this year by the Independent Schools Inspectorate who spent a week with us in February and awarded us the top “Excellent” grade for the whole school as well as “Outstanding” in every area for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This was a fitting tribute to the girls and the staff and we were all delighted that the Inspectors reinforced our view that this is indeed a wonderful school! So sit back and enjoy, and as always we look forward to hearing your comments! With best wishes, Sue Goff

NURSERY

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

4 NURSERY

During the Spring and Summer terms, the youngest children who are aged between two and three years, have been looking at life cycles, including frogs and butterflies. They have looked at pictures, listened to stories and observed nature. They then made use of a variety of collage items to make their own butterflies, particularly enjoying the feel of the paint on their feet as they created the body of their butterfly! They have taken part in singing songs and saying rhymes and have enjoyed the ‘Teddy Bears’ Picnic’, producing their own teddy picture and enjoying their own teddy bears’ picnic.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Nursery

During the year, the girls’ learning is focused in a variety of ways, one of which is through topic or themed work, often developed through observing where the children’s own interests have been centred. This develops the girls’ knowledge across all Areas of Learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage, through diverse activities, both child initiated and adult-led.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Pre-School

PRE-SCHOOL

They were very involved in creating a display centred on a treasure island and including a large pirate ship and a motley crew – the girls’ creation of themselves as a pirate were amazingly individual and imaginative.

They have taken time to create their own fish for the display entitled ‘1,2,3,4,5, once I caught a fish alive’, making choices as to shape, size, colour and decoration of their fish. They developed an interest in pirates; dressing up and playing in the role play area ‘Pirates’ Paradise’, interacting with others and imagining their own stories, based on the wide variety of information they have gathered from the excellent collection of stories to which they have listened avidly.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

PRE-SCHOOL

The older girls, aged between three and four years, have shown a deep interest in water in all its forms!

Reception ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

8 RECEPTION

RECEPTION

Outdoors, much fun was had searching for every minibeast imaginable, including wriggly worms for the class wormery!

Through class discussion, they thought of questions they would like to ask and used information books and the internet to help them to find the answers. They looked at how Eric Carle creates the illustrations for his books and made their own caterpillar collages. The girls also wrote their own beginning for the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

It has been a busy year for Reception but one of their favourite topics was Minibeasts. The girls were fascinated by this subject, using the wonderful stories of Eric Carle as their inspiration.

Year 1

During their Amazing Africa topic, the girls were fascinated when learning about the lifestyle of the Masai Mara tribe. They compared the similarities and differences and used their imagination and understanding of the tribe to write a postcard home to their families.

YEAR 1

Educational visits are an important way to extend learning at any age and Year 1 enjoyed their visit to Norton Priory. They learnt about toys from the past and compared them to the toys they play with today; it did not take long for them to get to grips with the pogo sticks and hoop and cane!

YEAR 1

Throughout the Polar Regions topic, they compared two species of penguins and produced penguin shaped fact files about the Macaroni Penguin. They even had their own ‘Igloo Reading Corner’ made from over 650 plastic milk bottles, a recycling project that the whole school contributed towards.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Year One started their time in the Infants with the ‘All About Me’ topic where the girls celebrated their individuality by recreating their family tree, explored the local area and produced their own self-portraits in the style of Pablo Picasso.

YEAR 2

Year 2 12

YEAR 2

Another favourite topic this year was when they learned about the lives of inspirational women. Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole were favourites and the girls were fascinated when learning about these womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brave endeavours in the Crimean war.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Year 2 really enjoyed looking at the history of castles, focusing on Norman castles, in particular motte and bailey castles. Their learning was brought to life when the class visited Halton Castle in Runcorn. In Science, the girls learned about forces, using mock catapults to throw marshmallows!

Year 3

YEAR 3

The class took a trip back in time to investigate the Romans, learning the story of Romulus and Remus and the beginning of Rome. They also studied the size of the Empire, daily life in ancient Rome and the effect of the Romans on ancient Britain, including the rebellion of Boudicca. A trip to Chester helped bring this fascinating topic to life and allowed them to experience history close up!

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Year 3 went on a rainforest journey around the world to find out where the rainforests are and who lives there - the people, animals and the plants. They learnt what the rainforests have given us as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the lungs of the planetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and how we can help to save them. The girls learnt tribal dances in the style of the Yanomami people, researched animals of the tropical rainforests and designed amazing tribal masks.

Year 4

In the ‘Polar Adventures’ topic, the girls were introduced to the geography of the Arctic and Antarctic, their knowledge becoming more tangible thanks to a fascinating Skype session with real-life explorer, Justin Miles. Through artwork, they looked at the beauty of the Northern Lights whilst outside the classroom, a trip to Lyme Park was perfectly planned to coincide with the snow!

YEAR 4

The class enjoyed reading ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl, producing some excellent art work in the style of Quentin Blake. They also enjoyed producing some fabulous creative writing, including newspaper reports based on the story.

YEAR 4

History centred around the Aztecs; the incredible capital city of Tenochtitlan and how defeat by the Spanish led to its demise.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Year 4’s Spring Term topic of ‘Chocolate’ proved very popular! The girls’ learning focused on Ghana and Mexico in Geography, learning and researching how cacao is grown and how chocolate is produced, whilst considering the importance of Fair Trade. Oliver Dunn, a local chocolatier, spoke to the classes in more detail about how chocolate is made and how confectioners work with it to produce some magnificent creations.

The History elements of our Integrated Curriculum in Year 5 have thoroughly engaged and captivated the girls.

Year 5

Finally, a study of myths and legends gave them the opportunity to create their own mythical creature. Following on from this, they developed a story board about their own exciting mythical adventure, which included their newly created creature.

YEAR 5

During a study of World War 2, the girls produced some vivid art work based on the London blitz as well as making models of fighter planes in D.T. In English, they wrote sensitive and thoughtful letters as evacuees. The topic culminated in an ‘evacuee experience day’ at Stockport Air Raid shelters.

YEAR 5

They also learnt about what life was like for Navvies building canals, writing interesting and factually accurate diary entries of a Navvie at that time. A visit to Quarry Bank Mill further enabled them to relate their learning to the local area.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Following our visit from a ‘Stone Age archaeologist’ and the ‘Victorian Inventions’ day, they wrote detailed accounts of their learning and experiences.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Year 6

YEAR 6

In the Spring term, the girls studied a completely different topic; Lights! Camera! Action! This was based on a comparison of the geography of Hollywood and Mumbai, and looked at the geographical changes in Hollywood over the last hundred years. The girls enjoyed a visit to the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester to study character development and wrote and starred in their own class assembly.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

In the Autumn term, Year 6 did an in-depth study of World War I. Beginning with the causes and participants of World War I, the girls went on to look at more diverse aspects of this period of history, including an investigation of the flying aces. This topic included useful map work, locating and labelling the countries which took part in the War and those that went on to form the League of Nations. It inspired some poignant art work, including a recreation of John Singer Sergeant’s ‘Gassed’.

Art ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

22 ART

Community Art The Art Department encourages the girls to embrace opportunities to develop their own skills whilst benefiting the local community. In the Spring Term a group of talented Year 9 and 10 Art pupils produced a series of artworks depicting the Stations of the Cross. The paintings were used in the Lent and Easter services at St Philip and St James’ Church in Alderley Edge village. Reverend Jane and visitors to the church were very impressed by the high standard of work the girls produced. We are pleased to be supported by local restaurant and bakery Tomfoolery who will be displaying some of the GCSE & A Level work later in the year. Competition Success In the Autumn Term the girls were invited to enter the North West Schools Art Competition organised by Browne Jacobson where they were asked to create a piece of artwork encapsulating the theme ‘Saving Our Planet’. Year 10 student Rowdah Charbak’s entry was one of the 15 pieces of artwork shortlisted in the Secondary category and showcased at an exhibition in March 2015. The winning entries were framed and donated to local hospitals in the North West to provide them with some fabulous artwork making their space a nicer place to be. Shortlisted entries have been displayed with pride in Browne Jacobson’s Manchester offices.

In the spring term the girls entered the BBC Little painting Challenge; a UK-wide competition. Two Year 9 students Amaya Goater and Lauren Buckley had their work selected from 30,000 entries to be displayed in the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester, a fantastic achievement. Artist Workshops GCSE and A Level students were given the invaluable opportunity to take part in a development drawing workshop with the highly acclaimed artist Ian Murphy. Ian introduced the girls to all his working techniques and supported students in embracing new processes to further their drawing skills. Setting Sail Inspired by the work of American Artist Ann Wood, Year 8 students have thoroughly enjoyed creating their own papier maché and textile boats. London Trip GCSE & A Level Art & DT students visited London to see the stunning Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty Exhibition at the V&A Museum. The exhibition is the first and largest retrospective of the late designer’s work to be presented in Europe, showcasing McQueen’s visionary body of work, spanning his 1992 MA graduate collection to his unfinished A/W 2010 collection. I am sure that this will greatly inspire the girls’ own work this year.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

23 ART

Art ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

mobile hairdressers to dog grooming service) for the Controlled Assessment and will complete the write up in Year 11.

24 ART

selected to pursue Art further and have secured a place on an Art Foundation course or at University. The end of year display looked sensational and was admired by all at the Summer Soirée.

AS Art The AS students have worked tremendously hard, producing thoughtful and personal responses to set briefs. Melissa Jones produced a highly innovative response to the exam question ‘Light Weather and Landscape’ producing sculpted paintings using UV and glow in the dark paint inspired by her visit to Iceland where she was lucky enough to see the Northern Lights.

The course will provide opportunities for students to explore one or more areas of Photography such as portraiture, landscape, still life, documentary photography, photojournalism and fashion. Students will be introduced to a variety of experiences that explore a range of photographic media, techniques and processes. They will research photographers and develop specialist skills in digital photography, learning how to shoot in manual and exploring fully ISO, aperture and shutter speed as well as developing their post-editing skills using software such as Photoshop.

A2 Art The A2 students have really done themselves proud, producing an outstanding body of work. They have all

A Level Photography The Art Department is excited to be offering A Level Photography from September.

The Year 9s have enjoyed our unique enterprise course. They have spent one lesson a week exploring enterprise, marketing and finance through business projects. This course develops pupils’ awareness of what needs to be considered when launching a new business as well as developing their teamwork and presentation skills. This culminated in pupils being given the chance to develop their own product in small teams and pitch their business ideas to external business leaders at the annual Dragons’ Den competition. GCSE Business Studies has once again proved a popular choice. The Year 10s started the Edexcel GCSE Business Studies course, learning about setting up a new business, including understanding how to spot a business opportunity and putting it into practice as well as understanding the economic environment. They have researched a local small business of their choosing (ranging from

The Sixth Form students took part in the Equilibrium investment competition, which is now in its 3rd year. This year saw over 25 LVI girls participate in the competition, but this time they faced opposition from the Business and Economics teachers. The competition concluded in April and saw the girls investing £300 of real money into four equities markets - UK, Euro, Emerging Markets and US. The competition this year was very close with a number of girls in with a chance of winning it. The lead changed a number of times over the year and the eventual winner Gulsah Isik made some inspiring last minute investment changes to her portfolio to see her catapult from fourth place to first in the last week. In second place was Izzy Summerfield, with Leah Powell finishing third. The winner received an iPad and also collected £859.91, which she donated to her house teams St Francis’ charity.

BUSINESS STUDIES & ECONOMICS

GCSE Art GCSE pupils complete two coursework projects and a final examination project. This year the girls completed coursework projects based upon the themes of Urban Decay and Coasts. The girls selected from a range of starting points for the examination project, many selecting ‘Ritual’ or ‘ Human Condition’ to inspire their own personal response.

Our Sixth Form Economics and Business Studies classes have made great progress in their A level courses and have worked hard towards taking AS and A Level examinations in the summer. Topics they have particularly enjoyed have included globalisation and performing a cost benefit analysis on the New Cross rail project in London.

Year 11 has been a busy year with the completion of the Controlled Assessment and preparation for the two GCSE examinations in the summer. Girls have developed their skills of understanding a range of businesses and how they can be managed as they grow.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Business Studies & Economics

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

26 DANCE & DRAMA

By Darcie Youds 8NB

By Seher Butt 8NB

Shipwrecked Shakespeare was an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. From Sailor to Ferdinand, all of us had our part to play. We think that our favourite moment was when we did our dress rehearsal in front of the Junior School. This was the first time that we had seen everything come together. But however amazing it was on the night none of us could forget Mr Tandler, Mrs Glen, Mrs Bilington and all the other teachers who worked so hard to make the show the incredible production it was. We want to thank everyone for coming to watch us! Can’t wait for next year!

