Enews issue 83 christmas 2013

eNews Issue 83, Wednesday 11 December 2013

Carol Service, Windsor Parish Church

Merry Christmas from all at St George’s

Second Year Charity Christmas Run

Christmas Postman Christmas!

Christmas Dinner

Clockwise from top left: Fourth Year Christmas Netball Tournament; Fourth Year Charity Sale; Carols at Coworth Park, Staff Christmas Jumper Day, Decorating the Trees, Christmas Crafts & Skating at Winter Wonderland

Visionary Women

St George’s was delighted to welcome Professor Carolyn Muessig from the University of Bristol to deliver a lecture on ‘Visionary Women of the Past’ to the Lower Sixth.

Professor Muessig is a leading academic in Medieval Studies and Theology. She comes from Long Island, New York, and completed her PhD in Montreal. Her research interests include preaching, especially the sermons of Hildegard of Bingen and Jacques de Vitry, the role of women in the medieval church and the development of stigmatic theology. She has published editions and translations of the sermons of Jacques de Vitry, and articles on his sermons which discuss chastity, Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena and stigmatics. She is Co-director of the Centre for Christianity and Culture and the director for the Bristol Institute of Research in the Humanities and Arts.

Professor Muessig delivered a talk that examined the role that women played in the religious context of Medieval society.

When one thinks of the debates in the Catholic Church regarding female ordination or debates in the Anglican Church regarding the ordination of women as bishops, some may assume that if the place of women is challenged in the 21st century; surely the past did not hold great opportunity for women to have an active role in the Church? In in some ways this was true when we think of “theology” being taught at universities; women were not allowed to attend universities in the Middle Ages to study

theology. Theologians explained that theology was a rational and logical subject that explains the mysteries of the Christian faith. Theologians argued, therefore, that theology was off limits to women because their logical and rational capabilities were thought to be inferior to men’s.

Conversely, Professor Muessig demonstrated how women played a visionary role in the religious context of society. When one starts to scratch the surface of late medieval theology, alternative views emerge which indicate that antagonism against the Parisian theological model was rife. Professor Muessig presented the life and works of women who were renowned and revered in this Medieval World. Professor Muessig examined the life and roles of Angela of Foligno, Clare of Montefalco, Margaret of Faenza, Catherine of Siena and the support they found among like-minded men and women, which indicate alternative modes of theological conversation. Such evidence demonstrates that, in spite of the likes of Thomas Aquinas and Henry of Ghent, women thrived as influential players in a community of religious discourse in the later Middle Ages.

The lecture gave the girls an opportunity to expand their knowledge of visionary women of the past, listen to a leading academic and find out more about studying a Humanities degree at the University of Bristol.

Mrs Magill

Hampton Court Trip

Enlightenment in Ethiopia: A Philosophical Mystery

On Thursday 28 November, the Second Year went to Hampton Court to help with their studies on the Tudors, accompanied by Miss Jackson, Mr Sharkey Mr Calvocoressi and Mrs Lilley. We started with a tour of the Young Henry exhibition – turns out he wasn’t always fat! We also found out he was really good at sport. Then there was a historical re-enactment being performed so we followed two of the ladies of the court to the main hall and listened to some of the court intrigue. It was really interesting to see how the rich lived (and gossiped) in Tudor times.

Dr David Mitchell, from the London New College of Humanities, visited St George’s, Ascot, to meet the Lower Sixth Religious Studies students. His lecture, “Enlightenment in Ethiopia: A Philosophical Mystery” presented Dr Mitchell’s evidence of a very early enlightenment in Ethiopia before the European enlightenment as represented by Kant, Descartes and Rousseau.

We then went to an educational session where we had to work out the historical Tudor character from 10 pieces of primary evidence – it was so hard, even the teachers found it tricky! But the lady who was leading the sessions was really helpful and we found it really useful, both in understanding how to use sources and in understanding the Tudor minds. We then had lunch and afterwards went back into the Palace, first to the Tudor kitchens and then we were split into small groups so we could decide where we wanted to go. It was a lovely day and despite the bad traffic on the way home, it was enjoyed by everyone!

The lecture focussed on The Treatise of Zera Yakob. Dr Mitchell discussed the controversy surrounding the authorship of the text before examining the ideas presented within it. The girls successfully identified the influence of philosophers that they have studied, such as Aristotle and Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument, within the text.

Maths in Action On Monday 2 December, the Upper and Lower Sixth Further Mathematics Pupils headed to the station to travel into London to attend the 'Maths in Action' lectures at the University of London Institute of Education. They were present for 5 lectures on a wide variety of topics held together by showing how maths is used to solve problems or model situations in the real world. The students thoroughly enjoyed the day and each had their own favourite speaker. On Friday 6 December, all of the Fourth Year attended a similar day for their age group. They were present for 4 lectures given by people who were currently using maths extensively in their jobs and who wanted to show what it was possible to achieve using logical thinking and maths. The lectures were very entertaining; all of the pupils particularly enjoyed the interesting patterns produced from Pascal’s triangle and how the German enigma machine worked.

