Thegleam 2013 14

The Gleam.

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WELCOME

Ar t work l av ender l ai

Welcome to the gle am Enjoy a collection of creative pieces from our girls.

Celebrate significant activities, events and projects that have taken place.

Reflect on achievements over the past academic year.

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CONTENTS

A r t w o r k IMOGEN THORNHILL

ART S W EE K

A collection of poetry, short stories and artwork from the girls.

04–19

boarding

An insight into life as a boarder.

20–25

d u k e o f e d i n b u r g h ’ s a w a r d Training days, awards and heavy rucksacks.

26–27

drama

Showcasing the best performances of the past year.

28–33

halls

The latest developments in the ongoing battle for the Hall Trophy.

34–39

competitions

Academic and sporting successes.

40–45

exhibitions

BSG’s contribution to Somerset Art Weeks.

46–47

charity

Fundraising events.

48–51

careers

Looking ahead to the bright future.

52–53

sixth form

Showing life beyond school.

54–55

c e l e b r at i o n s

Celebrating the cultural diversity of the school.

56–57

politics

Exploring current affairs.

58–59

local interests

Taking a role in the community.

60–61

music

An overview of the year’s musical events.

62–69

prep

A compilation of pupils’ activities throughout the academic year.

70–79

science

From nuclear reactors to Girls in Science Day.

80–87

sport

Celebrating the girls’ athletic accomplishments.

88–98

trips

The girls review cultural, historical, theatrical and educational trips.

i n t e r v i e ws

Inside the minds of some of our beloved staff.

107–110

s p e e c h d ay

The finale to a great year.

111–116

99–106

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ARTS WEEK

Photography Workshop Arts Week couldn’t have had a better start, with the Sixth Form being treated to a photography workshop from professional photographer Mr Watts, whose career has covered everything from landscapes to fashion.

After a brief talk on the various techniques we could use to capture different atmospheres and moods, we were let loose outside and around the art department – ready to launch our modelling careers.

After half an hour we returned, with some genuinely stunning and well-composed photos. Mr Watts then showed us how to edit them using our own school software, and we were seriously impressed by what could be achieved with a few highlights or change in colouring. Everyone agreed it was a brilliant workshop. Thank you to Mrs Kelley for arranging it and, of course, to Mr Watts for taking the time to teach us – it was a very enjoyable event. ciara chapman u6

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Theatresaurus

Insect Sculpting Workshop

Just a Minute

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ARTS WEEK

On Monday, 25 November, Miss Elinor Tolfree visited Bruton School for Girls in order to deliver four Indonesian Gamelan workshops.

She brought with her a full Balinese Gamelan orchestra and spent the morning teaching visiting students from Ash Primary School, Oakfield Academy and Horsington Primary School how to perform basic parts on the various Indonesian instruments.

Miss Tolfree also gave the students an insight into Balinese culture, drawing upon her extensive experience touring the island to furnish students with an array of salient vocabulary and understanding.

Gamelan Workshop

In the afternoon, students from Senior 2 participated in the workshop, following up on recent curriculum time which was spent investigating Javanese Gamelan music.

It was a rare opportunity for the girls to perform the techniques learnt in classes on authentic instruments and they created some convincing Indonesian sounds. The workshop was part of Arts Week. Thank you to Miss Tolfree for an engaging insight into non-Western musical culture.

Mr Dury

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Ernest et Célestine On the Wednesday of our brilliant Arts Week 2013, Senior 1 and 2 and Prep 5 and 6, all gathered in Hobhouse to watch a recent French film based on the delightful children’s books, Ernest et Célestine. It was a beautifully-drawn cartoon, mimicking the books exactly.

It created the perfect French experience for all who were watching.

After the heart-warming French film, which was filled with giggles and tears, we all went to the Dining Room to receive a very traditional French snack consisting of hot chocolate and pain au chocolat. Delicious!

Alana Scott went on to win the prize for the best book in her age group.

Trestle Mask Workshop After this, we were split into groups and headed down to the Modern Languages Department. We were set a creative task to complete a small replica of one of the Ernest et Célestine books, but we had to write the story ourselves and complete the booklet with colour. These were entered into a competition.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our French themed afternoon and would like to thank everyone involved.

Al ana Scot t and K arris Chappell Senior 2

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ARTS WEEK

On Tuesday, 26 November, Bruton School for Girls hosted a Young Musician Competition as part of Arts Week. The school welcomed back two professional musicians to judge the contest: Old Girl, Laura Luck, who currently freelances as a singer in London, and ex-music teacher, Barbara Jenkinson, who works as a professional musician in the local area. There were four categories in the competition: Junior Classical; Junior Non-Classical; Senior Classical; and Senior Non-Classical. The Junior competitions took place in the Hobhouse Theatre whilst the Senior competitions took place in the Main Hall. Both venues were well attended, with support coming from fellow entrants, staff, governors and parents.

At the end of the engaging performances, the judges retired to choose winners, runners-up and highly commended students for each category, whilst the competitors and audience enjoyed a well-deserved drinks break. The judges then returned to the Main Hall, giving an excellent musical performance themselves before delivering some general comments to

Young Musician Competition

the students. A vote of thanks was given to the judges before the results were announced.

The evening featured around 40 performances in all. Students who took up the challenge to perform music in a competitive environment are to be congratulated.

Mr Dury

Category

Winner

Runner Up

Highly Commended

Junior classical

Genevieve Baker

Alice Tindal

Georgina Moore India Davies

Junior non-classical

Lucy Hunt

India Davies Holly Hanson

Alice Tindal Beatrice Thomas

Senior classical

Malgorzata Kasprzak

Eunice Siu Coco Chan

Tierney Chappell Georgina Lewis

Senior non-classical

Charlotte Hunt

Julia Robbins

Monique Sang Tierney Chappell Malgorzata Kasprzak

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How to Win a Castle Making Competition Recently in history we’ve been learning about the Battle of Hastings. William of Normandy won and he started to rule over England and was, obviously, faced with many challenges, one of which was how to keep the English, who didn’t particularly like him, from attacking him and his troops. To do this he and his army built castles, all over England. They were wooden with tall fences surrounding them. Usually built on top of steep hills, it was hard for the enemy to climb up. Sometimes moats were used so that the enemy, who were wearing heavy metal armour, couldn’t swim across. The moats were also connected to the toilets and you could probably guess what that did to help defend the castle. Inside was a large castle with houses and barns surrounding it.

Getting back to Arts Week, our challenge was to build a castle like the ones we’d been doing in history (Motte and Bailey). Some went for the chance to create something unique and unusual like the chocolate cake castle (also the yummiest one), but most went for the normal choice of brown, cardboard castles with green painted floors and the occasional pot of wet PVA glue hanging ready to pour down on the enemy, as if it were burning oils. This is where we came in. Flicking through our history

books we soon realised what all the others would do and a brand new idea popped into our heads. We could do something that stood out from the crowd.

“What about eco?” Flora beamed at me.

“Isn’t it a bit boring?” I said looking down at our bright, woven castle, mainly made out of ice cream boxes and pastry rolls. The word ‘blast’, on the Crunchie Blast packet caught my eye and so The Eco Blast Castle was born.

“Five seconds left!” The words bounced around the room. You could feel the tension rising.

“What about the sheep, Flora?” I screamed as we rushed about the room, trying not to knock over the moat we had made out of milk bottles.

“With real water!” we told the judges proudly.

We were very proud of our creation. Next time, however, we won’t use milk bottles; even if they seem to be clean, they never really stop smelling.

Zuzu Burton and Flor a Huins Senior 1

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ARTS WEEK Book Character Day

Calligraphy Workshop

Joss Stirling Author Visit

Big Draw

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The Roaring Fork Quintet

The Great Gatsby

On the afternoon of Thursday, 28 November, Bruton School for Girls were fortunate enough to host the wind quintet, The Roaring Fork, for a programme of varied classical music, performed in the school’s Hobhouse Theatre.

The ensemble, featuring professional flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon players played music composed over the last two centuries, from seminal 19th century wind quintet compositions to music written in more contemporary classical and jazz-inspired idioms. The playing was expert, with dynamic repertoire carefully selected to captivate the capacity audience, which consisted of students from Senior 4, 5 and the Sixth Form at BSG, as well as members of the local community.

On Friday, 29 November, the last day of Arts Week, the whole of Senior 4 and some Lower Sixth girls gathered in Hobhouse Theatre to watch The Great Gatsby with Mrs Life and Miss Maidment. This film was described as “compulsive viewing” by top critics and was also said to be, “A terrific adaptation and proof of the novel’s greatness.” However, it was not just the great film reviews that made us all so interested in it: the fact that it starred Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio also helped!

Members of the quintet took turns to introduce each item in the programme, giving those attending an extra insight into the context of each piece, as well as an education on the evolution of the wind quintet as an emergent ensemble. Many thanks go to all five members of The Roaring Fork for such an engaging concert. Special thanks must go to Mrs Anne Perrett, clarinet teacher at BSG and member of the quintet, who organised the event, which was the Music Department’s final contribution to the school’s annual Arts Week.

Georgina Chadfield L6

We were reminded that the film was based on the classic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald and that it tells of a much darker underbelly to 1920s America than one might expect. Mrs Life helped us to understand the concerns of the novel by giving a short talk beforehand.

She informed us that Fitzgerald was keen to satirise and reflect on Jazz Age America as well as write about thwarted, obsessive love.

She also explained some of the symbolism, such as the green light that appears throughout the novel being a symbol of both desire and jealousy.