“This year’s production was ‘Shipwrecked Shakespeare’ and I played the character of a Nymph. We did a few little dance pieces and I thoroughly enjoyed it! We wore two different outfits one was a blue top and the other one was a plain white t-shirt with long strips of a blue shiny material that the DT teachers kindly made with white baggy pants. I felt like this was an amazing show with a lot of effort put in by everyone. We also did a washing line scene where Lily

Frantic Assembly Workshop. The Academic Year started with a surge of creative energy as we were fortunate to welcome ‘Frantic Assembly’ (www. franticassembly.co.uk) in to school to work for a day with pupils studying Drama & Theatre Studies at GCSE and A Level. After a few nerves, I was delighted to see our girls fully engaged and inspired by this physically challenging day which provided many strategies and ideas for creating

their own theatre. We look forward to welcoming the company back to AESG soon! A Midsummer Soirée We were delighted to enjoy the hard work of our pupils at our ‘Midsummer Soiree’ Arts Festival. Pupils showcased their wonderful work in Drama, Dance, Art, Music and Textiles. The event was supported by The Yard who nourished and refreshed us with their juices, the PFA who provided Pimms and Strawberries & Cream in addition to The Real Fruit Creamery, Knutsford who indulged us with their delicious ice creams! We were particularly proud of our girls who rose to the occasion and beautifully demonstrated their immense talents, creativity and work ethic! Junior Drama - Year 6 ‘Revolting Rhymes’

Dance I have loved teaching the Year 6 pupils this year. They have arrived at every lesson bursting with enthusiasm and creativity. This was clearly evident in their performance of ‘Revolting Rhymes’ by Roald Dahl at our ‘Midsummer Soiree’ in June.

We look forward to welcoming the girls as they join us in Year 7 this September and hope they’ll be keen to be involved with all upcoming Drama & Dance events!

DANCE & DRAMA

Payne (another nymph) hung some clothes on it. We had to then become dogs which was really funny as we all tried our hardest not to laugh! I think that this was a great show and I was very proud to be a part of this production.”

Production 2015- ‘Shipwrecked Shakespeare’ “I was in the school production, ‘Shipwrecked Shakespeare’. My character was the captain and Sebastian’s good friend. Antonio thought that Sebastian betrayed him and ran away with his money but he didn’t, Sebastian was Viola’s twin brother who supposedly drowned in a shipwreck but actually survived and is visiting llirya. I enjoyed being a part of the school production ‘Shipwrecked Shakespeare ‘. I enjoyed being my character as it was a fun part in the play. Also I had to dress up as a man which was the pit of the production for me! I also had to gel my hair back which was a mission. I think the production went extremely well as the reaction from the audience was amazing. Also I think that it was a great experience doing a Shakespeare piece of work.”

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

“This year’s production was ‘Shipwrecked Shakespeare’ and I played the character of a Nymph.”

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

‘Little Red Riding in the Hood’Staff Pantomime!

& Drama

By Stephen Cunliffe GCSE Drama - A Pupil’s Perspective “Throughout my GCSE Drama course I have learnt a lot of valuable skills that will help in my adult life for example, teamwork, problem-solving, creativity and devising. I have enjoyed all aspects of the course from going on many theatre visits to rehearsing and evaluating our own performance work. I particularly enjoyed visits to see ‘War Horse’ and ‘One Man Two Guv’nors’ both at The Lowry Theatre, Salford. During the course we performed several pieces of Drama, Theatre in Education, Physical Theatre, a Scripted Extract and a Devised piece. 60% of GCSE Drama is practical work, and 40% is written work. For me the best thing about GCSE Drama is that you can work well as a team and produce a fantastic piece at the end! I feel more confident and have developed my performance skills. Drama has allowed me to work creatively and I enjoyed the opportunities to get out from behind a desk!” By Katie Clements Year 11

DANCE & DRAMA

(A personal reflection by Big, Bad Mr C) “When I agreed to work at AESG, no-one quite prepared me for some of the roles I was expected to undertake. One of the most bizarre of these was to be told I was about to make my stage debut – not only as a beast but also in drag. So, cue internet shopping for furry hands and rubber masks (they are so sweaty!), and raiding the wardrobe of a female friend (I can now claim to know that I’m a size 12! If I breathe in a lot…) and Little Red Riding Hood’s Wolf–as–Grandma was created. Limited school rehearsal time meant I spent many a happy hour at home practising my howl (next door’s two-year-old is still having nightmares and my cats view me with a mixture of envy and vague concern). Not a natural thespian, my grandmaturning-menacing voice manifested itself as an amalgam of Mrs Doubtfire, Billy Connolly and most of Walt Disney’s wicked crones rolled into one. However, as a concession to my natural abilities a scene was built in for me to fall over in front of the whole school (déjà vu) – thanks for that, Mr T. That said, I can honestly say that from the dramatic entrance from the rear of the Hall (Kate Irving is still troubled by the memory) to being dragged off stage by the Deputy Head (Mrs Wood is

probably still having weekly physio) it was a good laugh. And only at AESG would I feel able to show myself up like that... Mrs Goff, you’re not paying me nearly enough.”

DANCE & DRAMA

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

“I have enjoyed all aspects of the course from going on many theatre visits to rehearsing and evaluating our own performance work.”

In Design Technology the girls are given the opportunity to problem solve, design and make products. Steve Jobs once said “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” This is the philosophy we share as a department with the girls.

Year 7 In Year 7 the girls have been learning about what it means to be an environmentally responsible designer. They have studied the 6Rs of sustainability and applied these to their design work. Our project culminated in the girls making an ‘Eco-bug’ from recycled fabrics and components. We also learnt about structures, bridges and basic electronic circuits. Year 8 We began the year designing an aluminium garden building for the Alupro D&T competition. It was another strong year for our girls and they came up with some innovative and interesting designs. We then moved onto making jewellery in the style of Tatty Devine using the CAD suite and laser cutter. For our final project the girls designed their own repeat print, sublimation printed this onto fabric and then, using their newly acquired sewing skills, made a humbug shaped bag. Year 9 In Year 9 the girls consider the needs of the developing world in the Dyson Radio

project. The James Dyson Foundation kindly sent us a Dyson vacuum cleaner to disassemble and learn from – something the girls really enjoyed. We applied our learning to a wind-up radio and the girls came up with their own prototypes for a Dyson style wind-up radio for the developing world. The latter half of the year was all about fashion and sewing skills and the girls made decorative skirts to show off on the catwalk at the summer showcase. GCSE Year 10 have been learning about both fashion history and design movements of the 20th Century. The year started with

a vintage fashion project, in which the girls learnt to fashion draw and construct garments. The finished dresses were modelled on the catwalk. We then moved onto looking at wood, metals and plastics in the context of iconic chair designs. This allowed us to learn about material properties but also look closer at the design movements. Year 11 have completed two pieces of design-based coursework this year. The first; designing a problem-solving product and taking it as far as prototype stage, the second; creating a garment of their choice, focussing on precision, quality and economy. The girls have worked really hard and found solutions to problems as varied as residues in a toothbrush cup to lighting in the developing world! AS/A2 The girls have responded well to the creative challenges of A Level study and have produced some incredibly innovative work. Extensive use has been made of the laser cutter, sublimation printer and heat press to create professional looking garments.

D E S I G N T E C H N O LO GY

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Design Technology

English Literature & Language

The Angel Came to Me The angel walked towards me, Singing a sombre, silent tune, Holding out her hand, Pulling me into another life. Her robe was as white as purity, Her hair glimmered in the moonlit sky, Her skin was a glistening snowflake, But her heart was a cold black anchor. Stopping the ship from sailing,

Her lips remained in a motionless line, Cracked at the edges, like the ashes of a loved one. The sky was spitting and the wind danced around us. The moon shone like a thousand suns on a hot summer’s day. The golden moments in the steam of life Rush past us and we see nothing but sand. The Angel’s expression was like a devil’s soul. Her wings were a black jet Tumbling to the ground. My tears were a waterfall running down my face, Dissolving into nothing. The angels come to visit us, And we only know them when they are gone. Florence Sabry (7CL) Debating Matters We are very fortunate at AESG to have so many talented public speakers and indeed countless enthusiastic volunteers to air and share their views at the whole-school debate. The passion, rhetorical dexterity and occasional controversial tirade, all combine to make debating an entertaining

With references to beautiful women through the ages including Aphrodite (who had a mono-brow!), Kate Moss, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn the audience was left with a very difficult decision to make when it came to voting. However, the motion was carried and it

Youth Speaks Victory! Does originality still exist in the modern age? Has technology impacted on our ability to think for ourselves? How can we preserve our own unique ability to think originally? These questions - and plenty more besides - were posed by our intrepid Lower VI Rotary speakers taking part in the prestigious national “Youth Speaks” competition. The RIBI competition encourages presentation and speaking skills in young people and, at AESG, we have fielded teams to the competition for a number of years; this being no exception. After a tough selection procedure (X-Factor-style auditions - speaking not singing, thankfully!), this year’s team was made up of Lower VI students Tanya Wilson (main speaker), Ellen Macleod (chairperson) and Tsitsi Mutamba (vote of thanks). Once formed as a team, they immediately decided to centre their presentation on the concept of originality: a topic inspired by their endeavours to come up with a truly original topic for such a long-established competition. As ever, staff and students were treated to a “sneak-preview” of the speech at our Wednesday morning assembly – but this year, with the added pressure of the

The team were successful in reaching the third and penultimate stage of the competition: the Regional Finals in Frodsham. In spite of their best performance to date, the team were pipped to the post by one of the local Sixth Form schools. Nonetheless, the experience was one which we all enjoyed and certainly one which will stand the girls in good stead as they venture into their future careers. Cheval de Guerre As part of our ongoing commitment to the Erasmus scheme, 7SW have been taking part in an extended reading project with our partner school in Dax. Both schools have been reading Michael Morporgo’s now infamous tale “War Horse” or “Cheval de Guerre” – depending on which side of the Channel it’s being read! During their English lessons, the girls have worked collaboratively to produce a variety of resources such as quizzes, research projects and reviews which they then shared with their French counterparts. As part of this project, 5 girls were selected to take their work to Dax where they stayed with a host family and attended school during the first week in June. The five girls were Amy Myers, Annabel James, Holly Cavanagh, Lizzie Craig and Emma Ferris. It was wonderful to hear about their visit and we look forward to featuring some of their exploits in the next edition of Muse.

“Undaunted and unfazed, the public speaking team rose to the challenge and all agreed it was a winner.”

E N G L I S H L I T E R AT U R E & L A N G U A G E

Budding Poets Creative Writing Club has met weekly this year and the pupils have explored a wide range of skills and genres. Some sessions have focused around the use of a single stimulus – an image, sentence or selection vocabulary – that the girls take on and make their own. Their fearless approach to these challenges has been inspiring! The pupils have also entered various writing competitions; one particularly difficult task was to write a fairytale ‘with a twist’ in just 100 words! The stories they created were a joy to read! Recently the girls have been writing poems inspired by dystopian novels and creating odes to objects that they love, including a recorder and a sandwich! The featured poem was written by a regular creative writer and inspired by the theme of ‘youth and age’.

Undaunted by such a challenging and complex topic, the girls entertained and enthralled their peers and teachers alike. Three speakers argued their cases on both sides of the issue with Tara Evans, Bianca Boren and Laura Wild stridently working to convince us that beauty is not a meagre construct – according to the girls, it is a matter of biology which restricts our pre-programmed responses to beauty (feminine or otherwise). On the other side of the fence Jess Allwright, Latasha Arnone and Grace Kisloff were equally eloquent in their arguments that ideas of feminine beauty are manufactured by society – ideas of beauty are bound by context and it has ever been thus.

On to the next debate and the turn of the Year 7 & 8 team to tackle the equally controversial discussion of whether 19th century literature still has a place in the classroom. The English department eagerly awaits the outcome of this one!

eagerly anticipated Inspection team in the audience. Undaunted and unfazed, the public speaking team rose to the challenge and all agreed it was a winner. To have this confirmed by the slightly less partisan judging panel of Rotarians at the District Finals in Manchester was merely a bonus!

E N G L I S H L I T E R AT U R E & L A N G U A G E

The French existentialist writer Simone de Beauvoir famously declares in her book ‘The Second Sex’ that a woman isn’t born a woman, rather she becomes one. What she means by this is that women shouldn’t feel they have to behave in certain ways nor feel that they ought to conform to certain ideas of beauty imposed by society. She goes on to suggest that resistance to male stereotypes of beauty can mean greater equality for women. Surely, an all-female debating team should have something to say about this?

was decided that ideas of feminine beauty are socially constructed.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

and stimulating lunchtime activity. This Spring Term saw the turn of the Year 10 girls to lead the lunchtime debate with their chosen topic: “Is Female Beauty A Social Construct?”

Year 11 pupils were introduced to A Level lessons in Food Technology and were shown the wonders of Molecular gastronomy. They experimented with reverse spherification and gelation, making yoghurt ravioli, chocolate spaghetti and honey caviar. We also like to spread the word and did this by welcoming the French exchange students

who prepared and enjoyed a British Afternoon Tea. They made cream scones, strawberry jam and even made their own butter, which they sat down and enjoyed with a cup of tea. There are also activities out of lessons that the girls can participate in to increase their skills such as the Baking Mad club and Masterclasses, such as the Gingerbread House sessions, where teachers and pupils competed against one another to create the best decorated house. Some teachers joined forces with pupils (to get extra help with their designs) and the atmosphere was quite competitive!