Youth Speaks Congratulations to all who represented St George’s in the Rotary Public Speaking and ESU Debating competitions this week.

Among the highlights of Rotary Youth Speaks were Klara Blasic’s somewhat ironic and highly entertaining “Mum’s the Word” speech about how much we gain from our mother’s advice. Also very well received by the Cormack audience was Emily Dominey’s assault on the Badger cull, “Badgering the Badgers”.

In the Intermediate category we were impressed by Sophia Lyons’ views on the excesses perpetrated in pursuit of the “Barbie Doll” female body image, in which she deployed black humour to devastating effect. Last, but by no means least, Olivia Aluko convinced us that “Feminism is Failing Femininity” in her attack on the waywardness of the “bra-burners”, a speech that certainly did not lack support! These main speakers were ably supported by their Chairs and Voters of Thanks: Freja King, Stephanie Okojie, Rebecca Oratokhai, Nicole Hui, Alice Hayward, Laura Beaumont, Seraphina Westcott and Lolade Aluko.

In the English Speaking Union debate Celina Brar and Emily Dominey faced down a highly-experienced Wellington duo, who spoke against a motion suggesting that Economic progress was a much greater priority for developing countries than caring for the environment.

Although the St. George’s girls did not progress to the Zone Final, they gave a very good account of themselves and enjoyed the whole intimidating experience.

Mr Sharkey

A Level Drama This haunting A2 Drama Devised piece was broadly based on 'The Crucible' and explored how social stigmas such as homosexuality or disability can be related to the way in which witches were ostracised by society at the time of the Salem witch trials.

Tale Wo

Romeo &

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& Juliet William Shakespeare

Tale Wo

After

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Juliet Sharman Macdonald

The First Year Drama Club Christmas Pantomime

Snow White

D House Party Saturday 30 November 2013

Medieval Banquet

Arabian Nights

B House Party Saturday 7 December 2013

GALA Alumnae Reunion

On Friday 15 November, GALA (the Georgian Alumnae Association) welcomed about 70 Old Girls to a London Reception.

Most of those attending had left school between 2000 and 2005 and had not seen their former teachers since then, so there were shrieks of happy recognition and much animated swapping of stories of the last ten years or so.

The school chef provided wonderful canapés, including small desserts arranged as a St George’s cross; our kitchens certainly lived up to their Tatler reputation!

To round off the evening former Chapel Choir members sang ‘The Lord Bless You and Keep You’. We hope to see these former pupils – and lots more – very soon.

U15 South East Berkshire Tournament

On Monday 25 November, the U15A team played in the South East Berkshire netball tournament. We were in the top division, playing for the Cup, and faced the strongest teams from the area.

In our first match we played Heathfield School and found them quite challenging. Good defensive play from both Emily Hughes and Stephanie Bankole meant that Heathfield only managed to score one goal and we won quite easily 5-1.

Next , we faced the Marist, who we knew would be very competitive. Here we had lots of opportunities to score but unfortunately struggled to get our shots in and very disappointingly lost 6-3. Next we played the Holt winning 4-1 with our shooters gaining in confidence.

In our next match against Wellington School both Esme French and Rosie Fisher played exceptionally, backing up our shooters on the goal circle and displaying excellent ball control. In a very tense 8 minutes we won 8-3 which was very pleasing.

Next came Maiden Erlegh who struggled in this division and we beat them confidently 8-3. Then Charters, who rallied hard but again we won 4-1 and then our final match was against last year’s winners The Abbey School. Here the ball travelled from attack to defence with both teams not allowing the shooters to score. After a few minutes both teams had scored one goal and everyone was really trying their best. Unluckily we missed a vital goal which then gave The Abbey the advantage which they took taking them in to the lead. In the last few seconds The Abbey scored again and the final score was 3-1 to them.

Overall, St Georges came third, having won 5 out of their 7 matches. Everyone in the team played extremely well and mentions go to Emily Hughes, Stephanie Bankole, Rosie Fisher and the Captain, Esme French.

Looking Forward...

Monday 6 January 2014 Boarders Return from 6.00pm First-Fifth Year by 8.30pm, Sixth Form by 10.00pm Thursday 23 January 2014 Upper Sixth Parents' Meeting 4.15pm, Sue Cormack Hall Friday 24 January 2014 Third Year Parents' Normandy Briefing, GCSE Options Meeting and Parents' Meeting 3.00pm, Chapel EXEAT starts at 4.00pm Sunday 26 January 2014 Headmistress's and Governors Dinner for Fourth Year Parents 7.30pm Tuesday 11, Wednesday 12 & Thursday 13 February 2014 Bugsy Malone 7.30pm, Sue Cormack Hall

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