Miss Maidment also helped us understand the context of the film by telling us about 1920s America and how the economic boom was affecting people. For example, the women were becoming much more liberated and were now allowed to do things, such as drive and go out alone and many of the men were making huge amounts of money through stocks and shares. But she also explained that the 1920s boom didn’t benefit everyone; many people were trapped in a world of debt, violence and cruelty and that this was the background for the film.

All the girls thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with some snacks to watch this brilliant film and learn about the real message that Fitzgerald was trying to put across in 1925.

Eleanor Rick ards Senior 4

Stage Combat

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ARTS WEEK

Junior Poetry Competition Winner Dear Diary Dear diary, The disease spreads, it’s getting worse It blackens his mind like a heavy curse.

Left alone with him again, Dear diary, you’re my only friend.

He’s helpless, like an infant child.

His speech is slurred, his mind is wild.

Dear diary, I speak to him but he doesn’t care, As if he isn’t really there.

The TV’s on but by him it’s not seen.

When turned off he just stares at the blank screen.

He’s almost gone, his face is bleak.

His eyes roll when he’s asleep.

Dear diary, Today I fell into despair, After carrying him down the stairs.

The last straw, he forgot my name, I’m so sad and alone, it’s driving me insane.

I’ve started talking to myself He used to be wonderful before his decline in health.

Dear diary, Something awful happened today.

They said they’re going to take him away.

He shouted at me and swore a bit But then he slapped me, punched and kicked.

They told me that he needs medical help.

He started to cry and my heart began to melt.

Dementia made it all go wrong.

The Ben I loved has completely gone.

Amy Lugg Senior 2

A r t w o r k EMMA FOX

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Junior Poetry Competition Runner-Up Solitude Solitude Is quiet, Is peaceful, But friendless.

Solitude Shuts out everything, Letting your mind do the talking, letting your dreams come alive.

Solitude Is unaccompanied, Is reclusive, Withdrawn into a hollow.

Some people welcome it, but it is no friend of mine.

Millie Whitmarsh Senior 2

Artwork imogen thornhill

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ARTS WEEK

Junior Poetry Competition Highly Commended

A r t w o r k PORTIA W IL S ON - S MITH Solitude I bet Solitude is his name, He comes from a land unknown, He’s a horrid sort, Not powerful, but holding him, his throne.

He haunts you, He daunts you, He tricks you in your sleep, He stares at you, He scares you.

He makes you run and weep.

When you’re with friends.

He plays you like a fiddle, Sweeping thoughts away.

He tells you, giving you no riddle.

He’s scary, He varies, He’s the reason you’re upset, He’s nicer, He’s wiser, I’m happier, but he’ll come again, I bet.

Zuzu Burton Senior 1

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Junior Short Story Competition Winner

A r t w o r k e m i ly C a l d e c ot t Dreams It was inevitable. I could see it coming. I tried to scream but the words caught in my throat.

It was as if I was weighed down by an invisible force. I could do nothing but watch. It was a young boy. I had seen him before, but I couldn’t quite remember where. He carried a striped satchel and a torn paper bag full to the brim with lemon bon-bons. The red Audi came bearing down the High Street. The boy stepped into the road.

I woke to the sound of my ragged breathing.

I lay in bed, sweat pouring off me; it had happened again. My heart slowed as I relaxed into thinking it was only a dream.

Once again I read, squinting in the dim moonlight. I didn’t want to fall back into that terrifying, recurring dream.

“Did you have a good night?” enquired Mum. “Yep” I lied.

For the fourth time that week, the dream had

left me exhausted. I could barely focus on my cornflakes. It was hard to concentrate in lessons, especially tedious ones like maths.

Sitting down at lunch-time the dream had left my mind. Bill came to join me.

“Fancy a kick-about?”

“Not today, thanks. I’m a bit tired” “Yeah, I’m not surprised! You looked wrecked this morning! See you ‘round then”. He left, picking up a tarnished football.

Feeling slightly self-conscious, I headed for the bathroom. I could see what he meant. My hair looked like a deer-hide and the bags under my eyes were dark crescent moons. As I tried to make myself look presentable a figure caught my eye. Reflected in the mirror was a boy in Year 7 with a striped satchel hooked over one arm. As soon as school broke up I ran straight out of the imposing school gates. I tried to suppress the feeling of regret as I bolted past my bus stop. There was no going back now.

I took a short-cut around the back of the school to get to the High Street. I was quickly running out of breath. I had never run this fast before in all my life. I still hadn’t seen him. Was I wrong or too late? Had he gone another way? Maybe I had missed him. For a terrible moment I was unsure, but then, sure enough, the boy was there, stepping out of the doorway of The Sweet Box. He had a bag of bon-bons in his hand.

I stopped dead in my tracks. My head reeled.

All I could hear was the hollow pounding of my heart beat and the distant roar of a car engine echoing inside my ears. Time seemed to slow for that moment. A red Audi sped around the corner. The boy’s foot hit the kerb.

“Stop!” I yelled. The boy stopped and turned.

The car sped on, hitting nothing but an empty wrapper dancing in the road.

Amy Lugg Senior 2

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ARTS WEEK

Junior Short Story Competition Runner-Up

Dreams Conscious of the soldiers’ drums, I run further and further into the inky black darkness, ignoring the gnarled brambles that catch my jeans, wiping the cobwebs from my hair. The trees reach out to brush my face as I stumble blindly through the thick, dense forest which surrounds me. The light is fading quickly, creating new shadows and dark patches all around. Piercing eyes stare from between the trees. My senses are heightened. My heart pounds so fast that I can feel the vibrations throughout my body. I lift my face, letting the light dance across my cheeks. The cold, yellow moon sits silently above me, watching me, teasing me.

Breathing in the sickly stink of wood rot, I stop to gather my rampant, raging, ridiculous thoughts. Holding my breath to try and steady my breathing, I listen. The wind wails between the distorted trunks of the mighty oak trees, which dominate the space around me and groan like old men. The hostile screeches of wild animals that inhabit the area fill the air. The beats of heavy paws pound a path somewhere in the distance in a harmonic rhythm.

Squawking birds swoop and dive menacingly above my head. I watch them taunt me, rotating round and round, making me dizzy.

Clutching my head I slump to the floor, pull my knees up close to me and hug them tight as I stare at the scenery that cloaks me. The forest is disturbingly beautiful in this light, almost surreal. Creatures venture out from their resting places. Scurrying, scuttling squirrels dart from their safety zones high in the trees and search for nuts beneath the soft layer of moss that carpets the forest floor. I watch intrigued by their craftiness, as they bundle their stash and hurry back to their homes like robbers escaping their crimes. Piles of crisp leaves crackle as tiny mice burrow their way through, peeping their cute heads out to say hello. A deer dances delicately before me,

putting on her own performance; her elegant limbs bend gracefully to the tunes of the wind. Glancing up, I move my head to find a gap in the trees, to admire the glistening stars that sprinkle the night sky like diamonds.

It is crazy how the mind creates frightening scenarios from what is really beautiful in reality…how you scare yourself by your own thoughts. I smile as I take in the aroma of damp leaves mixed with the heady scent of pine. Confused, I close my eyes and struggle to make sense of things; I know I have to make sense of things. I know I have to get back…but back to where?

Sinking into the comfy bed of moss, I let nature wrap me in a blanket of mystery.

Excitement takes over, shoving aside the fear that had previously entwined my whole body, like an ivy bush out of control. A sense of calm pours over me like a waterfall, refreshing and cool. Once again darkness covers me, as I sink into oblivion.

F r e ya A p p l e g at e S e n i o r 1

Artwork Georgina lewis

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Senior Poetry Competition Winner Solitude He used to say That on a good day, Mum would only disturb him a few times.

That was before.

Before the night his definition of solitude changed.

Not because he had opted for a different destiny, But because the eternal ring that engraved a promise had been broken.

Despite the labyrinth the boy had interpreted his parents’ marriage to be, It only took a car And like his life, a mark made on a road that never disappeared, And suddenly, Those steel walls crumbled like a house of cards.

And the boy was surrounded by the unfair debris.

And the unfortunate boy who had grown up demanding isolation began begging a spotlight.

Even if the bad hand he’d been played made it dim.

Even a suggestive flare would do.

For he no longer wanted his mother to leave him alone.

He no longer found comfort in his lonely bedroom.

For now Alone meant watching the minutes pass by like the moments that should have been shared.

A personality shredded like his body and spirit.

He kissed the wounded parts of himself with the metal that mimicked his mother’s lips.

And mimicked the trail of kisses made by the car on that road.

The kind of trail doctors couldn’t fix with “It gets better”.

It doesn’t, Because despite what people believe, There is no vaccine or cure for depression.

That what doesn’t kill you Somehow makes you stronger.

It doesn’t.

It only serves to slowly break you until you become the debris of the steel walls that were surrounding you.

Because before Solitude meant hearing Mum’s singing in the kitchen.

Solitude meant smelling Dad’s burnt chicken in the oven.

Solitude meant just stepping back to take a break.

Just an interval.

Now Solitude means that the curtain doesn’t ever come back up.

The show does not go on.

And the realisation hits you like a speeding car.

Solitude means waking to a world Where there’s no-one left to leave you alone.