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

34 FOOD

F O O D T E C H N O LO GY

Pupils choose to study Food Technology in KS4 and KS5 and they learn about how ingredients function in food products. This leads onto food product development and new products are designed to meet design briefs.

Food Technology

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

In Food technology it is all about how to create healthy, interesting food with good nutritional value. In Key Stage 3 the girls learn many skills which enable them to prepare a range of foods, from fresh pasta and sauces to homemade bread and pastry.

Geography

GEOGRAPHY

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

It has been a busy year in the Geography department with various trips, extensive use of the Virtual Learning Environment and the introduction of iPads.

Technology Enhanced Learning in Geography. With the introduction of iPads this year, the department has made effective use of the various apps and mobile technology to enable us to enhance teaching and learning. Year 10 have made lots of progress with the use of Quick Response codes (QR codes) as part of the coastal landform projects. The iPads are ideal for finding initial case study information and locating case studies on the Google Earth App. By using apps to film explanations of river and coastal features, the girls refined their explanations which was great when perfecting examination techniques. Lower Sixth trip to North Wales. In March the Lower Sixth geographers, Miss Smith and Mrs Wood set off to North Wales to complete their river studies fieldwork weekend, ready for their AS Level Geography examination. With eclipse glasses to hand, the students left a sunny AESG and headed along the M56, looking for a suitable service station to pull in and see the eclipse. Much to the amusement of many other motorists, the students spent a happy 15 minutes watching the spectacular event before getting back on the road to Betws-yCoed. On our return, the students followed the course of the River Conwy to see the mouth of the river and stopped at Llandudno to evaluate the impact of an ageing population on services in an urban area. The girls were excellent ambassadors for AESG and they impressed with their hard work and commitment to their examination preparation. Upper Sixth trip to The Trafford Centre. The local geography of Manchester is perfect for the A Level course. In

November the students visited the Trafford Centre for a behind-the-scenes tour to gather unique and valuable case study information from the staff and venue about the decentralisation of retailing. After gathering specific facts and figures, the girls then studied redevelopment in Manchester City Centre to use as an example of redevelopment in response to developments like the Trafford Centre. Year 8 visit to Alderley Edge As part of the Geography of Crime topic studied by Year 8, the girls walked to the village and followed a route to complete surveys at three different locations. Before their visit, the girls chose their own crime theme and planned their own questions to investigate. After devising a unique table to record the results the girls walked the planned route with their eyes open and clipboards ready to see any signs of crime. Despite some initial disappointment, the girls quickly found graffiti and witnessed several driving offences! Once the data was collected and valuable fieldwork techniques practised, the girls used their data to create various graphs and a final report into crime in Alderley Edge.

Geography Competitions Throughout the year there have been various opportunities for each year group to take part in internal and external competitions. Year 9 raised awareness of the Fairtrade Foundation and took part in Fairtrade Fortnight in February and March by designing their own Fairtrade product where the winners (Nidhi Bhat, Omay Chaudhry, Evie Clarkson and Isabella Vickers) were very grateful for lots of Fairtrade Cadbury chocolate! Year 8 completed some outstanding presentations, posters and interactive displays to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of earthquakes and volcanoes. Some were spectacular with powerful eruptions and practical earthquake drills. The Year 8 pupils also had a detailed understanding of the physical geography behind the earthquakes in Nepal and could understand the effects on the people, economy and environment with empathy and put a great deal of effort into fundraising for the appeal.

This academic year has been an incredibly busy one for the History department here at AESG. The Autumn Term followed ‘hot on the heels’ of the School’s World War One commemoration, held at the end of June. Our pupils completed various workshops during their day off timetable, which either focused on WWI itself or subsequent conflicts. The activities ranged from jam-making with the WI to teambuilding exercises with the Army and RAF. Other visitors included a representative from the Royal Navy (Lieutenant Commander Mawdsley, Miss Mawdsley’s big brother!) and a representative from the War Memorials Trust. A speaker from the Blue Cross also gave a fascinating presentation about the vital role played by animals in WWI.

banned in Nazi Germany, a tour of the UN explained the work of the League of Nations’ successor and ‘Motown’ - a fantastic Broadway show - explored many of the themes covered in our Civil Rights topic. All in all, a fantastic trip that the girls will never forget. In December, Mrs. Millar organised an enrichment trip to London for VI Form historians. The trip began with a visit to the Tower of London to see the beautiful poppy installation, part of the nationwide commemoration of the outbreak of WWI. Its sheer scale was quite awe-inspiring. It was then on to Kensington Palace to see four different exhibitions, one celebrating the ‘Glorious Georges’; it focused on life at court during the reign of George II and Queen Caroline. The girls’ favourite exhibition was, needless to say, the display of royal fashion. In March it was back to London; Miss Mawdsley and some Year 11 and LVI historians accompanied Mr. Tandler on a trip to the British Museum. The girls had a wonderful time looking at the various artefacts on display and admiring the beautiful building in which they are housed.

It has been an action-packed year in school as well as out. The girls have completed projects on a variety of topics, and have produced some very original work. Year 7 pupils, for example, have produced board games based on life in a medieval town. Lively lessons have helped to enthuse and engage pupils in all year groups, including the Sixth Form. Year 11 worked extremely hard on their Controlled Assessment during the Spring Term and thoroughly deserved a treat once they had completed the course. When a planned cinema trip proved impossible to organise, Miss Mawdsley decided to bring the cinema to AESG! With a little help from the ICT staff, the Year 11 Common Room was converted into a cinema for one night only. The girls were able to sit back and watch ‘The Butler’ whilst eating a highly nutritious ‘meal’ of pizza and popcorn. The final event of the year is a whole school History event; commemorating the Magna Carta, which was sealed in 1215. The girls discovered the significance of this document whilst celebrating all things medieval!

H I S TO R Y

In New York the main focus was America during the 1920s and 30s. A visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island taught the students about America’s policy of ‘Isolationism’ in the 1920s, which was linked to the country’s economic boom. Many other GCSE topics were ‘brought to life’ in New York: a trip to MoMA revealed examples of ‘degenerate’ art that were

There were plenty of opportunities to take learning beyond the classroom this year, not least on the GCSE trip to America during October half-term. Mrs. Morgan and her team took 37 pupils from Years 10 and 11 to Washington DC and New York, which helped to support their in-depth study of American history. In Washington they took pictures of the White House and toured the Capitol, to further their understanding of the US political system. They learnt more about the Cold War whilst visiting the Air and Space Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution), Korean War Memorial and Vietnam War Memorial. The girls found Arlington Cemetery particularly moving; they saw the graves of President Kennedy and his family, as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They also enjoyed climbing the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, as it was from here that Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech in 1963.

History

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Many other activities were organised by the staff here at AESG. We were particularly pleased that Kate Sixsmith’s great-uncle was able to join us; he had many fascinating tales to tell of life during the Second World War and, together with several residents from Cavendish Court Care Home, formed a ‘panel’ of men and women that answered the questions formulated by the girls. The day left the school suitably prepared for the nationwide commemoration that began in August.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

IT & Computing

We are App Developers Pupils in Year 6 have had a fantastic time being smartphone app developers. They were tasked with finding the ‘next big thing’ in the app market and taking their idea from design to development. There were some really innovative ideas such as an app to help train your pet. Pupils used wire-framing software for the design and MIT AppInventor to code the app. #NextBigThing Code Clubbers! The AESG Code Club met every Thursday afternoon and pupils were given the chance to delve a little deeper into coding

e-Safety – An International Perspective In addition to formal e-safety lessons in Computing and PHSE, pupils at AESG take part in a range of e-safety awareness initiatives. PC Commins has delivered some thought-provoking and hard-hitting assemblies on the dangers of internet and mobile phone use. The school has also linked up with schools in France and Spain through the Erasmus Project. Pupils created and shared ‘awareness videos’ with their European peers and are taking part in a global survey to explore the differences in attitudes and practices of young people across Europe. #StaySafe

university. She benefited greatly from attending the Greek Summer School at Bryanston, where she was able to mix with like-minded people and experience some Greek tragedy in the original language. Her proudest moment was spotting a grammatical error in the YouTube Ancient Greek version of “Let It Go” from Disney/ Pixar’s Frozen.

Classical Civilisation This subject has been reintroduced at AS level this year, with Ellen Macleod blazing a trail for future generations. She has followed Odysseus in his nautical adventures, being amazed along the way by the rudeness of the suitors, the weakness of various men (actually not that amazed) and the seemingly limitless patience of Penelope. She has also got to grips with various

Extra-curricular In the first week of the October half term, Mr Tandler, Ms Laing and Mrs Boyland took a group of 25 girls from Years 8-10 to the Bay of Naples for five days. During the two-hour flight from Manchester to Naples the outside temperature almost doubled, meaning the girls could take full advantage of the hotel’s private beach. They visited the ancient Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which were preserved under layers of ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. Many girls took the opportunity of the stupendous location to make short films starring Omay Chaundhry’s kicks, Izzie Jagger’s dramatic pronouncements and Izzy Vickers’ eyebrows. They also climbed up Vesuvius itself and visited the volcanic crater of Solfatara, which was very smelly. One of the best outings was the afternoon in Sorrento, exploring the souvenir shops and sampling the delicious local ice cream. Emma Maitland managed to empty an impressive five bowls. A strike at Naples airport on the Friday meant they had to stay an extra day, so off to Sorrento for yet more ice cream!

Year 9 has been exploring the outer reaches of the Roman empire, researching Romano-British villas and studying the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria. This has resulted in some interesting presentations, including a thoughtprovoking play about racial tension in Alexandria, complete with choreography from Niamh Donnelly. They are proving worthy successors to last year’s Year 9 class, who managed a fifteen-minute musical on the same topic, before finishing the year with an excellent Latin News broadcast, starring Jessie Clayton in a rather fetching false moustache! The GCSE groups have been studying hard for their exams but there has still been time for fun along the way. When revising set texts, the girls created puppet shows to help them remember the poems. Helena Lewis came up with an ingenious way of showing contrasting emotions by lowering different facial expressions down on thin bits of card. Leila Hussamy and Becky Moore have perfected a method of using actions to learn set texts, which will be very useful in their exams provided they can do them in their heads!

Greek historians, using Explain Everything software to make animated battle maps and wondering why Herodotus was so obsessed with Persian fashion. Greek Iona Morphet has continued to study Greek this year, skipping the GCSE in order to make it to A2 level in time for

In March, Mr Tandler and Miss Mawdsley took 16 girls from the LVI to the British Museum in London. The train journey was very smooth and the rain just about held off, although it was very cold. The girls had a great time exploring the various exhibits and the great thing about the museum is that there’s something for everyone, whether they are interested in Greeks, Romans, Persians, Lindow Man, Thoth, pie (Olivia Rowley-Hardman) or representations of the human form. The fire alarm went off, but luckily they were just leaving anyway. After the museum they visited Covent Garden, where the girls visited lots of shops and watched a man juggling a chainsaw. They arrived back at Wilmslow station tired but happy.

Classics

CLASSICS

Bridging the gender gap, careers in technology are often seen by girls as male dominated and ‘not for them’ and with only 20% of Computer Science undergraduates being female this poses a real problem for the future of this extremely important industry. Women have a strong tradition in Computer Science, Ada Lovelace for example, played an important role in the creation of the first ever general-purpose Computer. AESG are doing their bit to bridge the gender gap by running GCSE Computer Science as an option alongside the traditional ICT course. This year has seen the very first cohort of computer scientists complete their GCSE. #GirlsCanCode.

In December pupils across the school took part in CS Education Week. This US-led global initiative fronted by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates seeks to raise awareness of the importance on Computer Science Education. Pupils chose their own coding projects from the excellent code.org site. Coding their own Flappy Bird game proved the most popular. #CSForAll

The Year 8 class has also been busy, producing radio shows based on gladiatorial fights. In those unusual flights of fancy only possible on radio, fights involved Kim Kardashian, Paddington Bear and Peppa Pig. Kathryn Whiteley, Maggie Khoryati and Olivia Merry showed off their wide range of comedy voices. Lucy Ferris set a new record for words spoken per minute while reading the small print of an advert.

The Lower VI class has been studying prose composition, one of the most difficult disciplines to master, leading to much sighing and groaning. However this was nothing compared to Mr Tandler’s reaction after a humiliating defeat in a game of Latin Scrabble, leading to several cries of “ha-ha” from Iona Morphet and weeks of teasing from Ellen Macleod.