Lilith Lenihan Senior 5

Artwork rebecca cole

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ARTS WEEK

Senior Short Story Competition Winner

A Spinarak dropped down, attached by a silk thread to a tree. The tree was in a dense forest which was home to a wide variety of Pokémon and very few humans. At the base of the tree sat a child with green hair, grey eyes and a mysterious cube hanging from a chain around his neck. He was looking up at the blue sky, completely relaxed.

the outside world. He wasn’t expecting it to be open. He’d tried a few times before, but every time it had been locked. This time, to his surprise, it had opened, and he’d run outside in excitement. He’d kept running, enjoying the feeling of being out in the open, until he found the tree he was currently sitting underneath.

N had become bored with being cooped up inside with only his toys for company while Ghetsis was away doing things for Team Plasma, the organisation for Pokémon liberation of which N was destined to become king. He had always looked forward to walking in the woods surrounding his home, so on a whim he`d tried the door separating him from

The thing N liked most about being outside in the forest was that it reminded him of two years before, before Ghetsis had found him, living in the wild with his friends Zonia, Darmanita and Woobak.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a twig snapping somewhere to his right.

It was very unusual to hear a sound like that in the forest, as the Pokémon that called it their home had all mastered moving about noiselessly and humans hardly ever went there. So N got up to find the source of the noise.

A teenage boy with red hair and matching red eyes was standing in the clearing. He looked angry.

“Tynamo, come on out”, he said coldly, unclipping a Poké Ball from his belt. He released the Pokémon he had called in a flash of red light. As soon as it could move, the Tynamo started to slowly back away from its trainer, saying quietly, “Please don`t hurt

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A r t w o r k RO S IE ANDERTON me. I tried my best to win for you, really I did!”

The Trainer, of course, only heard something like “Tynamo-ty! Ty! Namo!” but N, who was watching from behind a tree, too horrified to do anything else, could understand the real meaning.

“HOW COULD YOU LOSE?” the Trainer yelled, stamping his foot for emphasis. “You’re my Pokémon. I give you the opportunity to battle for me, and this is how you repay me?

By losing? And not even against someone strong, such as a member of the Elite Four, just your normal every day Trainer!”

“I’m sorry! I-I tried my best!” the terrified Tynamo trembled.

“Stop making your stupid noises! If this is the kind of battling I can expect from you, I’m not letting you back on my team for at least a year!”

“No! Please don`t put me in storage! It’s cramped! I can`t stay there for a whole year.”

“Return.” Red light enveloped the whimpering Tynamo and it was pulled back into its Poké Ball. Its Trainer stalked back the way he had come, hands in his pockets. As the Trainer disappeared into the trees, N slid down the tree he had been standing next to until he was in a sitting position again.

“I should not have just stood there and let that happen,” he said aloud. “I should

have done something.” He paused. “But what could I have done? I am only seven; he wouldn`t have listened to a kid. I should have tried anyway though. Someone has to do something to protect Pokémon from bad people.” Another pause. “How could anyone do that to a Pokémon? Tynamo hadn’t done anything wrong. It’s wrong for things like this to happen, for humans to hunt Pokémon! I have to stop this! I have to become the king of Team Plasma so I can separate humans and Pokémon. The Pokémon won’t be hurt anymore!”

Julia Wons Senior 5

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BOARding

‘ a truly memorable start to the school year.'

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Boarders’ Challenge On the first weekend back from our summer break, the boarders from Old Vicarage, Cumberlege and Highcroft gathered on Coburn to face the challenging hurdles and tasks which had been put together for the annual Boarders’ Challenge.

The aim of this afternoon is to mix up different year and friendship groups so that girls get to know new-comers, as well as catch up with old friends.

As always, it was a fun afternoon, despite the chilly weather. First, we were split into different groups and had to come up with a team name, which was great fun in itself.

Each team started at a different stage of the course. To begin with there was a water slide, which you had to climb in order to put a ball into a hoop while being shot down with water pistols wielded by the Gap students.

Next there was a pond from which you had to extract the correct key in order to open the treasure box. Lastly, there was Mr Wells’ extremely complicated task, which required us to build something in five minutes.

At the end all points were counted and the runners-up had to do a tug-of-war to determine the winner. All girls enjoyed the afternoon, with the water slide being the most popular, as it involved getting wet and muddy.

On behalf of all the boarders, a big thank you to Miss Bennett Jones, Mrs Haddleton and Mr Wells for planning the event, as well as to the Gap students, Miss Weaver and Mrs Macfarlane for helping out and making this a truly memorable start to the school year.

S a r a S ta e h r L 6

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BOARding

‘ I fell in love with the school... and the love continues.’

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Life as a Boarder The 12th of April was the happiest day of my life as I was informed I would spend two years in Bruton School for Girls after the long qualification process with the British Alumni Society. The excitement and also uncertainty stayed with me for the whole holidays, but as soon as I got here, I fell in love with the school completely and the love continues.

The good organisation of the school, inspiring people, amazing food and beautiful surroundings were the things that really struck me when I first came and they still impress me. I cannot believe how lucky I am to live here, see beautiful hills and grazing sheep, see squirrels through my window and be surrounded by such rich flora.

This past year I have experienced more things than ever before in my life; different customs, different cultures and different mentalities have widened my horizons and knowledge about the world and have made me a more mature and sensitive person.

Moreover, the wide range of school trips, lectures and activities on offer helped me to develop many new, useful skills. For example I learnt basic Mandarin with our Chinese assistant, which would never have been possible in my previous school.

I think I am very lucky to be at BSG to study with incredibly helpful students and staff.

I think that if I had to choose again which school to study at, I would still choose this school.

Magdalena T yk a L6

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BOARding

‘ This year has been unforgettable.

Boarding has been amazing.’

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Life as a Boarder Sure, I said to my dad. Why not? That was the answer when he asked me if I would like to go to a boarding school in England. Most of my friends were doing it, so I agreed.

Time passed. My dad asked every once in a while if I was sure about my decision. He had found a really good boarding school in the English countryside he said. Every time he asked, I said, “Yeah Dad. You’ve asked me a thousand times. I have already said yes!”

“Ok then – just checking,” my dad said.

When we were five minutes away from BSG, just driving past St Mary’s Church, I was about to cry. I suddenly felt that it wasn’t the right decision.

“Dad, I can’t do this anymore. Turn around.

We are going back.”

“I’m sorry, but it is too late. I asked you many times, and you said yes; now we are just going to have to drive there and you have to give it a shot. It won’t be bad. I promise.”

We arrived at the school and I was really nervous. What if I didn’t have any friends?

What if boarding was horrible? What if the people were horrible? What if the people that I had met on my Taster Day didn’t recognise me or decided not to talk to me anymore?

I needn’t have worried. That same day I met two girls, Ane and Calypso. I was talking to them during the tour around the school and they were really nice. Now they are two of my closest friends. When I arrived at the boarding house I found out that Jaime and Hermione were my roommates and Joenelle was really close to my room. I was really glad about that because I had met them before on my Taster Day and they were really friendly, so I thought, so far everything is going quite well.

That was nine months ago, but I feel as if it all happened just yesterday. Now Jaime, Hermione and I have so many ‘inside jokes’ you can’t count them on your fingers, and we are so close that without them my room back

in Mexico is going to feel empty. This year has been unforgettable. Boarding has been amazing. Everyone in the boarding house is really close and the little ones, even though they can be quite annoying, just like real sisters, are like family now.

Every night in the boarding house is different; one night we are playing cards and the next we are having a water fight with the house mistress! I love it and I think it was a really good decision to come here. Life here is very different from Mexico. It is wonderful to get out of the same old routine once in a while.

When I first came I really didn’t think that I was going to make such great and close friends; now I don’t know how I am going to leave them. I am going to miss everyone so much.

Michelle Garcia Senior 4

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duke of edinburgh’s award

Bronze Presentation Evening On the evening of Wednesday, 5 March, 140 DofE participants went to the South Somerset Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Presentation Evening in the Octagon Theatre, Yeovil.

The evening began with an inspirational and entertaining talk from guest speaker and international explorer, David Hempleton Adams who told us that going out on his Bronze expedition was one of the hardest things he has done. He then presented us with our Bronze awards.

To achieve the award, each participant had to do between three and six months volunteering, as well as participate in a chosen skill and physical activity. They also had to complete a two-day expedition, whatever the weather.

Thank you to Mr and Mrs Bagshaw for helping the girls to achieve their Bronze award.

Charlot te Hunt L6

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Training Day

Bronze Expedition June 2014

On Sunday, 16 March, the girls working towards their Bronze Award met early in the morning for their first training day. After being given an introductory talk by Mrs Bagshaw, we got into our expedition groups and began with the first workshop assigned to us. In ICT Mr Reid showed us how to plan our own route using a map of the area, as well as an online mapping programme. Miss Aston helped us to come up with an aim for our expedition and taught us how important team work is. For this we had to do a group exercise where we built a tower out of straws stable enough to hold a tennis ball.

Next we had a food session with Mrs Laing, where we learnt how to light a trangia and the most efficient ways to use water for both cooking and washing up afterwards.

On the sunny morning of 14 June, Groups L and K set off for their expeditions. Both groups had to focus on different aspects of the challenge: for Group L it was their qualifying expedition, whereas Group K had to get to know each other as a team.

At midday, we all gathered on Magnolia Lawn to cook our lunch. It was a challenge to put Mrs Laing`s advice into practice, but we were rewarded with a nutritious and delicious meal, which we enjoyed in beautiful sunlight. For the afternoon, we joined Joanne Hale in the Radford Room to talk about the code of nature and Mr Wells for health and safety instructions.

At the end of the day, both instructors and trainees were exhausted, but satisfied with their achievements. Thank you to Mrs Bagshaw for organising the event, as well as to the staff for making it such a wonderful experience.

S a r a S ta e h r L 6

The days couldn`t have been better chosen

by Mrs Bagshaw, as the warmth of the sun accompanied us through fields and forests for the entire day.

We spent the late afternoon setting up our tents and cooking our meal at Seven Acres Campsite. After having a much deserved supper, we enjoyed slipping into our sleeping bags and racing each other around the campsite. This was meant as a team building exercise as well as a nice way to relax after such a long first day. Quite exhausted, we finished the day sitting around our cooker while the meths was burning out, drinking a hot chocolate and getting extremely sleepy.

The next day began with an early rise, quick cooked breakfast and the shouldering once more of backpacks. Again we were lucky and the weather did not disappoint us, blowing a cool breeze on our tired faces.

One hour before we were supposed to reach our finish point, the old hiker saying, `The last two kilometres are the worst`, finally went from my brain via my heart to my tired legs. As each group had to cope with injuries, overgrown footpaths and the last steep hills, it was with gratitude and relief that we sighted our last checkpoint of the journey.

A big thank you to Mr and Mrs Bagshaw and Mrs Hale for supervising us and giving advice when needed and to Miss Aston for giving us a lovely welcome at the finish line.

S a r a S ta e h r L 6

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DRAMA

For GCSE drama students, the Scripted Shebang is a long-expected and nerve-racking rite of passage. The process of carefully selecting scripts, arguing for months over whether the curtains should be open or closed for any particular part of a scene and finding endless costumes, only to have Mrs Johnson declare that she has changed her mind and that she actually does not want us in pyjamas anymore, proved to be more difficult than we had anticipated. The hardest part for us, however, (other than the acting, of course) was painting our set; not one, not two, but three rhododendron bushes.

Nevertheless, despite all of this, the experience was one to remember and I know

Scripted Shebang

that we speak for most of our drama group when I say that we were honestly surprised that Tacia, as stage manager, could still walk after the crippling stress she had to endure – in fact, she declared after the performance that (and I quote) “No, I don’t think I want to boss anyone around ever again.”

Our very own Shebang proved to be a success.

We came out grinning, partly because all of our hard work had paid off, but partly because that was it! We’d completed our Unit 2 Drama GCSE and would never have to argue over set design, or neatly fold another dressing gown again.

Tierney Chappell and Olivia Bishop Senior 5

‘ We came out grinning... our hard work had paid off’

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Matilda and a Taste of Honey The GCSE, AS and A2 drama groups went to the theatrical capital of the world, London, on a jaunt to watch two plays in a day. We began the day with a cheeky couple of hours of shopping in Covent Garden before heading over to the National Theatre to watch the matinée performance of A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney, which the Senior 5 girls were studying for their June examination. Lesley Sharp and Kate O’Flynn both gave believable and dramatic performances, communicating the complex nature of their mother and daughter relationship to the audience.

Before the final show of the day, we went to supper in the snazzy basement of Pizza Express for some delicious Italian food.

Matilda the musical displayed amazing talents from the child actors involved, especially Tasha Chapple for her charismatic and adorable performance as Matilda.

Everyone sang songs from the show on the way home on the coach and we had a thoroughly enjoyable day all round.

Is a b e l l a W i l l i a m s a n d Tierney Chappell Senior 5

‘ Everyone sang songs from the show on the way home... we had a thoroughly enjoyable day’

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DRAMA

GCSE Devised Performances

Into The Ashes

Panic Purchase

As part of the GCSE drama course, groups devise short plays using a script as a stimulus.

The group has complete artistic licence to change lines and endings, add characters and create sub-plots, so you can imagine how eager we were to start!

The second performance starred Isabella Williams, Elizabeth Moody, Imogen Wargen and Molly Stringer with Emilie Redgwick designing the costume and Tacia Cox crafting the make-up. This play was inspired by Sue Townsend’s comedy Bazaar & Rummage about a group of middle-aged agoraphobics meeting for the first time to host a rummage sale, under the watchful eyes of a young trainee social worker. The genre was comedic and the style was naturalistic. The performance was a huge success, as these Oscar worthy actresses were able to make the audience chuckle and hoot from beginning to end. With the help of the stylish and chic costumes designed by Emilie, and beautifully executed make-up, the performance was alive and vibrant.

The evening of the 18th March 2014 began with a terrifying enactment of Into the Ashes, written and performed by Imogen Kirwan, Olivia Bishop and Tierney Chappell.

This haunting piece was a modern and dark interpretation of Cinderella, using as inspiration Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Ash Girl and the original story of Ashputtel from the Brothers Grimm. The result was a chilling performance, incorporating stylised movement and aspects of physical theatre inspired by the modern theatre company, Frantic Assembly.

Tierney Chappell, Elizabeth Moody and Emilie Redgwick Senior 5

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Di and Viv and Rose

All the World’s a stage…

The AS drama performance examination looks incredibly difficult when you consider that each candidate has to prepare a monologue, delivered in the first part, followed by a contrasting part in the one-act play which follows. This year, they each made it seem easy because their skill, detailed preparation and passionate engagement with the characters and text absorbed the audience completely.

The monologues displayed a range of characters, from Sofia Curbelo’s hilariously shallow and embarrassing tourist guide, through Charlotte Hunt’s passionate and angry speech from A Winter’s Tale, to the adorably dysfunctional I’m a Minger from Flora McLaren, who obviously enjoyed bringing to life the self-loathing of her character, showing the comedy and pathos in deliciously equal measure.

Di and Viv and Rose was a thoroughly entertaining exploration of the developing friendship between three women who first meet aged eighteen, from 1983 to the present day. They illustrated superbly how such radically different people can become inseparable, sharing in life’s fun and challenges, rewards and disasters. They had us all laughing heartily, reflecting on our own long-standing friendships, until the shocking and poignant end.

Congratulations to all three girls and to Mrs Hurstwaite, Mrs Johnson and Mrs Brunel-Cohen for such a tremendous evening’s entertainment.

M i ss D o n a l d s o n

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DRAMA Ladies, Gentlemen, Girls of the School and other avid readers of The Gleam, it gives me great pleasure to inform you that Daisy did indeed pull it off! The marvellous cast and crew did a top-hole job in providing three entire evenings of entertainment, and indeed was honorable, dedicated and generous enough to rehearse for the six whole months prior to the event.

I cannot express the pride I feel for all of my Grangewood girls, staff and any other soul who contributed in any way to this really rather wonderful performance. We hardly put a foot wrong; Miss Granville’s wig remained firmly in place, boaters were worn only when appropriate and Jimmy the fox fur made many an anticipated appearance throughout this truly spiffing play.

Daisy Pulls it Off Congratulations all round! I do hope you will never forget the motto of Grangewood Honesta Quam Magna - how great are noble things. Thank you.

Miss Gibson, Headmistress of Grangewood School for Girls.

Tierney Chappell Senior 5

‘ Honesta Quam Magna’ole job’

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‘ The marvellous cast and crew did a top-hole job’

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HALLS

Hadspen Report

With Alice Lane as Hall Captain and Tierney Chappell as Vice-Captain, we in Hadspen made a great start to the year by welcoming all our new girls in each year group and saying ‘Hello’ once more to Mrs Packer, who was happy to be back with us. Mrs Peach joined the Hall as a Senior 4 and 5 tutor and Mrs Smith was delighted to be working with her, having taught her as a BSG girl a few years ago; it is always good to have a dedicated student return to the fold! The Senior 1 girls were soon moving confidently around the school and were amazingly well organised with their prep.

Alice and Tierney ran an enjoyable assembly whereby the girls divided themselves into ‘families’ and came up with names, such as the ‘Addams family’, ‘Bubbles’, ‘Dragon Dolphins’ and (in desperation) ‘Can’t think of a name’.

Various challenges ensued, such as getting out of a group knot and these shared challenges helped the different age groups to meet each other and to make new friends.

The end of the Autumn Term gave us a pleasing degree of success in the Inter-Hall hockey tournament. We won the Senior 1 and 2 matches and came second in Senior 3 and in Senior 4. This meant that we were joint first for hockey. It was an enjoyable tournament despite the cold weather. We warmed up with hot chocolate at half time and enjoyed Sofia Curbelo’s celebration dance when she scored a goal. Star performances came from Topaz Oram, Alice Healey, Eliza Robertson, Sade Oram, Sofia Curbelo and Malgorzata Kasprzak. Lots of hard work also took place during this term and girls gaining ten or more Honourables included Eloise Thorne, Imogen Huins, Alice Healey, Alice Phippen, Zuzu Burton, Lucy Robertson and Freya Applegate – congratulations to all for their hard work and especially to Mrs Life and Mrs Packer’s tutor group as they gained the most Honourables within the school.

Having heard of this success we were all waiting with much expectation for the major competition – the Inter-Hall pantomimes.

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This year we performed Goldilocks and the Three Bears, which seems simple enough.

However, after too many episodes of CSI, Alice Lane and Ciara Chapman decided to put a twist in the classic tale. Meet the incompetent, but very cool, Detective Buzz and his beautiful, smart assistant, Honey (Tierney Chappell and India Davis respectively), as they try to solve the crime of the century (or at least of that afternoon): the break-in at the Three Bears’ house.