Computing & ICT September 2014 was the official launch of the new National Curriculum for Computing in England and Wales and as a lead school for the teaching of Computer Science the AESG Computing department has continued to develop an innovative and exciting curriculum across the whole school. We strongly believe that Computer science opens more doors for students than any other discipline in today’s world. Learning even the basics will help students in virtually any career, from architecture to zoology. Just as we teach students how to dissect a frog, or how electricity works, it’s important for every 21st century student to have a chance to “dissect an app,” or learn how the Internet works.

Get Physical! It is widely recognised that physical computing is hugely motivational. Hands on challenges with a real world feel help bring Computing to life. Pupils across the school have been putting the Raspberry Pi computers to good use with projects such as Sound Production and building a Retro Games Console being highlights. Next year AESG will be taking part in the national BBC Micro Bit initiative. Every Year 7 girl will be receiving a free Micro Bit Computer in the autumn term and the school will be delivering a host of activities to support the initiative. #WatchThisSpace

Latin The year started with the implementation of the exciting new Year 7 language system. Pupils now study taster courses in all four languages offered before choosing any two to continue until the end of Year 9. In February, the department was delighted to discover that no fewer than twenty girls (about a third of the year) had opted for Latin, which until now has been considered a ‘minority’ subject. The girls have plunged in enthusiastically, producing Roman dinner menus, theatre masks, re-enactments of Pompeian life and much more.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

IT & COMPUTING

in a relaxed and fun environment. The Code Clubbers completed projects in a whole range of programming languages such as Scratch, Python, HTML/CSS and a host of other online block-based coding games (Dr Who and the Daleks being a personal favourite). The relaxed club atmosphere gave the pupils the time and freedom to play, experiment and tinker with their programs – this is very important when learning how to code; #CodeClubRules

Maths Some view Maths a little like Marmite – you either love it or hate it! Whilst there is no denying that it has its place in the world, there are far more elements to Maths than its strictly utilitarian aspect. Some Maths has to be investigated or developed; some ‘just happens’ in the world around us.

(Core) On its first trip between Johnstown and Scottville, a steam train uses 1.5 tonnes of coal. As the train does more trips, it becomes less efficient so that each subsequent trip uses 2% more coal than the previous trip. If there are 39 tonnes of coal available, find the greatest number of trips possible.

Have you ever really looked at the head of a sunflower seed, or the end of a pine cone? You will see spirals. Count how many spirals there are – it will be a Fibonacci number!

(Decision) Steve wants to decorate the walls of his study. The total wall area is 24 m². He can cover the walls using any combination of three materials: panelling, paint and pinboard. He wants at least 2 m² of pinboard and at least 10 m² of panelling. Panelling costs £8 per m² and it will take Steve 15 minutes to put up 1 m² of panelling. Paint costs £4 per m² and it will take him 30 minutes to paint 1 m². Pinboard costs £10 per m² and it will take him 20 minutes to put up 1 m² of pinboard. Steve has £150 to spend on the decorating materials. What area should be covered with each material to enable him to complete the whole job in the shortest time possible?

40 M AT H S

Can algebra ever be fun? Try this experiment: Think of a number… double it… add 8… halve your answer… Now change your number to the equivalent letter in the alphabet (1 = A, 2 = B etc)… Think of a nearby country beginning with that letter… take the second letter of that country… think of an animal (not a bird, fish or reptile!) beginning with that letter… finally, think of the colour you would expect that animal to be! Now check with the prediction at the bottom of the page. (It won’t always work as an element of chance has been built in – but if it did, the first part can be explained entirely by algebra!) Maths teaching at AESG aims not only to prepare the girls for examinations and careers with rigour and thoroughness but also to capture the elements of awe and wonder, of fun, of interest and excitement. So the next time you look around, appreciate the Maths in nature, in engineering, in architecture… and encourage your daughter to do the same. A Level Maths AESG offers both A Level Maths and A Level Further Maths courses. Typically these consist of a mixture of ‘core’ maths (algebra, calculus, trigonometry and coordinate geometry) with modules in Statistics, Mechanics or Decision Maths. Here are a couple of recent questions adapted from A Level papers:

UK Maths Team Challenge Every year we enter both junior and senior teams in the highly competitive UK Maths Team Challenges. This year the girls in each section reached their highest ever placing at both Junior and Senior levels! Well done to Amy Powell, Gemma Francis, Amy Rhodes and Evie Hughes (seniors) and Jewel Bennett, Aditi Chandana, Bertie Dudley & Imogen Hughes. Amy, Jewel and Aditi were also invited to attend a Mathematical Evening at Liverpool University as a result of their excellent performance in the University’s half-term challenge. Love Maths?

x=16sin3(t) y=13cos(t) - 5cos(2t) - 2cos(3t) - cos(4t)

Junior and Intermediate Maths Challenges Gold Award: Holly Bennett (11), Aditi Chandana & Sophie Kay (8), Alara Cooper & Lara Coulter (7) (Lara now qualifies for the follow-up ‘Kangaroo’ round.) Silver Award: Chikako Kawato (Y 10), Jewel Bennett (Y 9) Maggie Khoryati & Lily Payne (Y 8), Ella Coulter, Ischia Gooda, Rebecca RowleyHardman & Norika Yoshimoto (Y 7), Amy Barnes & Sarah Rhodes (Y 6) Bronze Award: Zoe Aldridge, Eleanor Jagger, Alice Maitland, Rebecca Moore, Rebecca Myers, Olivia Rowley-Hardman (11), Nina Fraser, Claudia Persico, Phoebe Shrives, Lucy Wylie (10), Nabeeha Attique, Olivia Johnson & Holly Lister (8), Grace Haworth (7), Anna Grayson & Charlotte Macdonald (6)

The Romans didn’t find algebra very challenging because X was always 10

Challenge yourself! It is possible to make each integer (whole number) from 1 to 100 from calculations involving only four digits: 1, 2, 3 and 4. Each digit must be used once and only once per calculation, and no other digits may be used. You may use any mathematical symbol you are aware of, but each answer must be exact. Some of our Year 7 and 8 pupils have managed it – can you? Here’s a starter: 75 = (4 + 1)² x 3

(By the way… were you thinking of a grey elephant from Denmark? So was I!)

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

What use is probability? The girls in the Seniors at AESG threw over 3000 cocktail sticks in a senior school experiment – and correctly found Pi to 2 decimal places.

Sister Act! Well done to sisters Holly and Jewel Bennett, who as a result of their high scores in the individual UK Maths Challenge went on to take part in the follow-up rounds: Holly (Year 11) took part in the ‘Pink Kangaroo’ and Jewel (Year 9) scored a merit in the ‘Grey Kangaroo’!

Modern Foreign Languages ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

French Exchange December saw the continuation of our long-standing French Exchange with several girls from Years 9 to Lower VI spending a week in Dax, in the South West of France. They enjoyed living with their partner’s French family and going to their school, the lycée St Jacques-deCompostelle. All girls were also given the opportunity to attend French classes organised by the local Chamber of Commerce and took part in an excursion to St Jean de Luz as well as in a range of activities arranged by their exchange partners, from family meals to trips to nearby Spain. An exchange is an exciting adventure from which girls always come back with a new and refreshed understanding of not only the French language and culture, but also experience of what it may be like to live in a different country. The return leg of the exchange took place in April. French students stayed with

their previous exchange partners, whom they had really got to know by then. The French students came to school with their partners and also visited different places of interest around Manchester and Liverpool. By all accounts, one of the highlights of their visit was the food lesson they had with Mrs Leigh. Food is not taught as part of the main curriculum in France and being taught how to make scones was certainly an experience they will not forget. Many thanks to Tsitsi in VIMJ who wrote a piece about the benefits of the French Exchange which took place just before the Christmas break. “When I think about the French trip, I can’t help but smile as I think of the jokes we shared and the great friendships that were formed. But, like many a school trip, it all started with an early morning! After being dropped off at the station, I quickly spotted the other AESG girls as we waited for our long 12 hour journey using the Eurostar and French TGV high-speed trains.

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

French

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

UK Linguistics Olympiad The linguistics club has been meeting on Tuesdays, at lunchtime. It was open to any girl interested in language problems and puzzles. This year Iona Morphet (Lower VI) has taken a lead role in the Linguistics club, choosing the problems and discussing them with her peers. From September to February we prepared more specifically for the UK Linguistics Olympiad (the equivalent to the Maths Challenge). It is a prestigious National competition which leads to the highly regarded International Competition held in a different part of the world each year. During the UKLO competition, the candidates work under examination

conditions and have two and a half hours to solve some very challenging linguistic problems. For example, candidates are given a few words and phrases in Murrinhpatha, a language spoken by about 3,000 people in Australia’s Northern Territory and they must then work out missing words from full sentences. We entered 6 extremely talented girls for the UKLO 2015. The awards were as follows: Intermediate level (normally aimed at KS4) Ella Myers, Year 9 Participation Award Advanced level (normally aimed at Sixth Form) Rebecca Moore, Year 11 Participation Award Alex Glover, Phoebe Moore, Laura Hughes Bronze Award Iona Morphet Silver Award

Y8 French Château trip to Normandy. We spent a week in Normandy at the Château de la Baudonnière with our Year 8 girls between 26th June and 1st July. This is a well-established trip, aiming to immerse our pupils in the French language and way of life. The girls were offered a wide range of sports and cultural activities as well as some more structured French lessons. The activities included canoeing, climbing, assault course and orienteering as well as visits to nearby Mont Saint Michel and the local market. Pupils were accompanied by their teachers and native French instructors, with all activities being run in French.

German 2014-2015 was a year of new departures for German. In September it was all change as German was taught in Year 6 of the Junior School for the first time. The girls enjoyed twice weekly lessons during

which they were introduced to the basics of the German language and also explored cultural events such as St Martinstag, Christmas and Easter traditions in the German-speaking world. We even made and sent Christmas cards to a class at our German partner school, Realschule Eberbach and received cards in return. In Year 9, as part of our programme of study, the Germanists learnt about food. As an extension to this and as part of our current Erasmus+ project they chose their favourite meal, researched the recipes and produced English and German versions of the recipes to be shared with our Erasmus+ partners. Following the Year 7 taster lessons in all four languages, a record number of girls chose German as one of their languages. As a result it has been possible to arrange a trip to Koblenz in Germany for Years 8-10 in December 2015. We are really looking forward to visiting Cochem, and the Christmas markets in Koblenz and Cologne.

Spanish Spanish has enjoyed a very good uptake in Year 7 and across the school. With a record number of A2 Spanish students in the Sixth Form, our girls got involved in a range of activities in order to encourage them to study their A2 topics in more depth. For instance, they designed their own eco homes and presented on the topic of climate change to practise topicspecific environment vocabulary.

Following our involvement with the European Lifelong Learning Programme, Comenius, this year we have been accepted by the new programme

Erasmus+ to take part in a project with six other European schools. Our partner schools are in France, Germany, Holland, Poland, Romania and Spain. AESG is involved in five mini projects over the three years, including a reading project together with our partner school in France. Year 7 pupils in both countries read Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse and Private Peaceful in their mother tongue. During the week the girls worked with eight different classes on a variety of topics connected with the books and the First World War to culminate in the publishing of a booklet of their collaborative work.

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

We arrived in France at around 10.00pm and met our French exchange partners for the first time in a designated room at the station, I have never been so nervous in all my life but thankfully my partner and her parents were smiling at me which was a good sign…”

The girls have used Garageband software to create tracks and edit music for the half termly topics. This has been a great success in developing listening skills and widening their knowledge of different styles of music. It has been lovely to hear comments in lessons with iPads like ‘that was the best lesson ever’ and ‘can we use the iPads for composing again’? Supplementing this has been the use of the Interactive Whiteboard in the new keyboard room affectionately known as ‘Pete the Giant iPad’! This has been a great resource for using Sibelius software when composing in Year 10 lessons and

Woodard Schools Musician of the Year 2015 This is an annual competition which is run nationally across all the Woodard Schools. Each September schools are invited to nominate musicians to be put forward for entry into the finals. This is a very prestigious event in the school year and extremely high standards are set through all age ranges.

Model United Nations Top Tips • Say something – you’ll regret it if you don’t.

The process begins in the Autumn Term when recordings of the nominated students are sent to the judging panel. After what seems like an eternity to the girls, the letters arrive back in schools in the spring term to let them know whether they have been lucky enough to get to the finals which are held in London. This year there were well over a hundred entrants and AESG was lucky enough to get both of their entrants through. Georgia Campbell went through to the Junior Class and Tatiana Wilson went through to the Senior Class. The final was held in London at St John’s, Smith Square the weekend after the election. After three hours of the outstanding performances from Year 5 – UVI, the results were announced and Tatiana was declared runner-up in the Senior Class. A wonderful afternoon and worth all the hard work and hours of practice that go into achieving such a high standard.