Of course, it’s not really a crime at all, as Goldilocks (Georgina Lewis) gets lost on her Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition and, after getting directions from Little Red Riding Hood’s wolf (Bethany Lewis) who cannot keep up with all the fairy-tale girls running around his forest, seeks shelter in a seemingly abandoned house. Luckily, Buzz forgets about (goldi)locking Goldilocks up as soon as he starts to declare his love to Honey, in the final song and dance to ABBA’s Honey Honey.

Although not a hugely musical Hall, the cast decided to just belt out the song regardless of melody, which was very funny. The judges at the end specifically mentioned the quality of the acting and rightly so.

Of course, it wasn’t just the actors who made the performance so brilliant. The backstage team changed scenes flawlessly, despite very complicated curtain instructions. We had a great props department that managed to make a life-size door which almost withstood Emma Fox’s Tae Kwon-Do kick, and some wonderful tree costumes. I was so pleased to see different Halls helping each other with props in the art room after school and it was such a fun atmosphere in the final days leading up to the pantomime itself. Alice and Ciara, in the roles of the deeply sarcastic news readers/narrators, got to see the acting up close and the girls really seemed to be enjoying themselves and reacting to the audience brilliantly. Half the jokes (endless bear puns mostly) came from Hadspen girls and during rehearsals everyone was

coming up with creative, practical ideas for themselves and each other.

Everyone enjoyed the Inter-Hall netball afternoon at the end of the Spring Term and it was good to see everyone supporting each other. There were good performances all round with the Senior 1 and 2 gaining second place, as did the Senior 4 girls. The Maths Challenge on the last Tuesday afternoon of term certainly provided all age groups with something to think about. There were individual questions for each team, buzzer rounds, complex questions, countdown exercises and a whole Hall challenge at the end, with about 50 girls having to ‘square this’ and ‘multiply that’ one after the other in a chain sequence. Unbelievably we actually arrived at the correct answer – incredible!

We were placed third overall and our sincere thanks go to our brave and willing participants, Lucy Robertson, Elsie McCloud, Poppy Gotto, Kasie Ng, Georgina Lewis and Rebecca Cole.

There was much Hadspen spirit and cheering on Sports Day at the end of the Summer Term with excellent performances from Freya Applegate, Topaz Oram, Lucy Robertson, Cecilia Rodriguez, Adriana Lopez, Poppy Gotto, Sharon Shek, Imogen Huins, India Davies, Olivia Barber, Eliza Robertson and Georgina Lewis. Everyone deserves congratulations however, and it was particularly noticeable that many girls were stepping out of their comfort zone by competing in events such as the 800m or High Jump in order to do their best for the Hall. The Hadspen staff also showed their team spirit; we all enjoyed seeing just how fast Mrs Life can run and witnessing her very obvious competitive streak!

Swimming has been a Hadspen strength over many years and once more the Hall was placed first in the Swimming Gala by quite a significant margin. One success seems to breed another and there were many winners

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in our team. Sisters Flora and Imogen Huins started the ball rolling by winning the Individual Medley races in their two age groups and both girls displayed beautiful technique with each stroke. Top performances were given by Bethany Lewis, Emma Fox, Eliza Robertson, Grace Carter, Lucy Robertson, Georgina Lewis, Zuzu Burton and Poppy Gotto. Out of the six age group relays we were first in four, second in two and then dominated the Championship Relay across all ages at the end of the Gala. It was a most enjoyable afternoon and one in which we felt proud to participate. Our thanks go to the PE department who always run brilliantly organised competitions each term.

The year was rounded off with the fabulous ArtWalk evenings where we were able to enjoy great music, stunning outfits and a Hall competition which showed the girls’ design skills in making a head-dress and body piece all with the theme of ‘construction’- hence the head decoration in the shape of a road cone.

The dance was really well choreographed and we loved the opening of waistcoats to show the letters H, A, D, S, P, E, N as an eye-catching finale – it received a huge cheer from the appreciative audience. We may not have won the event or indeed the Hall trophy this year, but there was great endeavour and camaraderie along the way and we extend our thanks to Alice and Tierney, our Captains, for keeping us all fired up and in order throughout the busy year.

Mrs Smith and Ciara Chapman

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Longleat Report It has been a great pleasure to lead Longleat Hall this year and I would like to say thank you to the Longleat tutors, Miss Aston, Mrs Watts, Mrs Marsh and Mrs Bateman, for the support they have given me. Thank you also to our Hall Captain and Vice-Captain, Emma Cotton and Elizabeth Moody, for their organisational skills and their enthusiasm when encouraging everyone to join in with the wide variety of activities throughout the year. All the girls in Longleat deserve thanks for making it such an enjoyable year too.

I have been privileged to be part of the wider life of the girls in Longleat, outside of the classroom, helping them to get over difficulties and seeing the pride that comes with success in a variety of activities. There have been times to smile and times to be sad, times to get cross, but also times to be very proud. We have worked together this year to achieve an enormous amount.

September was an opportunity to get to know everyone in Longleat, new and old, in my first term as Head of Hall. The girls were full of holiday stories and quickly got into the daily routines. Our first Hall assembly was a get-to-know-each-other session, with Sixth Form down to Senior 1 telling each other where their dream holiday would be.

I discovered what an adventurous lot we are in Longleat, with dreams of visiting all corners of the world! An African Safari would be my choice, or a bit of whale watching perhaps.

Over the next few weeks Hall Captain, Emma Cotton, and Vice-Captain, Elizabeth Moody were on hand to point me in the right direction and I soon began to feel the Longleat team spirit. The first opportunity for the girls to really show this was in the InterHall hockey competition. Some first-round matches took place during games, but the hockey finals afternoon was a fest of playing and supporting; it was a great event. Longleat pride was a bit battered by the end of it,

but everyone had really pushed themselves to perform well. The Senior 2 team had a fantastic win and Sophia Dugdale did sterling work in goal for the Senior 4 team; despite it being her first time padded up, she almost saved the day. The Senior 5 and Sixth Form had a frustrating afternoon too and spirits were definitely a bit down.

We needed to put results behind us and focus on the next event, the Hall pantomime competition. With some last minute, unforeseen changes needed to the cast, the Sixth Form girls in Longleat really pulled out all the stops. Some weekend recasting and rewriting focussed the minds of everyone and it was a great example of how working together can really achieve success; an amazing performance of Aladdin was staged.

Paring down the story to a 12 minute slot was a feat in itself and the end result was a fun performance that really captured the essence of pantomime. I felt very proud to see it all come together and the icing on the cake was seeing the faces of the girls when it was announced that we were the winners.

I saw girls transformed by their characters on the stage, with new-found confidence and pride emerging. It was a great end to the term for Longleat.

Keeping spirits high in the gloomy days of January was a bit more of a challenge, especially as mid-year tests and examinations quickly appeared in the calendar. However, we soon had the end of term Inter-Hall competitions to think about, with netball, an energy-saving challenge and a Maths Challenge all on the agenda. After the success of the pantomime, we were hoping for equal success this term too, but our team spirit got another test as we performed less successfully in all three competitions.

We appeared to be going well in the Maths Challenge, but with points weighted on the team questions we had a bit of a stumble, and our overall tally wasn’t as high as we would

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have wished. With inspectors with us for the end of term, we were all ready for some rest and recuperation in the Easter Holidays.

A regroup at the beginning of the Summer Term was needed and the ArtWalk event, in the planning for over a year, was finally in the forefront of everyone’s mind, except perhaps for those in Senior 5 and Sixth Form, where examinations probably topped their list. We were confident in Longleat that all was in hand. The red themed music had been chosen and the dancers were being choreographed

by Elizabeth Moody, who is an old hand of the dance stage. The red themed construction garment and headwear were indeed being ‘constructed’, with Alexandra Chadfield taking the lead in getting this under way.

It was a great team effort, with so many of the girls volunteering to be in the event.

On the night, all the Halls produced exciting, colourful performances. The judges were reluctant to choose a winner as everyone had produced such amazing work, but in the end they made their decision and we had to accept that we were not the one chosen as the best on the night. I know the girls found this judgement particularly disappointing, but with collaboration and team spirit as high as it was, the girls should all be proud of what they achieved.

The Swimming Gala and Sports Day were the final events of the year and there were some great individual achievements from the girls in Longleat. Some swimmers were a little reluctant to take to the water, but their loyalty to their Hall on the day took over and they achieved more than they thought they could.

We have learnt this year that team spirit isn’t all about winning. We had our successes, but also our challenges. I would like to thank all the girls and especially Emma and Elizabeth, for their contributions to all the events throughout the year. Participating is more important than winning, although winning is good too! Working together, inspiring each

other, supporting each other and learning from the lows as well as delighting in the highs are all important. Longleat has a strong team spirit that is ready to take on new challenges next year and perhaps our fortunes are about to change as they did for Aladdin.

Mrs Laing

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‘ we have worked together this year to achieve an enormous amount’

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HALLS

Montacute Report This year was another fantastic year for the Montacute girls. They continued to work hard academically and each and every girl involved themselves in many activities and competitions throughout the year. The Hall Captain, Lara Wylie, and Vice-Captain, Olivia Bishop, worked tirelessly and indeed very successfully, to bring everyone together through our interactive assemblies and numerous meetings that enabled every year group to get involved.

They were a super team.

The Winter Term brought the classic InterHall pantomime competition. Cinderella was written by Olivia Bishop, and memorable performances included Christy Wong as Cinderella, Harriet Sheves as the handsome prince, Holly Hanson as a fantastic Fairy Godmother and Dee Sharp and Maddy Tomkins as the very entertaining Ugly Sisters.