Music

• Never refer to yourself as I, you are representing your entire country. • When you’re lobbying, stand up for your idea and don’t give in. • Make sure your ideas fit with those of your country. It has been a successful year for the girls who have attended the MUN conferences. We kick started in October with the annual MUNCH conference at Cheadle Hulme where we had two great successes, with sisters Amy and Ella Myers winning delegate awards. This was the first time for Amy in Year 7, but she seems to be following in her sister’s footsteps. Here are some words from them…. “Both of us have been to Model United Nations and have loved every moment of them. From the debating, to the resolutions, to the award ceremony you feel as if you have become a real United Nations delegate for the day. It is not only an opportunity to gain knowledge and confidence, but you can also make good friends”. Amy’s personal favourite is the crisis debate when the hosting school creates a news video and the delegates must immediately react with proposals from their respective countries. However, they both enjoy asking questions of the delegates who are presenting their amendments as it means they can challenge the views of opposing countries and build their experience and confidence without having to stand behind the podium. Although asking questions is beneficial to the progress of any delegate’s MUN experience; the most important step to take is gaining support and representing your amendment. This is where the debating really comes into play. Whether you are improvising or reading a formally planned speech, a lot hangs on the presentation of your idea. After your initial introduction to the idea, the other delegates will vote on the amendment and if it is passed it becomes part of the overall resolution.

• Speak up – you won’t get many votes if nobody can hear your argument. • Don’t be afraid of the complex MUN language – you’ll get the hang of it. • Have fun. Best Moments • Winning the Commended and Special Mention awards. • The icebreaker activities at the beginning of a debate. • Zombie apocalypse crisis debate. • Debating rap battle. • Exchanging notes with your peers. Ella & Amy Myers

A ‘chair’ is an older student who runs a session, and keeps order within the room - basically a chairperson. One unique thing about The International Model United Nations is that each year they have a team of aspiring journalists produce a professional looking newspaper, with articles written by students from all over the world. I spent the week in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly, so the topic that I focused on was cyber surveillance. I chose the committee because it was focused on the legal aspect of the UN, which I thought would be great preparation for me as I would like to study law at university. My favourite part of the trip, besides the outings to adorable Dutch markets, was getting to view a real court trial. In the International Court of Justice, an infamous war criminal was being put on trial and it was an unforgettable experience getting to witness a glimpse of real-life history being made. I got to learn how the court worked, and saw the level of meticulousness that evidence must have. All in all, my trip to The Hague was absolutely fantastic. I made lifelong friends and learned a lot about how the United Nations work. Perhaps I’ll even work in the United Nations one day!”

MUN Annual Conference We then saw Tsitsi off to The Netherlands where she took the floor at The Hague for the annual THIMUN conference. This is held every year with The Grange School and Cheadle Hulme School. Here is Tsitsi’s review of her experience:

Tsitsi Mutamba Lower Sixth

“Prior to my experience this January, I had been to only two other conferences. Before going to Holland, two meetings were held at AESG with pupils from all three of the schools representing the North West. In my group, there were 7 delegates, one chair and two press team members. Each group entering a Model United Nations conference is called a delegation. So delegates are the students who sit in various rooms discussing different issues, for example youth or cyber surveillance.

Miss Sail MUN Coordinator.

MUN is a fantastic opportunity for girls of any year to get involved in, especially if you have an interest in debating and politics. Keep your eyes peeled next term for the upcoming conferences.

M O D E L U N I T E D N AT I O N S

This year’s chosen topic was Film Music with the study of animated films and silent movies, Jazz Music 1900-1950 and Popular Music 1950 – the present day. Each topic has included lots of listening to a variety of music, composing and performing. The Popular Music unit has a range of topics for the girls to choose in order to

Technology in the classroom Since the introduction of iPads to the school the classroom curriculum in music has been changed to include the use of these for a composing and research tool. Projects throughout the year have included composing music for an animated film score in Year 9, writing a jingle to advertise a new product in Year 6, composing a blues song in Year 9, listening work for musicals in Year 8 and composing battle music in Year 5.

demonstrating some of the finer points of editing in Garageband.

MUSIC

Year 9 Projects When restructuring the classroom curriculum the department took the decision to discuss with Year 8 and 9 classes what they would like to learn about in their final year of core music lessons. Although AESG is lucky to have a wealth of musical talent it is not always considered ‘cool’ to be a musician or to feel confident if girls do not have music lessons. Performing in front of peer group members can be somewhat daunting!

complete an extended investigation of music in a particular style. These included Rock ‘n’ Roll in the 1950s, British Pop Music in the 1960s, Disco and Glam Rock in the 1970s, Concept Albums, Charity Records, the Madchester Scene and Singer/Songwriters. Presentation of these could be in any style relevant to the topic and they were used as part of the Arts Festival Evening in June.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

It has been another busy and fun packed year in the department. Whilst the department sometimes wonders how the energy is found to complete all the performances, it is always worth the extra effort when seeing the delight on the girls’ faces. The girls have participated in 56 performances and events this year showing once more just how much of a force they are to be reckoned with. As ever they have shown excellent standards from the youngest to oldest participant. It is such a pleasure to work with the girls and see how they have developed during the last few years, always willing to give their time and talents to so many areas around the school.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

PE Extra-curricular Sport The girls have enjoyed a range of activities that all have been able to participate in over the course of the year. It has been another really busy year with plenty of achievements and successes: Badminton On the badminton court the Under 14 team were crowned Cheshire champions and progressed to the regional round of the competition whilst the Under 16 team were named Macclesfield champions. Cross Country Cross country has gone from strength to strength with a number of girls being selected to represent Macclesfield at the Cheshire Cross Country Championships.

Hockey There have been regular hockey fixtures against local schools as well as Christmas hockey training and an end of term match against a touring side from Gloucester. Netball The netball teams have played regular matches in the Macclesfield and District Netball League – well done to the Year

10 team who won their ‘B’ league. Meanwhile the Year 8 team performed fantastically to win the ISA North Netball Tournament. Swimming Our swimming teams took to the pool in the Autumn Term at the ISA North Swimming Championships and finished in a very impressive second place. The Year 7 team won their age group earning themselves a place at the ISA National Finals at the Olympic Pool in London. A fantastic opportunity! Athletics The summer season has also brought reason to celebrate with more achievements on the track in athletics and several pupils being selected to represent Macclesfield at the Cheshire Athletics Championships. Tennis and Rounders Tennis has continued to be enjoyed by all, from county and club players to novices whilst rounders has brought out the competitive side in many girls who have enjoyed the opportunity to represent AESG. It has been a rewarding year and the girls have plenty to build on next year.

Individual Success Whilst teamwork has brought the best out in many of our girls and they have enjoyed the chance to work alongside others, a number of our pupils have celebrated further achievements in their own right and are to be commended for the commitment and hard work it takes to reach these higher levels of performance. Cross Country Zara Thompson, Lucy Wylie and Hattie Rigby enjoyed the challenge of a tough cross country course to be selected to represent Macclesfield at the Cheshire Cross Country Championships. Zara Thompson went one step further to represent Cheshire at the Intercounties Competition.

Sports Awards The annual Sports Awards Dinner was held at The Yard in Alderley Edge. It was a lovely occasion for the girls to enjoy the company of their team mates whilst awards were presented to the girls. Ski Trip A group of avid skiers travelled to Pamporovo, Bulgaria over the Easter holidays to enjoy a week on the slopes. They enjoyed fantastic snow and all made excellent progress over the course of the week. A landslide at the end of the week added interest to the coach trip back to the airport but all were left unscathed and full of fabulous memories to take back to the UK. Sports Day Sports day kick starts House competitiveness! The new House Captains and their deputies had their first taste of the fierce – yet healthy! - competition between our four Houses which culminates

Swimming Lexie McIntosh won both her swimming races in breast stroke and freestyle at the ISA National Swimming Finals at the Olympic Pool to be crowned champion.

Athletics Zara Thompson, Haisley Jimenez, Anna Saunders, Lucy Wylie and Scarlett McCarthy were all selected to represent Macclesfield at the Cheshire Athletics Championships with Zara Thompson winning her 800m race to be crowned Macclesfield champion.

Always a nerve-wracking event, Brooke Van Bruygom led St Joan’s House (no stranger to winning sports day) to their ultimate victory. Amani Ahmed and her team secured second place for St Hilary’s and St Emilie’s were placed third due to the stalwart efforts of Fiona Smith and her team. St Francis came in fourth place with the support of House Captain Megan Pimlott and her deputies. The House Captains and their deputies are genuinely delighted with the support of each and every girl. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and many new records were achieved which shows how keen the competition is between the four Houses!

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Hockey Well done to Jewel Bennett and Emma Ferris who were selected for the East Cheshire Junior Hockey Academy. This is a great achievement and they are sure to have benefitted from some high level coaching.

in the presentation of the coveted House Cup during the Spring term. Sports Day is certainly something of a ‘baptism of fire’ for the House teams and this year was no different…

Religion & Philosophy

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

48 R E L I G I O N & P H I LO S O P H Y

Year 8 Religion and Phiosophy trip to Liverpool A Synagogue, a Mosque and two Cathedrals in one school day is the opposite of a cruise! Especially given that there is an hourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drive at either end of the day. However, this annual trip does provide girls with a better understanding of two faiths which they have already studied, Judaism and Christianity; as well as an insight into one they will study in Year 9, Islam. It also helps pupils to have visual references which they can draw on for R&P and Art. The activity booklet they complete encourages them to notice the architecture of each building, as well as the rituals and practices of each faith. Questions help them to understand the values and beliefs which lie behind the architecture and practices and provides them with the opportunity to reflect on their own values and beliefs. They are asked to consider why all faiths have places of worship, what purpose they serve, how are they similar to each other and different to other buildings. Extension tasks include considering the ethical implications of maintaining such large expensive buildings, when so many people are dying of hunger. They are also asked to think about how each building or

parts of a building makes them feel. They can record this through words or colours. This then provides a basis for poetry or art work back in the class room. The styles of art in each place are varied and rich, as are the surroundings. Our first stop, the Sephardic ornate Synagogue is considered to be one of the most beautiful in Europe; the Mosque, just half a mile away, is simple and plain by comparison. It has grown and developed over the years like the community it serves. Its dome and minaret seem incongruous to the surrounding back to back terraced houses. Originally this area of Liverpool was built to house prosperous merchants and seafarers; in the latter part of the twentieth century it became the scene of riots. Now, parts are being renewed and careful observation can identify the former elegance of Victorian architecture. Less than a mile away is the Anglican Cathedral. It took over a century to build and its stained glass reflects the changing styles witnessed in that time. At the other end of the appropriately named, Hope Street, the Roman Catholic Cathedral looks like a child of the sixties; its cold concrete warmed by abstract patterned stained glass and hanging tapestries. Again incredibly different, and all inspiring in different ways.

Halloween Master Class Pupils in Years 7-11 were treated to a ghostly experience when they attended the skeleton-making masterclass. Whilst cutting out their own life size skeletons and labeling each bone with the correct scientific name pupils enjoyed a Halloween feast. The feast included chocolate witches nails, jelly eye balls, Oreo ghosts and slimy green jelly with edible body parts. Some of the pupils gave their skeleton a name and added some glow in the dark paint to its skull so that it could welcome trick or treaters at their house on Halloween.

Lower Sixth Animal Biology trip to Manchester University. Five of our passionate Biologists volunteered to attended an animal research day at Manchester University. The pupils had a short presentation from a PhD student on the ethics of conducting research on animals. Then it was straight off to the labs to carry out practical activities such as dissections on the brain of a mouse and studying the effect of temperature on the the heart rate of a chick embryo. The most fascinating part of the day was the fly lab. Here the students were able to identify different fly phenotypes by looking for distinguishing features of the flies through the microscope. The Professor leading the lab also set up a number of practical experiments relating to the physiology of a fly. He explained the significance of his research and the experiments the pupils did to the treatment of epilepsy and other neurological diseases.

49 B I O LO GY

Biology

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Upper Sixth Biology Trip to NOWGEN. To enhance their understanding of the gene technology section of their A2 studies the Upper Sixth pupils attended a day workshop at the University of Manchester Genetics Centre where they carried out a number of these techniques on their own DNA. Their aim was to investigate whether or not they have the gene which codes for a particular receptor on their tongue which enables them to taste a chemical called PTC found in sprouts. The girls carried out a number of genetic techniques including centrifugation, PCR, and gel electrophoresis. Not only did they have

the opportunity to experience working in a laboratory to determine their own genotype but they also were able to consolidate their understanding of some of the techniques which they will be assessed on at A2 level.

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50 CHEMISTRY

Chemistry British Science Week British Science Week (BSW) is a tenday celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths and this year took place from 13 to 22 March 2015. During British Science Week, many students in Year 9 volunteered to take part in a multiplayer chemistry quiz, competing live against other students from other schools and the clock. The Chemical Reaction Challenge engaged the students in a fun, competitive event which assessed their knowledge and understanding of chemistry topics they have studied. Well done to Isabella Vickers who was 76th out of 3729 students and 1st at AESG, Lucinda Beeson, 2nd at AESG and Charlotte Powell who was 3rd at AESG. One of the favourite experiments this year at AESG has to be ‘methane bubbles’.

Many of the girls have been brave enough to have a heap of methane bubbles placed on their hand and then light them up to see a column of fire rising in front of their face. Awesome! On the VLE there is a website with all sorts of ‘Interesting Chemistry Resources.’ Some examples include The Royal Society of Chemistry’s interactive periodic table history, alchemy, podcasts, videos, and data trends across the periodic table. Click the tabs at the top to explore each section. Use the buttons above to change your view of the periodic table and view Murray Robertson’s stunning Visual Elements artwork. Click each element to read detailed information. http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table

Physics As part of the forces topic in Year 7 the girls are required to consider the roles of many different forces and the impact they have on different aspects of the world around us. One of the key forces they have looked at is friction. To begin with they looked at why friction occurs

and ways in which it can be reduced. This involved measuring the force required to move a block across different surfaces, then repeating the experimenting using different lubricants including water and washing up liquid. The results were interesting and informative and by happy coincidence gave the desks in the physics lab a nice shiny finish. As one of the more difficult areas of Physics can be trying to apply ideas to different situations the girls were asked to use their new knowledge to identify areas where friction would be useful or a hindrance on a pair of bicycles. It was interesting to note that in several places the friction was both and that there were significant differences between the different types of bicycle.

51 PHYSICS

â&#x20AC;&#x153;As part of the forces topic in Year 7 the girls are required to consider the roles of many different forces and the impact they have on different aspects of the world around us.â&#x20AC;?

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Diffraction Grating The diffraction grating is the last topic the LVI study in Physics. It is a small filter that separates light into its individual colours and can be used to find the wavelength of a particular colour of light or to study the light from distant stars to identify the elements in them. The LVI took these pictures by putting the grating in front of the camera lens.

Days of Reflection Year 8s visited Alton Castle in September for a mix of fun team activities and quiet reflection on friendship and working together... Year 6s walked round to St Phillip & St James’ Parish Hall for their day led by Hallam Diocese Youth Team and had fun reflecting on their time in Junior School and thinking ahead to moving up to Senior School. Year 7s went to ‘Just Youth’ in Salford - a new venue for us this year and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

Charity & Chaplaincy

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Community Service We continued our usual programme of regular visits to three local Care homes Brookview, The Belvedere and Cavendish Court. 11 VI Form girls visited the Homes and were the first group this year to become ‘Dementia Friends’ (Alzheimer’s Society initiative) after attending a session run by Chaplain Mary. We have held six of these sessions this year and are continuing to become a ‘Dementia friendly’ school. Five girls from Year 10 visited Cavendish Court once a week for three months for their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award and enjoyed helping with their Spring gardening project. Ninety girls joined visits arranged either during lunchtimes or after school. Girls in Year 6 prepared a programme of entertainment for a themed activity week on ‘school days’ at Brookview in October. They learnt several old fashioned playground games including ‘Oranges and Lemons’ and ‘Farmer’s in his Den’, showed off some fast moving hand clapping games, sang a medley of songs and the school hymn accompanied by Mrs Goff on the keyboard and then chatted and showed residents some of their school books. In December, a group of VI Formers arranged carol singing at all three homes and 24 Brownies went carol singing at Cavendish Court. We also welcomed care home residents in to watch the Early Years, Infant and Junior Christmas productions - they loved watching the little ones in their Nativity plays and the girls served refreshments and helped with welcoming and looking after our guests. A highlight visit was Year 5s and a group of 12 senior girls going to Brookview to share the fun of newly hatched chicks at Eastertime. Another was attending Albert’s 100th birthday celebrations at Cavendish Court in June, when 8 girls were invited to his party!

Charity Support We have had a fantastic year for fundraising! We had a great mix of joining in popular National fundraising events and supporting charities close to individuals’ hearts. Even before school started back individuals were busy over the summer – Rowdah Charbak raised £10,000 along with a pal in support of people in Syria by doing the GB 10K run. The Sixth Form joined the world’s biggest coffee morning in September and raised £250 for Macmillan Nursing; the usual CAFOD appeals raised record amounts, and the amount of food collected at Harvest time was amazing.

Daisy Badger played a large part in fundraising for the Kenya project run by Mrs Leigh. An amazing £8000 has been raised this year. The whole church was refurbished and the pews were varnished and all the walls painted. A church service was held by the community for AESG to give thanks. Eric Mugendi has been sponsored by AESG to get his nursing degree. He will qualify this year. He will then give back by working in his community. The community gave their farm produce as thanks for what AESG has done for their school and Eric. The girls gave pencil cases filled with stationery to the pupils in 2 schools.

In November staff and girls turned into Superheroes for the BBC Children in Need appeal, raising £990.12! In December we sent 110 shoeboxes to Eastern Europe with Rotary Staff and Sixth Form collected £235.95 wearing Christmas jumpers for Save the Children and Senior and Junior choirs and musicians joined with Bolton school to put on a concert in Manchester Cathedral for the NSPCC and collected £490.00. We also supported the Christmas Tree Festival at the Methodist Church to raise money for charity.

In February, Years 7-9 had a great time getting plenty of fresh air and exercise by doing the GSA 10K walk locally in support of Plan International who provide aid to help girls in developing countries reach their potential. £2000 was raised in sponsorship for this event. In March, Mr Hogan organised a fun and hugely popular ‘Raid my Wardrobe’ clothes sale for the Teenage Cancer Trust, raising £484.90 whilst Red Nose Day provided some startling sights as we collected £812.39 for Comic Relief.

The suffering following two terrible earthquakes in Nepal in April touched everyone’s hearts and in the space of three days £2458.00 was raised by an appeal for help in assembly. In two breaktimes and lunchtimes in the DT room (thanks Mrs Boyland!) Year 9s made and sold pin badges in the colours of the Nepal flag, raising over £200, Cake and sweet sales by groups in Years 7, 8 and 9 were hastily arranged and it all added to the fantastic total sent off to the Disasters Emergency Committee. In May, two teachers in the Junior school Miss Coates and Mr Earnshaw ran the London marathon for their chosen charities. Their totals were boosted by £1480.80 from AESG girls and their families.

In total, we are very proud to have raised over £19,000 this year!

CHARITY & CHAMPLAINCY

CHARITY & CHAPLAINCY

“Nursery and Pre School filled the most: a fantastic 18 boxes for babies!”

Justice and Peace Awareness and Fundraising Harvest is a time to give thanks for the plenty we have and to help those who have little, and this year we collected for the Lifeshare Centre for the homeless in Manchester and the Hampers of Hope local food bank. The gifts completely filled three estate cars! We also used CAFOD materials to raise awareness of conditions in El Salvador and Myanmar and the two associated ‘small change’ collections raised £1357, which with matched funding from the Government will rise to over £2000. This is a ‘small change’ record and Mrs Coates in Finance had to borrow a trolley from the kitchen to take the money to the bank!! 11KM won the challenge as the top fundraising form for the CAFOD appeals, they collected over £200 and 9SC filled the most collection boxes. The Amnesty ‘Write for Rights’ campaign – writing letters and cards to prisoners of conscience and leaders of countries all over the world - went well, with Miss Livings’ Creative Writing Club joining in. Another highlight was our Christmas shoebox collection. The local President of Rotary led an excellent assembly about their work delivering shoeboxes and we

filled 110 boxes for Ukraine and Belarus. Nursery and Pre School filled the most: a fantastic 18 boxes for babies!

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Worship And Prayer Life This has been another busy year for Chaplaincy with a full programme of assemblies as well as the usual services and celebrations of Mass and Eucharist throughout the year. One highlight was our lively St Joseph’s Day service led by Chaplain Jenny and Reverend Ben, when the whole school from age 2 -18, plus Governors, staff and PFA representatives celebrated AESG’s 16th birthday, complete with birthday cake made by the kitchen staff. Girls from every year group helped to build a house to emphasise the importance of and connectedness between all members of our school community. Fr Matthew from St Pius X continued to say Mass in school and we welcomed parents and parishioners to introduce our new team of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion – Brooke, Amy, Luciana, Leah, Katie and Mrs Corrigan, who are privileged to carry out this important role. Candlemas and St George’s Day were also special because the whole school celebrated them by worshipping simultaneously in different locations. The other highlights were the Juniors attending two fun and interactive ‘Experiencing’ events organised by Reverend Jane at St Philip & St James’ Harvest and Magna Carta – when they learnt all about the topics in small groups through stories and activities and then enjoyed juice and cakes to finish. The Chapel has continued to be used by staff and students most days.

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54 HEAD GIRLS

Head Girl - Aquiel Brittain-Dissont Deputy Head Girls - Megan Payne & Felicity Coen

Head Girls 2014/15 Head Girls: Our Year “They say “time flies, when you’re having fun!”, and this year has shown us that. We can’t believe our year is over as being the AESG Head Girl Team. To think this time last year we’d just been announced as the new team and we were already starting to think of ideas for Prize Day. It’s been an amazing and also a busy year, however we have enjoyed it all immensely. Here is an insight into our year as the Head Girl Team of 2014-2015. It all started in May 2014, when we were announced as the new Head Girl team. The process of becoming Head and Deputy Head Girls was a very nerve

racking but useful experience, as it helped us to prepare for university and job interviews later in life. We were all so thrilled to be given this opportunity, but at this point, we were blind to what the next 12 months would have in store for the three of us - a lot more goes on behind the scenes! After being welcomed back from our AS Levels last summer, we were thrown in at the deep end as we were asked to begin organising what we wanted to do at Prize Day, one of AESG’s most prestigious evenings of the school calendar. When we started writing our speech, we all knew that we wanted to make our Prize Day

Many of you may not know this, but every week we have a meeting with Mrs Goff to discuss all the many events that are happening in school and to put forward anything that we think could help improve the school. These weekly meetings allow us to really get involved in the school and act as a voice for all the girls. One of our favourite meetings was when Mrs Goff took us on a fascinating expedition

At the beginning of the year, we were invited to the GSA Head Girl Conference at Westholme School. We were a little apprehensive at first, but we actually learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed this experience. It was interesting to meet so many other Head Girl Teams and to compare experiences about the process we went through to get chosen and the responsibilities which we face. One of the tasks we were given was to make an outfit out of paper and other materials that represented us as a Head Girl team. We have loved getting involved in many different events in school. School Council has been a great way to see what everyone was concerned about in school. It’s very interesting to hear everyone’s ideas and figuring out how we can achieve these proposals to benefit the school. Spotting the solar eclipse was an extraordinary experience, one that we will remember for years to come. It was such a privilege for us to take part in this year’s School ISI Inspection, and the outcome really made us proud to come to such an amazing school and to be able to be the Head Girl Team. Even though it was quite daunting touring the inspectors and having them observe lessons, it was worth it to have our Fun Day at the start of the Summer Term. Everyone worked so hard and it was a lovely day to be able to celebrate our success.

To think we have come to the end of one of the busiest, but best years of our lives is unbelievable, we have enjoyed it immensely and can’t thank you all enough for making our year as your Head Girl Team so delightful and memorable. We hope we have fulfilled our position and duties, but if anything we hope you remember us for all our videos, or even just running a little late for Prize Day! This has been an experience we will never forget!” Head Girl Election The expression ‘tempus fugit’ is no more apt than in a busy school. No sooner have we elected one set of Head Girls than we seem to be preparing to elect another! The six girls – Kara Mello, Leah Powell, Tsitsi Mutamba, Simone Mostaan, Clarissa Tyson and Phoebe Moore - who had initially been nominated by a vote of their peers and therefore had to prepare for the next stage of the election process when they were already very engaged in studying for their AS-levels, demonstrated a remarkable ability to manage their time which will certainly stand them in good stead in the ‘real’ world. After lengthy consultations, we were delighted to announce that Clarissa Tyson was to be our Head Girl for 2015/16 with Tsitsi Mutamba and Leah Powell as our Deputy Head Girls. We were genuinely impressed by all the girls and very much look forward to working with all the Upper Sixth next year as students at the very top of the school! Kate Cheetham Head of Sixth Form

HEAD GIRLS

“We have enjoyed this year immensely and can’t thank you all enough for making our year as your Head Girl Team so delightful and memorable.”

underneath the school; somewhere we didn’t even know existed! We really enjoy these meetings as it means that we can understand all that goes on behind the scenes that we never knew about before and do our bit to represent the girls, putting forward your ideas to improve your school life.

After the success of creating our Prize Day video, we decided that from then on, making videos should be our identifying feature as the Head Girls and that we should create a video for anything we could. By the end of the year, we had created 4 videos, bearing in mind we had our A2 work to do on top of it! We have thoroughly enjoyed making our videos and surprising you on a Monday morning with something light and cheerful to start off the week. Our editing skills got much better, not Oscar winning standard but it all seemed to run smoothly! It has been a great way for us to work together as a team and we hope you have enjoyed them as much as we have loved making them!