The set was also amazing and took many hours of hard work from the Hall as a team; the stand-out prop had to be the very clever carriage made by Senior 4, led by Lottie Garratt and Dee Sharp. It wasn’t our day to take first prize points, but the girls should be proud of what they achieved.

The Winter Term also brought the annual hockey tournament. Yet again Montacute dominated in many age groups and took first place overall to boost our overall standing at the end of 2013.

The Spring Term saw the return of the InterHall Maths Challenge. This year the teams had to answer tough mathematical questions in front of the whole school; this of course was

an added pressure, but Montacute performed well. Our paired representatives were Mai Barber and Jessica McCarry, Jaime Parsons and Meghan Sherwin and Harriet Sheves and Olivia Bishop. They were simply great and worked well together throughout to gain an overall second place for Montacute.

We also enjoyed the annual netball tournament this year and Montacute won again! We were on a roll, but now needed to gain some more Honourables to boost our position in the overall placings; this was our plan for the Summer Term. The girls were still really enthusiastic in all of our activities and learnt this term that they would have a temporary Head of Hall next year, as I was expecting my first baby in July. They were all very excited and it was an extra incentive to bring home the cup for the baby!

The Summer Term was, as usual, the busiest.

Many Montacute girls contributed to the school play Daisy Pulls It Off and to the GCSE showcase. Lottie Hotson and Holly Hanson took two of the main roles in Daisy Pulls It Off and truly shone on stage in a fantastic production. Their comedic timing was spot on and they should be very proud of their performances.

By half term I had gone on maternity leave and was very pleased to be temporarily replaced by the fantastic and ever enthusiastic Mrs Davies. I am so grateful for her support and know that she will ‘hold the fort’ for me while I am away.

The end of term saw the return of the biannual ArtWalk. I am told that the girls’ teamwork was truly tested in the preparation for this and our new Hall Captain, Olivia Parsons, and Vice-Captain, Meghan Sherwin (for 2014-2015) took charge. It all came together in the end, as Alice Tindal and Meghan Sherwin pulled everyone together for the win.

Sports Day was, yet again, a fantastic day for Montacute. Leading by example Harriet Sheves and Lottie Garratt won their respective races, as they did last year, and helped Montacute on the way to another Sports Day success. It was now down to the Honourables and Hall Marks to see who would triumph at Speech Day. It was, as always, a day of mixed feelings as we said goodbye to our Upper Sixth students. Christy, Ellen, Lara and Emily have been assets to the Hall and I know that staff and students alike will miss them. I was thrilled to hear that one of the Montacute girls, Amy Lugg, was presented with the Cup for Kindness. This is a fabulous honour.

I am more than proud to say that we won the Hall Trophy for the second year in a row. Each and every girl contributed to this success and I know that they will continue to work hard, play hard and develop into fantastic young women.

Mrs Fischer

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Stourhead Report This year has been another step forward in our quest to be the best Hall. Perhaps I should re-phrase that and say it is a good step towards winning the Hall Trophy; the fact that we are the best Hall is not in doubt. Time and again throughout the year I have been impressed by the selflessness and hard work of the girls in Stourhead and the way that they are prepared to go outside their comfort zone to help out, to perform, or to play a sport that they don’t normally excel at. Not only that, but Stourhead girls are kind and helpful, as well as magnanimous in defeat.

Throughout the year everyone played their part in collecting and handing in Hall Marks and Honourables, which meant that the totals at the end of each term were good enough to keep us in contention.

In Hall activities this year we improved on past performances. In the hockey competition we featured in two finals and won the Senior match, where the team was led by our Hall Captain, Charlotte Cross, with the indefatigable Sharon Lai in goal. The Juniors fought hard, but lost to a stronger team in the final. They were not helped by a great moment of comedy (at least it was funny afterwards) when Jessica Rowe ran through to score, only

to realise that she had scored in her own net.

I am pretty sure that she won’t do that again.

At Christmas, the Inter-Hall Maths Challenge brought forward a different group of girls who amazed us all by their incredible mathematical skills. Sherry Deng and Chloe Chen were the stars in this competition, ably supported by many others who enabled us to win this competition outright. A big thank you to the supporters who made sure that the Stourhead support was the strongest and loudest of all the Halls. The girls also put together a wonderful pantomime performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which I believe was the best it could have been. Sadly the judges saw things differently. Again I will say how proud I was of all the girls who designed and made costumes, sang, danced and acted in the performance, or simply helped out; they were all awesome.

In the Spring Term, we performed well in the netball tournament. The support was excellent throughout and we will build on the excellent performances seen here.

We ended the Spring Term in second place in the Hall standings in a very close race and we felt that we were in with a chance of top spot.

A major summer event was the ArtWalk, an event where we had thrived before. The girls designed and made their wonderful costumes led by the new Hall Captains, Imogen Thornhill and Eleanor Rickards. Key figures in the dance were the new Captains with Madeleine Young and Imogen Tate, while Lily Piper and Eva Cowlishaw worked wonders with the backdrop. Imogen Tate also produced the music and slide show for the main event. Perhaps I am a little biased, but the Stourhead show was wonderful and worthy of the largest rosette on offer. Although we didn’t win, everyone should be very proud of the wonderful show they put on.

The Summer Term sports events, the Swimming Gala and Sports Day, demonstrated once again how incredibly hard the girls work.

There were many notable performances in both events. Katie Anderton swam in many races, as did Charlotte Convey, and there were many more sterling attempts and glorious seconds, as well as awesome thirds and fourths. Three cheers for the Stourhead girls of 2013/14!

Mr Reid

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AwARDS & COMPETITIONS Cranmer Awards Some of the girls competing in the Cranmer Awards may have had a sense of déjà vu as they took to the stage for the second night running in an Arts Week Competition. This time it was a national contest and they found themselves pitted against students from Sexey’s School as well as each other. This was a challenge, as, in recent years, Sexey’s has produced some strong performers who have gone on to achieve national success.

Everyone performed well and read their chosen passage from the Book of Common Prayer with sincerity and understanding.

The winners, Tierney Chappell and India Davies went forward to represent the Bath and Wells Diocese in the Finals, held after Christmas. Naivasha Pratt-Jarvis and Holly Hanson were placed second in the Senior and Junior sections. All competitors were warmly encouraged to enter again next year and thanked by the judge, the Reverend Canon Bede Cooper.

M i ss D o n a l d s o n

A r t w o r k EMMA FOX

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Five Schools Art Competition In May, the Bruton Art Society organised a competition open to five schools in the local area – Bruton School for Girls, Ansford Academy, King Arthur’s, Wincanton, King’s School, Bruton and Sexey’s Academy – with each school submitting work produced by current Senior 5 GCSE students.

The aims of the competition were to encourage art in all the schools, by forging a stronger link between Bruton Art Society and local schools and by offering prizes and certificates for GCSE examination pieces.

Uniquely, the competition also gave the students and their art teachers, as well as the wider general public, the opportunity to see and compare what was being done in the five schools, by placing images of all 30 pieces of work on the Bruton Art Society website www.brutonartsociety.co.uk.

The Heads of Art at each school were invited to enter works by up to six students in Senior 5. Mr Wyatt submitted work by Georgina Lewis, Claudia Lavender, Emma Fox, Georgina Bullock, Elizabeth Moody and Lavender Lai. Prizes and certificates of commendation were presented by Professor Will Vaughan on Wednesday, 21 May at the Market House, Castle Cary.

Thirty students and their teachers attended the award ceremony. Several certificates of commendation for excellent work were awarded to our girls, one of them to Claudia Lavender for her very original mixed media ‘Old Building’ composition. Georgina Lewis was awarded a runner-up prize of £15. The winning entry was produced by a student at King Arthur’s.

Congratulations to all six of our students for having been selected for the competition and well done particularly to Georgina and Claudia for their individual successes.

M r W yat t

Art work eliz abeth moody

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AwARDS & COMPETITIONS

Maths Challenge On Tuesday, 25 March, the school held our second Maths Challenge, where all four Halls competed by answering mental arithmetic questions and tried to solve fun maths problems against the clock.

The atmosphere in the Main Hall was tense; you could almost hear the cogs turning in the competitors’ heads as they scribbled down answers. Mr Garrett had a refreshing afternoon when he was covered with water by eager mathematicians, making the Hall erupt with laughter.

All in all, it was an afternoon well spent and a welcome addition to the many Hall competitions that take place throughout the year. Both the participants and the audience enjoyed themselves and for the second year running Stourhead was victorious.

O l i v i a K ay e s a n d A b i g a i l Pitchforth

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Bruton Arts Society Winner Congratulations to Rebecca Cole (U6) who was the recipient of this year’s Bruton Art Society Student Prize of £100. Rebecca’s very accomplished acrylic painting, ‘Shower’ and coursework sketchbook were prominently exhibited alongside the work of members of the Bruton Art Society during their 2014 Summer Show, which was held at BSG.

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AwARDS & COMPETITIONS

English Speaking Board: Advanced Certificate in Spoken English Results 2014 Hannah Burgess

Distinction

Rosamund Arathoon

Merit Plus

Sofia Curbelo Maunder

Merit

Didi Chan

Distinction

Georgina Chadfield

Merit Plus

Angela Liu

Merit

Charlotte Hunt

Distinction

Olivia Kayes

Merit Plus

Flora McLaren

Merit

Malgorzata Kasprzak

Distinction

Abigail Pitchforth

Merit Plus

Olivia Parsons

Distinction

Eleanor Thayer

Merit Plus

Julia Robbins

Distinction

Sara Staehr

Distinction

Distinction = 65 UCAS points

Magdalena Tyka

Distinction

Merit Plus/ Merit = 60 UCAS points

Lara Wylie

Distinction

Pass = 45 UCAS points

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Leiths 2013

This year’s group of Leiths Girls achieved a great set of results with all the girls successfully completing the Basic Certificate in Food and Wine.