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one of the best and most memorable; we wanted to be different from other Head Girl teams before us. We brainstormed and came up with many crazy, innovative ideas to add to the evening’s events. At one point the idea of entering on a zip wire was mentioned… although health and safety prevented us from achieving this! In the end, we thought with Flic’s IT skills and some creativity, why not create a video, something we can look back at in years to come in order to remember Prize Day 2014. We’re looking forward to seeing whether this year’s Head Girls can top it... no pressure! We had so much fun creating the video and we were so anxious for the school to see it, especially since no one knew what was in store. Although initially it was daunting, Prize Day was such an enjoyable day and evening that we will remember it forever.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

56 HOUSE HAPPINESS

House Happiness We were treated to an extravaganza of entertainment as the four Houses staged their plays based on medieval tales. St Emilie’s House was given the task of dramatically recreating ‘The Lady of Shallot’ for which Fiona Smith and her team were awarded top marks for their script and the originality of their story. The acting in St Emilie’s House was superb and Zoe Kinsella, in particular, played ‘the lady’ with aplomb! The story that St Francis’ House had to stage was based on ‘The Fountain of Youth’ for which captain Megan Pimlott and her team were awarded first place in the music and singing category. Clarissa Tyson’s Chaucer rap was one of the many highlights of the afternoon! The props created by St Joan’s house as they staged their take on ‘Robin Hood’ ensured that Brooke Van Bruygom and her team scored highest in this category. St Joan’s were also commended for ensuring

that the entire house was involved in the programme and the judges commented on Frankii Davis-McKean costume as she channelled her inner Friar Tuck… The ancient tale of ‘Excalibur’ provided captain Amani Ahmed with an opportunity to lead St Hilary’s to victory in the use of ICT category. Mr Hogan’s valiant efforts to pull the sword from the stone made the entire school laugh as did Miss Moss’ impersonation of Mrs Waterhouse! However, there can only be one winner and, on this occasion, St Francis were awarded most points scoring solidly across each of the nine categories – St Emilie’s finished only ten points behind St Francis with St Hilary’s placed third. The next House activity will take place in September when each of the Houses will have to decorate the Maths corridor with their House posters – good luck to everyone!

“The props created by St Joan’s house as they staged their take on ‘Robin Hood’ ensured that Brooke Van Bruygom and her team scored highest in this category.”

scenes (next time we’ll have more than one polling booth) and voters queued patiently to exercise their democratic right and have their say. Votes were quickly counted by the Returning Officer (aka Mrs Corrigan) and various Sixth Form assistants (and witnesses) and the results were duly announced: 128 votes to the Conservative Party; 67 to the Liberal Democrats; 38 to UKIP; 37 to Labour and 23 for The Green Party – a really interesting result, especially given that no one Party managed to secure an overall majority. Overnight negotiations between rival factions were measured and professional – there was none of the back-biting which allegedly occurred in the last hung parliament and, finally, Katie Snell for the Conservatives was able to come to an agreement with Phoebe Moore of the Lib Dems to form a coalition. The question then, of course, was would May 7th see a similar pattern or would our cousins north of the border hold the trump card? We hope this Mock Election gave the students at least a taste of the democratic process and began to engage them in it.

And, of course, not everyone did – but that is the nature of democracy, folks. Nonetheless, we were delighted with our turnout which, at 61%, was only 4% behind that of the previous UK General Election and we were pleased to note healthy percentage turnouts across all Year groups and staff, indicating a genuine level of interest in the process. In fact, polling opened on April 29th amidst some frantic – and dare I say it - occasionally chaotic

Thanks to everyone who took an interest and special thanks to the five girls – Katie, Laura, Annabelle, Phoebe and Clarissa – who ‘volunteered’ to represent the Parties in the first place and who did such a great job. Kate Cheetham Head of Sixth Form

ELECTION FEVER

And then the fun began. The students contacted each Party asking them for information on their policies and used

this – and their own studies of events in the news – to come up with their own campaign. The school became festooned with stickers and posters reminding us of the various Parties’ existence and canvassing of the electorate took place on a daily basis. Phoebe Moore of the Lib Dems in particular demonstrated the kind of tenacity and energy which any politician might need in constantly promoting her Party’s policies to anyone who would listen! Over the course of the term we followed a well-attended Hustings at which the candidates launched their campaigns with a lunch time Question Time and – finally – a televised address to the assembled masses All students were reminded that women fought – and indeed died – for their right to vote, so it was incumbent upon us to exercise that right too, but we didn’t forget our ‘brothers’ too – after all, it was not until The Representation of the People’s Act in 1918 that all men had the right to vote themselves. We hoped very much that everyone in our community would take the opportunity to vote.

A General Election is always a momentous occasion for any country and, keen to engage all of our students in the democratic process – not just those in the Upper Sixth who actually have the right to vote – we decided to hold our own school Mock Election to reflect as closely as possible what was happening in our country. Those of you who enjoy politics will doubtless be aware that this year’s election was predicted to be a close run contest with the ‘minor’ Parties – in particular the SNP – potentially having a considerable influence on the final result. In the Sixth Form we did consider attempting to replicate this in our Mock Election, but in the end decided that it would be just a little too complicated. Instead we asked for ‘volunteers’ amongst the Sixth Form students (and some of them did actually volunteer) to represent the Conservatives, The Labour Party, UKIP, The Liberal Democrats and The Green Party. We were very keen to avoid students voting for the candidates as individuals (indeed, our slogan was ‘Politics not Personalities’, something of which maybe a few of the real candidates could take note), so we drew names out of a hat to assign the students to their Party. Thus, we ended up with Katie Snell for the Conservatives, Annabelle Lonsdale for Labour, Clarissa Tyson for UKIP, Phoebe Moore representing the Lib Dems and Laura Parry for The Greens.

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Election Fever

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58 LIBRARIES

Libraries This has been an exceptionally busy year in both the Junior and Senior Libraries. The Junior Library has been relocated and now shares space with the Learning Enhancement Centre. Mrs Wood, the School Librarian has this year begun managing the Junior Library so has been sorting all the stock and also taking library sessions with all Junior School classes. Girls have story times on our lovely new beanbags, courtesy of the PFA and library skills lessons are to follow. World Book Day was marked by girls donating books for the library or funds to purchase new stock. In the Senior School, again courtesy of the PFA, we upgraded the Library Management System and after training using the new school iPads, the girls have been enjoying searching for books, checking their own library accounts using the internet and indeed their own devices. They particularly enjoy scanning barcodes of books in shops to see whether those titles are in stock in school. The next phase of the programme is to get all the Junior Library stock catalogued and classified on to the system – no mean feat!

Library classes have continued with all Years 7 to 9 and some Year 10 and 11 groups having regular sessions with Mrs Wood – the girls are exposed to a wide range of books, share their reading experiences with each other and enjoy curing up and reading on new beanbags from the PFA – a good experience on so many levels. Some of the areas of literary interest covered were; banned books and censorship, the origins of fairy tales and rewriting them for the 21st century, 150 years of Alice in Wonderland, a Christmas murder mystery session, Tweeting a book review (follow us on @AESGLibrary) and fiction with a scientific twist. World Book Day in the Senior School was celebrated with a special assembly. Girls from the well-attended PageTurners Club and Year 9 joined Mrs Wood, Clarry Welsh (our fabulous library prefect) and Aquiel Brittain-Dissont our Head Girl on stage to promote their love of reading. Staff and girls enjoyed taking part in our first ‘Shelfie” competition – there was much discussion about which books staff were reading based on their personal bookshelves!

Girls always enjoy meeting published authors and are often inspired by their background stories. This year we have been fortunate enough to have visits from top selling authors Holly Smale, for senior girls and Sarah Lean for junior girls. Both authors were very engaging and the girls took advantage of the opportunity to chat to them whilst having new copies of their books signed. The Library has been a focus for this year’s bi-lateral Erasmus exchange project – the theme being literature, with the emphasis on Michael Morpurgo’s “War Horse” which our counterparts in a school in Dax, France have been also reading. Year 7 girls have produced some wonderful work inspired by the book and the project will culminate in a book produced by both the 5 of our girls and the French team after they worked jointly in France on this. Mrs Ruth Wood, Librarian

GCSE Results Summer 2015 A* - C Passes 10

Anam Ahmed

Leila Hussamy

Lucy Aitken-Warburton

Laura Jackson

Zoe Aldridge

Eleanor Jagger

Dina Al-Salam

Temi-Loluwa Johns

Ellie Bancroft

Megan Jones

Evangeline Barker

Scarlett Jones

Jemima Barton

Thea Jones

Isobel Bates

Hala Kawa

Isabel Bathurst

Isabelle Kearns

Holly Bennett

Lydia Kirby

Daisy Birch

Amelia Lewin

Sophia Bokhari

Helena Lewis

Izzie Bulley

Amelia Lloyd

Rana Charbak

Alice Maitland

Danisai Chimanikire

Amelia Manley

Sophie Christie

Charlotte Massie

Katherine Clements

Rachel Mealey

Amy Connell

Rebecca Moore

Charlie Cooper-Hall

Emily Moylan

India Davies

Rebecca Myers

Sara De Kretser

Lydia Rodgers

Katie Evans

Olivia Rowley-Hardman

Jemima Fiennes

Gwyneth Spence

Georgia Gannicott

Scarlett Summerfield

Harriet Gibson

Zara Thompson

Lauren Gilks

Rebecca Torr

Anna Gorman

Zara Ward

Amelia Haslam

Eve Watson

Freya Haworth

Sarah Worthington

G C S E R E S U LT S

Honor Hocknell

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Leya Ahmad

GCE Advanced Level Results 2015 * Denotes an A grade, ** Denotes an A* Grade Arabella Adamson Daisy Badger Miriam Beck

Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics* University of Liverpool Microbiology

Georgina Charlesworth

Annabelle Lonsdale

Physics*, Chemistry*, Mathematics* University of Bristol Chemistry ICT, Design Technology Apprenticeship Bentley Motors

Alexandra Blyth

Psychology*, Economics, Geography* London City University Law

Justine Mullen Redwood

Christie-Jo Cavanagh Sorcha Chadwick

Psychology, Business Studies*, Theatre Studies University of Sheffield Psychology English Language, ICT (AS), General Studies (AS), Economics (AS) Nottingham Trent University Law

Felicity Coen

Psychology**, History, Philosophy & Ethics* University of Sheffield Psychology

Sarah Conner

Biology**, Chemistry, English Language University of Sheffield Biology with a year abroad

Grace Corris

Juliette Gande

English Language, Economics, Geography Gap Year â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bank of New York Physics*, Chemistry*, Mathematics**, Further Mathematics* Trinity College, University of Oxford Materials Science Psychology, English Language, Philosophy & Ethics Nottingham Trent University Education Studies & Psychology

Megan Hudson

History, Spanish, English Language Nottingham Trent University Spanish & Media

Kate Irving

Biology*, Chemistry*, Mathematics* University of Liverpool Veterinary Science

Gulsah Isik Bria Keely Georgia Knox Emily Lawless

Spanish, Economics, Geography Manchester Metropolitan University International Business Management English Language, Spanish*, French University of Newcastle Modern Languages Psychology, English Language, Business Studies* Nottingham Trent University Marketing Psychology, English Language, Business Studies Nottingham Trent University Media & PR

Biology*, Chemistry*, History*, General Studies, Psychology*

Anna Hasan Abigail Hudson

Louise Powers Charlotte Pritchard Ella Roberts Amelia Shaw Annabel Smith Hanako Soga Katie Snell Allegra Stone Bethanee Tomlinson Clarissa Welsh Anne-Marie Whiteley

Josephine Johnson

English Language, Psychology, Spanish

English Language, General Studies, Psychology

Further Mathematics*, General Studies, Mathematics*, History*, Physics*

History*, Spanish, Psychology*, General Studies, Mathematics*

Business Studies, Food Technology*, General Studies, History*, Philosophy & Ethics

Leah Powell Harriet Ratchford Beatrice RedgraveScott

Business Studies, General Studies, History, Music, Psychology

Business Studies, Design Technology, English Language, General Studies, ICT

Biology, Economics, Geography*, General Studies*, History

Fiona Smith

Economics*, Geography*, General Studies*, History*, Psychology

Amy Rhodes

Biology*, Chemistry, General Studies, Mathematics, Psychology*

Isabella Summerfield

Business Studies, General Studies, History, Psychology

Art*, Design Technology, English Literature, General Studies, Psychology

Amaya Kamali

Business Studies, English Language, General Studies, Philosophy & Ethics, Theatre Studies

Humera Khan

Biology*, Chemistry*, Food Technology*, General Studies, Physics

Charlotte Thornber

Rubab Khan

Biology, Chemistry, General Studies, Physics, Psychology

Clarissa Tyson

Zoe Kinsella

Business Studies, General Studies*, ICT, Theatre Studies

Talisa Valentine

Business Studies, Design Technology, English Language, General Studies, ICT

Ellen Macleod

Classical Civilisation, English Language, General Studies, Latin, History

Brooke Van Bruygom

Economics, French, General Studies, Philosophy & Ethics

Biology*, Chemistry*, Mathematics**, Further Mathematics* University of Birmingham Medicine Psychology, Art, Design Technology South Trafford College Art Foundation ICT, Spanish, Business Studies University of Derby International Spa Management Psychology, Art, Design Technology Epsom College of Art Art Foundation

Georgia Medlicott

ICT, Art* Manchester Metropolitan University Art Foundation

Kara Mello Baron

Physics, Mathematics*, Business Studies University of Leeds Management ICT, Mathematics Continuing her education in Japan Management Biology, Economics, Geography University of Newcastle Marine Biology Psychology, English Language, Business Studies Leeds Beckett University Business & Management History, Psychology, Philosophy & Ethics Nottingham Trent University Law History*, English Literature*, English Language* University of Leeds English Literature Psychology*, History*, Philosophy & Ethics** University of Newcastle Law

Business Studies, English Language*, Geography

General Studies, History*, Philosophy & Ethics, Psychology

Catherine Metcalfe

Economics, General Studies*, History*, Mathematics, Music*

Kathryn Moore

Economics*, General Studies, History*, Philosophy & Ethics*

Phoebe Moore

Biology, General Studies, Mathematics, Spanish, Philosophy & Ethics

Iona Morphet Simone Mostaan Kerry Murphy Tsitsi Mutamba

French*, History*, Latin*, Greek*

French, General Studies, History, Philosophy & Ethics, Spanish

General Studies*, Mathematics*, Music*, Physics, Psychology*

Biology, French*, General Studies*, History

Nora Teraifi Nina Thompson

Davina Wallace Emily Walton Tatiana Wilson

Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry

Business Studies*, Economics, Geography*, Physical Education

Biology, English Language*, Geography, Music*

General Studies*, Geography*, Mathematics, History,* Psychology

Art, Business Studies*, Design Technology*, General Studies, Psychology

Design Technology, Food Technology, General Studies, Geography, Psychology

Biology*, Chemistry*, Mathematics*, Physics*, Music*

S I X T H F O R M G C E A S L E V E L R E S U LT S

Gemma Francis

English Language, Spanish, French Nottingham Trent University French & Spanish

Alexandra Glover

Melissa Jones

ICT, Business Studies, Theatre Studies Sheffield Hallam University Business Management

Physics*, Mathematics*, Geography* Imperial College London Geophysics with a year abroad

Business Studies, General Studies, ICT, Theatre Studies, Psychology

Spanish, History, French Sheffield Hallam University Real Estate

Georgina Pickett

Jennifer Eden

Megan Pimlott

Laura Hughes

Art**, Spanish*, French Gap Year

ICT, English Language, Theatre Studies Manchester Metropolitan University Digital Media & Communications

Biology*, Chemistry, General Studies, Mathematics, Physics

Psychology, English Language*, History* University of York History

Amy Powell

Business Studies, English Language, General Studies, ICT, Psychology

Luciana Crowther

Felicity Paterson

Megan Payne

Varsha Parthiban

Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry*, General Studies, Physics

Biology, Chemistry*, General Studies, Mathematics, Philosophy & Ethics

Evangeline Hughes

English Language, History, Theatre Studies Nottingham Trent University Fashion Management

Theatre Studies, Food Technology, Philosophy & Ethics

Gulsanga Nazir

Isabel Paterson

Laura Parry

Grace Payne

Biology, Economics, Geography, General Studies, Psychology

Business Studies, History*, Physical Education

Biology, Chemistry, Philosophy & Ethics University of Central Lancashire Biomedical Sciences

ICT, English Language Apprenticeship Computing

Bethany Dillon

Ella Ferns

English Literature, English Language, Philosophy & Ethics University of Birmingham English Language

Francesca Phillips

English Language, Business Studies, Design Technology Gap Year followed by Bath Spa University Media & Communications

Alexandra Featherstone

Phillippa Neill

Spanish, English Language, Business Studies* University of Leeds Management & Spanish

Art*, Economics, Geography* University of Liverpool Architecture

Lauren Dickov

Emily Bates

ICT, Psychology, Philosophy & Ethics Liverpool John Moores University Applied Psychology

Ella Mitchell

History, English Literature*, Spanish University of York Law

Economics*, Mathematics**, Further Mathematics** London School of Economics Economics

Amani Ahmed

Elizabeth-Sophie Lockley

English Literature*, History*, Spanish University of Manchester Law

Aquiel Brittain-Dissont

English Literature, Philosophy & Ethics, Design Technology Central St Martins, London Fashion Communication: Fashion History and Theory

Biology*, Spanish*, French* University of Sheffield Linguistics & Hispanic Studies

Pheobe Loyd

Zoe Bennett

Imogen Crossland G C E A D V A N C E D L E V E L R E S U LT S 2 0 1 5

Psychology, English Language, Food Technology Aston University English Language

Charlotte Lindsay

*Denotes an A grade

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Rebecca Bennett

English Language, Spanish, French University of Bristol Hispanic Studies

Sixth Form GCE AS Level Results Summer 2015

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Written by Nina Fraser and Isabel Bennett Year 10 Mrs Riley Mrs. Riley has not only been a vital asset to the school in terms of teaching, but very much an extraordinary individual who has dedicated not only her time but her kindness to the pupils of AESG. She has watched on as many girls grew from small children to young women who are now waving their final goodbye to AESG for the last time. 1. Why did you decide to become a teacher? I originally trained and practised as a professional librarian after gaining my A levels, then I went on to have two children. I became Nursery Leader at Mount Carmel School in September 1997, taking the Nursery through the successful merger with St Hilary’s School and into the new Alderley Edge School for Girls.

Staff

S TA F F L E A V E R S

Miss Brotherhood Miss Brotherhood qualified in 1998 from the University of Bath and since then has taught for seventeen years with a year in Australia, but has taught at AESG for six years. Miss Brotherhood became a teacher after gaining coaching qualifications as a student. She enjoyed P.E at school but her P.E teacher had the biggest influence on the choice of her career. Miss Brotherhood said that her best experience at school was being given the opportunity to take responsibility for junior school P.E.”Mr. Groves was instrumental in my move from senior school and I thank him for that. I have loved my job with the minis of AESG.” Miss Brotherhood hopes that this won’t be her last teaching job but for now she is in the process of renovating a 1967 VW campervan so she will hopefully get the chance to drive it soon… Now finally here are Miss Brotherhood’s words of wisdom, “enjoy the opportunities that sport offers, always be kind, fair and honest and don’t take life too seriously!”

2. What has been the best experience of teaching at AESG? When the two Schools (St Hilary’s and Mount Carmel) merged it certainly was a predominant memory, although most significantly was the imaginative play time we use to have for an hour at the old St Hilary’s site, which was a definite favourable memory for me! 3. How has teaching changed since you started? Much has changed in regards to the school when I started 18 years ago, but in terms of learning there was the introduction of the early years foundation stage in 2012. This focused on the specific learning of 2,3

and 4 year olds. It confirmed that learning should be done mainly through play. 4. How many years have you been teaching? I have been working 18 years at AESG and 10 years prior to that. Since working here I have even worked with four new junior heads. 5. What words of wisdom would you share with us for our future? In my opinion children should strive to be best they can and ultimately be happy. A happy child can learn more. 6. If you could change one thing at AESG, what would it be? Nothing, I love it the way it is. 7. What will you miss most about AESG? The children and the team of staff I have worked with for such a long time. 8. What are you most excited about retirement? Seeing and helping with my grandchildren! Also spending time with my husband and 92-year-old mother! I might even write a book, you never know! 9. What are you going to do in your retirement? Spend some time in my caravan in Anglesey and I also want to do a lot of walking! 10. Will you come back and see us? Definitely, I can never truly leave AESG. By Ella Ferns Miss Sail We interviewed Miss Sail, our MFL teacher to find out more about her plans for the future, after AESG. When asked what she will miss about the school, she said that she will miss the students, her staff friends, the random flashmobs and the sausage rolls at break. Miss Sail said she decided to become a teacher so that she could inspire the young and show the children how amazing languages are. We asked her what has changed about teaching in her four years of teaching and she told us that the advancement of technology was the biggest change. Now, you may be wondering where on earth Miss Sail is going and in fact she is moving to a completely different country; British International School in Vietnam, as Head of Spanish. By Leah Bullock and Vienna Simic

Miss Birch Miss Birch has taught at AESG for 4 years and is now going to teach at Fallibroome Academy. She was state educated and feels that it is maybe time to give a bit back, especially in teaching A Level Mathematics and Further Mathematics. Excited and nervous in equal measure, she mostly looks forward to the opportunity to teach boys and girls. The difference of every day, her love of seeing people learn and showing progress keep her motivated in teaching. As she has been a good role model to us girls, she will miss us and the Running Club with Miss McKinnon most when she leaves this summer. Lastly she would like to share a few words of wisdom, a quote from her favourite philosopher Nietzsche: “Out of life’s school of war, what does not destroy me, makes me stronger.” by Ann-Michelle Mull Mrs Livingston Mrs Livingston has worked at AESG for 10 years. She applied for the position because she liked the sound of the school and the opportunity to work in an all-girls environment. When asked what her favourite bit of school was, she commented that she loved the classroom teaching, going to Kingswood with her new form each year, even in the rain and cold! She particularly remembers the Westminster Abbey trip to celebrate the Woodard Foundation. As a pupil, many can remember her amazing assemblies and she happily reminisced about the one with the dog food and cutting off Dr Gladman’s tie! It is with sadness that Mrs Livingston retires this year. She has been a devoted teacher and we will miss her terribly. Whilst off on sick leave she has had time to think about her future and reflect upon what is important to her at this point in her life. She has decided to spend time with her two grandchildren (Amelia and Henry) and is really excited about being around them more as she gets physically stronger to ward off those nasty germs young children have! When asked what message she would like to pass onto the girls and staff, she said “Work hard in lessons and do your best in the exams… we all have to work at it! Enjoy time with friends and family and good luck for the future.” Thank you Mrs Livingston – you have been a brilliant Maths teacher! By Mrs Wood

Some of her favourite experiences were how students who really struggled with French got a C at GCSE, and how students can become amazing at French. Before teaching, Mme Backus was a copywriter and worked on radio

Mrs Nicholson Mrs Nicholson has been at AESG for 12 years and she has inspired in us all a love of the past. What can I say about Mrs Nicholson? She makes history lessons fun, destroying the image that history is just about learning dates. Instead, I have learnt that history is about hangman, Pictionary, songs and reenactments. There’s no hiding in the corner as we are encouraged to join in, to guess, to contribute, to dress up and to debate. Who can forget The Battle of Hastings (courtesy of Year 7) or the numerous times that Year 8 has executed Charles I? The trip to the USA is always well attended. This may be due to the opportunity to widen our history knowledge or to shop in the Big Apple! We have all been inspired by different things including the Liberty Bell and Wall Street. Everyone is enthused by the sheer enjoyment that Mrs Nicholson brings to every expedition

S TA F F L E A V E R S

Madame Backus Madame Backus has been teaching at AESG for 22 years and said she is going to miss her colleagues and many of her students whom she has taught since they were in Junior School.

By Hyaat Halwani

By Rowdah Charbak.

advertising. She decided on a career in teaching because she loved how quickly children learned and wanted to be a part of that process. During her retirement she is going to move to France and go cycling on a tandem bike with her husband.

ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Leavers

Mrs Rule Mrs Rule has been teaching for 7 years, 2 of those at AESG as the Head of Business Studies and Economics. She is leaving us as she has moved house and will be going to work at King’s Chester. Mrs Rule is excited about working part time so that she can see more of her baby son. When she was younger she wanted to be a farmer like her dad but she decided to become a teacher after she enjoyed teaching during her gap year in China. Mrs Rule says she will miss all the girls and the school as it has been like a small family. Her best experience at AESG was Dragon’s Den, because there were so many fantastic projects and it was a proud moment for her. She really enjoyed working with Mrs Waterhouse and Mr Cook in the Business Studies Department, and if she could change one thing about AESG, it would be the location – she would move it closer to her new home so she wouldn’t have to leave! Mrs Rule’s words of wisdom are ‘Always try new things, like join a new club or do a sky dive, because you don’t want to have regrets when you are older about not taking up great opportunities.’ We will really miss all the fun lessons with Mrs Rule and wish her and her family all the best in their new home and school.

The history department will feel strange without her. Mrs Nicholson plans to continue teaching by part time tutoring and looking after her new little grandson. He is lucky that he will grow up with a love of history just like us. We will all miss you Mrs Nicholson. Catherine Metcalfe

Mrs Goff’s Final Thoughts... I am sure that you will agree with me that it has been a very busy and active year for the girls and I hope that you have enjoyed reading about their many and varied achievements.

I also hope that it has given you some insight into their lives at school as we wanted to be able to share this with you as well as record it for the future. They are indeed a very

impressive group of girls, led by their inspirational teachers, and I am proud to be Headmistress of such a successful and happy school.