As part of the course, the girls must produce food for a canapé party and this year’s group produced a lovely table of food, enjoyed by staff and visiting parents at Open Morning.

In the picture are: Charlotte Perrott (First Class Pass); Alice Lane (Pass); Emily Caldecott (Certificate of Attendance); Sharon Lai (Pass); Ellen Thorne (Distinction); Katie Lloyd (First Class Pass); Emily Yuan (Pass). All the girls also passed successfully a basic hygiene certificate.

Ellen Thorne was awarded the Best Student Award for her achievements in both the practical and theory examinations and in recognition of her excellent commitment to the course. These results reflect all the hard work the girls put in over the four-term course, cooking a wide range of dishes and learning many new skills.

Mrs Laing

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EXHIBITIONS

On Monday, 23 September, Bruton School For Girls opened its doors as part of the annual Somerset Art Weeks with an exhibition consisting of a wide range of textiles, pencil drawings, acrylic paintings, mixed-media work and photography, produced by Senior School students, especially featuring recent GCSE, AS and A Level work.

The work exhibited was of a very high quality.

On display were students’ fascinating and beautifully detailed sketchbooks, which gave an insight into the development of their finished pieces.

The exhibition, staged professionally in the Main Hall, featured work by Sunny Hill Prep School for the first time, as well as the work of several Old Girls, such as Tallulah Pomeroy, a more recent ex-student of Mr Wyatt’s who is currently studying Illustration at Falmouth University. She exhibited a number of pen, ink and wash sketches, along with an interesting and impressive self-portrait.

Another of the featured artists was former student Jody Myerscough-Walker, who in 2010 formed her own lifestyle brand and is currently making her name as a newcomer in design. She displayed her new furniture

collection called ‘Chaise Bon’, which includes cushions, chairs, lamp shades and home accessories featuring bright colours, hand painted in the utmost detail.

If you looked closely at the two meticulously executed pencil drawings entitled ‘Cretan Bakery’ and ‘Kefalonian Olive Tree’, you would have seen signs of who mentors the BSG girls, leading them to excel as artists. Head of Art, Mr Wyatt, demonstrated with these works the main ethos he conveys in his classroom – begin with the basic skills of drawing and shading to give your work a strong foundation.

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School Art Exhibition Review

BSG joins Somerset Art Weeks - Long Live the Arts!

The GCSE examination work was really impressive. The topic of the practical examination was ‘force’ and we could see the various creative interpretations in each piece. One that particularly spoke to us was a drawing of three figures by Kristina Osipova, which showed expressions of intense emotion on the human face. It was an incredibly detailed piece of work and beautifully shaded.

Another piece we admired was Rebecca Cole´s pop art approach to feminist issues, with superwoman shouting “Never Doubt My Power” from the roof of Big Ben.

We are really looking forward to the next SAW Exhibition and another opportunity to showcase the talents of the students of Bruton School for Girls.

S a r a S ta e h r a n d J o e y Ta m L 6

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CHARITY

Total Funds Raised

Goodwill Village

Fairtrade Day

2013-2014 was a very busy one for the Charity Committee. No fewer than 11 charities were supported, raising £3,767.48. Olivia Edwards and her team organised everything from mufti days to concerts and three-legged walks.

Not only were funds raised for local, national and international charities, but awareness was created of the great works these charities do.

On Friday, 20 September, BSG held a mufti day to raise money for Goodwill Village, a charity which provides funding to give long term care and education to destitute children in South India. They believe that through education the children will be able to earn a reliable income and help support their own families and communities. Currently, BSG sponsors Mahalakshmi (pictured), who sends regular letters to the Charity Committee giving information about her progress.

BSG marked the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight on March 5 by giving its girls the opportunity to indulge in a variety of Fairtrade snacks and beverages. The kitchen staff served Fairtrade tea, coffee, hot chocolate and, much to the girls’ delight, Kit Kats at break time! The alternative (albeit more expensive) break-time snack quickly filled the Dining Hall with a hum of excitement. During lunch time, which was highly anticipated, Ben & Jerry’s Fairtrade ice-cream, Fairtrade brownies, cookies and bananas were served for pudding.

Mrs Peach

A Tribal Outreach Programme is also run which gives support to very poor tribal children whilst they remain in their family environment, by giving them better access to regular healthcare and education.

On the day, the charity committee also held a cake sale to which students and members of staff responded enthusiastically and, in total, the committee was able to raise £295.

A great effort!

Christy Wong U6

The Charity Committee’s aim of substituting Fairtrade products for standard products for the day was to increase awareness amongst the girls of Fair Trade Certified, which ensures fair prices for producers and ethical purchasing. The Charity Committee are grateful to the kitchen staff who helped us promote such a worthy cause.

Olivia Edwards U6

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Girls Wear Green for Rare Disease Day The main objective of Rare Disease Day is to raise awareness amongst the general public about rare diseases and their impact on patients and their families. For Rare Disease Day 2014, the charity committee chose to support a local charity, CDKL5, which is a rare X-chromosome – linked genetic disorder that results in early onset, difficult to control seizures and severe neuro-developmental impairment.

Carol-Anne Partridge and her beautiful daughter, Amber, led our girls in a heartwarming assembly on rare diseases and the impact this disease has had upon their family.

She shared with excitement the research that

the charity is able to support through fundraising events. The assembly concluded with an emotional video showing ‘a year of firsts’ in a year of Amber’s life, from taking her first steps to presenting Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, with a posy in 2012.

The girls and staff paid £1 for the privilege of wearing vibrant green items of clothing or accessories, as green is the colour of Amber’s charity.

A cake sale was held at break time and official merchandise was purchased on the day. Overall, the girls raised £312.75.

Sister Botle y

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CHARITY

World Wide Walk In October 2013, girls from BSG and other schools around the world walked 10km to show support for Plan’s ‘Because I am a Girl’ campaign. This campaign aims to help girls around the world who are denied an education by the daily realities of poverty, violence and discrimination. As an all-girls school, we felt a strong connection to this campaign, so we took part in what was in fact a leisurely walk in the sun, out and around Bruton. We raised £194.88 for the charity. We hope that Plan can use our donation to move a little further in their goal of improving the lives of millions of girls directly, giving them access to school, skills and protection.

C h a r l o t t e C r o ss U 6

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Teenage Cancer Assembly

Guide Dogs Assembly

Moved by the statistic that seven young people aged between 13 and 24 are diagnosed with cancer every day in the UK, the charity committee decided that from the 15th to the 18th October each Hall would hold a cake sale to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Girls from both the Senior School and Prep School were treated to a rather different assembly on 27 February, when Liz Roddie visited with her four-month-old Labrador puppy, Joy, to deliver an informative talk about the work that she does with the Guide Dogs Association. Liz is a trainer and Joy is the nineteenth puppy she has trained.

The girls made some creative cakes themed to the colour of their Hall. We raised £249.21 and received a lovely letter thanking us for our donation. This donation couldn’t have come at a better time for the trust as they are aiming to raise £2.5 million to fund and build the South West’s first dedicated unit for 16-24 year olds with cancer. This unit will mean that, for the first time, the 200 young people diagnosed with cancer each year in the South West will be able to be treated together and have access to the very best specialist care and support.

Alice Lane U6

We learnt that it costs £50,000 to breed, train and support a guide dog throughout its working life, which lasts for approximately eight years. Once trained, they are assigned personally to those at the top of the waiting list, who are either blind or partially sighted.

Girls had the opportunity to ask Liz questions, and Charlotte Foulstone was very happy when Liz assured her that girls could pat and stroke Joy at the end of the assembly! Having raised awareness of the Guide Dogs Association, one of the Charity Committee’s main initiatives next year will be to sponsor a guide dog like Joy. Olivia Edwards U6

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governors’ careers event

On Friday, 15 November, we were lucky enough to listen to some truly inspiring speakers during BSG’s first Governors’ Careers Event, which was organised by the Governors, with special thanks to Mr David Hindley and Mrs Christine Davidson, whose idea it was.

privileged children, teaching them to aim high in life. We found her presentation and work inspirational and admired what she did to help others. The fact that she is an Old Girl motivated us even more to give back to the community.

getting a job as an assistant at Imagination Ltd, she worked her way up to be the Senior Graphic Design Producer for the company.

From this workshop, we saw the importance of determination and organisation in a leading role.

The day started off with a key note speaker, CEO Rachel Bell and we couldn’t have had a better person to inspire us about our future careers. She was fun and entertaining and her relaxed delivery kept us focused and engaged. She gave us great general advice about remembering our manners, doing our own job well and not trying to do someone else’s.

Another Old Girl, Laura Dietz, is in the Royal Navy and trained as an engineer. She is now working for Augusta Westland in Yeovil and is responsible for all engines installed in the helicopters. We admired her success in what is traditionally considered to be a ‘man’s world’ and the main message we took from her was that, if you set your mind to it, you can do anything.

A truly inspiring lecture was given by Yvonne Thorne, Head of Operations at Yeovil District hospital. This was a particularly pertinent talk as a number of BSG Sixth Formers aim to pursue careers in medicine. She spoke about how important it is for us to have ‘people skills’ and gather as much work experience as possible to be prepared for challenging jobs within the NHS.

Another lecture was given by Rachel Brown, Management Officer of Teach First, a charity that recruits graduates and helps under-

Sarah Fenyvesi, gave us an insight into how to find the work and home life balance, whilst also pursuing an ambitious career. After

Alice Workman’s lecture was particularly close to home, as she talked about the new Hauser & Wirth Gallery opening in Bruton.

She explained how many people are needed to put together an art exhibition which

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surprised us and we learnt what was required for a career in the fine arts industry.

Sophie Richardson enlightened us about what hardships to expect at University as well as the experiences that you will never forget.

She joined Hotcourses Ltd, when they were developing ‘Whatuni’, a website to help students find their university courses. It was refreshing to have such a young lecturer, as we could identify with her because she has just gone through what we are about to start and she proved that there really is light at the end of the tunnel!

The key ideas that came through in all the presentations is how hard work is important. It was an utterly motivating and enlightening day which all who attended thoroughly enjoyed.

The Gleam Team

Ar t work cl au di a l av ender

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SIXTH FORM When Mrs Botterill launched the Sixth Form lecture programme, its aim was to bring the outside world in. We wanted to expose the girls to some radical thinking, some extreme experiences, a wealth of thought-provoking ideas, so that out of all the things they hear, they could take some new ideas, broaden their minds and perhaps keep in touch with the people and organisations they have come across in their weekly talks. They should also have met and talked to a wide range of female role models in society, inspiring them for their own future lives.

This year the talks have allowed the girls to meet, among others, a local politician, an accountant, a panel of finance experts from a bank, a man who walked across the whole of China from Mongolia to Hong Kong, a government advisor on body image in young people and a rich collection of amazing female explorers.

It was wonderful to be able to welcome back Major Kate Philp for her second visit, this time to tell us about her gruelling trek across Antarctica as the only woman in the group of wounded Armed Forces personnel Harry’s Polar Heroes, the group led by Prince Harry to raise money for Help for Heroes. It was fascinating to hear about the research the amputees did on how far the human body can be pushed in extreme weather conditions.

The images she showed were moving and impressive, and everyone enjoyed hearing about Prince Harry as well as inspecting her polar jacket with its real dog fur hood.

Natasha Devon gave a lecture on body image which really engaged the girls.

There was quite a debate afterwards about advertising, the world of fashion and the exploitation of women. Her work advising the government sparked great interest, to the extent that some girls are still following her on Twitter nearly a year later.

Sixth Form Lectures Felicity Aston was another intrepid adventurer who shocked us all by recounting the hallucinations she suffered when exposed to extreme solitude and whiteout in her Antarctic trek, and the girls were intrigued to find out that she has gone on to present a BBC series about clouds.

Perhaps the most contentious talk was from Angela Findlay about her work rehabilitating violent offenders through projects teaching art in prisons; this provoked strong feelings and many questions from her audience. We have invited Angela back to deliver her other talk this year, about belonging to a German family during and after the Second World War. We enjoyed welcoming members of our local community, parents and Senior 5 girls to several lectures and hope that the programme continues to attract similar audiences in the future. The girls have gained a huge amount from this stimulating programme.

M i ss D o n a l d s o n

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CELEBRATIONS

Chinese New Year was celebrated on the last day of January at Bruton School for Girls, with pupils from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau sharing some of the traditions of the festival with the rest of the school.

The Chinese girls helped their classmates and teachers paint good luck and fortune messages on red banners, using traditional calligraphy brushes and paint. Students and staff were also helped to identify the animal sign under which they were born, the characteristics typical of that animal and the famous and infamous people with whom they share that sign. Scissors were employed in large numbers in the cutting of decorative

red silhouettes, lanterns, as well as hangings of various sizes, all symbolising or wishing happiness, good fortune or prosperity in one form or another. Quantities of New Year sweets and cookies were consumed, with warnings given not to swallow the good fortune messages contained in the latter!

The celebrations continued into the evening with the girls in Highcroft cooking a traditional feast of Chinese dumplings and other traditional dishes, which they then sat down to enjoy with their fellow boarders.

Mr Witt

Chinese New Year

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Scissors were employed in large numbers in the cutting of decorative red silhouettes, lanterns, as well as hangings of various sizes, all symbolising or wishing happiness, good fortune or prosperity in one form or another.

A r t w o r k & P h o t o g r ap h y O l i v i a K a y e s & A b i g a i l P i t c h f o r t h

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POLITICS

Ukrainian Referendum

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Mr Mendoza-Wilson (a parent of Sunny Hill girls) came to talk to the Lower Sixth students, and Senior 4 historians and geographers, as an eminent businessman working for Rinat Akhmetov (the richest man in Ukraine and third most powerful figure in the region after the President and Prime Minister).

Mr Mendoza-Wilson gave the girls an insightful talk on the current crisis situation referring to it as an asymmetric conflict with many different factors playing a part at different times and in different places. He also explained some interesting things about the history of the area. He informed us that we should refer to the region as Ukraine and not ‘the’ Ukraine. Apparently the Russians use the term ‘the’ to indicate that it is their province rather than a country in its own right.

He also encouraged us to look out for two crucial dates in the next month: 11 May (referendum on self-rule, where the ballot papers have already been printed by the Russians!) and 25 May, (election of the new President). He believes the election of a new President is crucial for the country, but Russia is keen to destabilise the democratic process at every stage.

Mr Mendoza-Wilson’s talk was fascinating, and we all learnt such a lot about such a complicated political situation. The Senior 4 historians were particularly struck by his comment that, ‘We are in a phase of the New Cold War’.

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‘ Mr MendozaWilson’s talk was fascinating, and we all learnt such a lot about such a complicated political situation.’

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LOCAL INTERESTS

Pitcombe Restoration Imogen Wargen (Senior 5) and Meghan Sherwin (Senior 4) followed events relating to the recent rehanging and augmentation of the bells of the Parish Church of St Leonard’s, Pitcombe.

They produced a very impressive collection of ten, large black and white photographs which documented the whole process over several weeks. The quality of the photographs they took was excellent and solicited many glowing comments when on public display for guests attending afternoon tea at Hadspen Village Hall, following the Dedication of the Bells by the Archdeacon of Wells on Sunday, 4 May. M r W yat t

p h o t o g r ap h y m e g h a n s h e r w i n

New bells for St Leonard’s, Pitcombe.

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p h o t o g r ap h y i m o g e n w a r g e n

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MUSIC Director of Music, Mr Matt Dury, reviews another busy year for the Music Department.

Joint School Concert On Thursday, 10 October, students from Bruton School for Girls took part in the tenth Joint Schools Concert, alongside students from Bruton Primary School, King’s Bruton and Sexey’s School.

The concert opened with the successful performance of the joint item, the reflective In Paradisum from Faure’s Requiem Mass.

The schools then took turns to provide the individual items for the remainder of the concert. Flora McLaren was first up from BSG, giving a stylish and extremely well-received rendition of I’d Give My Life for You from Miss Saigon. Bruton School’s Cantabile opened the second half of the concert with confident performances of the traditional The Lark in the Clear Air and Howard Goodall’s The Lord is my Shepherd. Special mention should be made of Tierney Chappell and India Davies, who performed solo passages in these pieces.

The final contribution from BSG came in the form of another vocal solo; this time given by Tierney Chappell, who sang In his Eyes from Jekyll and Hyde, again with confidence, style and assurance. Congratulations to all the performers for their efforts, and thank you to Mrs Hale and all attending parents for giving their time to support this worthy event.

Piano Recital

Germany Trip

Students from the Senior School gave a wonderful lunchtime piano recital on Wednesday, 16 October. Performing on the Steinway grand piano in the Main Hall, the concert opened with some measured playing

by Monique Sang. This was followed by Genevieve Baker who performed a Diabelli duet with Mrs Brookfield, and Geraldine Lue, a GCSE music student, who confidently performed the famous Adagio from Beethoven’s Pathetique Piano Sonata. Emily Yuan then gave a very mature performance of the Valse Romantique, before Elizabeth Payne played an atmospheric arrangement of Scarborough Fair.

One always begins to feel rather sorry for Mr Dury towards the end of the Summer Term – just when the rest of the school is beginning to wind down and look forward to the long, examination-free summer ahead of them, he is suddenly presented with a great number of rather important jobs; the Summer Concert, the School Production and Speech Day preparations. In addition, biannually, he has the added stress of organising the transportation of around forty girls, sixty instruments and not quite enough music stands to an unknown foreign country.

The audience were next treated to four pieces, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from Richard Rodney-Bennett’s Week of Birthdays. The performers, taking two movements each, were Eunice Siu and Coco Cheung. Both of these students perform at an extremely high level on the instrument and work under the tutelage of Mr Willis.

The concert concluded with Alice Tindal’s performance of I giorni by Einaudi, a flowing rendition of a challenging work. Many thanks go to Rebecca Light for introducing each piece, to Mrs Brookfield for arranging such a lovely lunchtime event and to all those who came to support.

We felt particularly bad for him, as well as Mrs Johnson, Mrs Hale, Mr Willis and Anne, the German Assistant, as we embarked on the bus at two o’clock in the morning, the day after Speech Day, facing the prospect of a 16 hour trip through Europe. Thankfully, Senior 5 had anticipated the pain that such a journey might bring; entertainment was provided in the form of a never-ending stream of classic eighties movies (Mrs Hale and Mrs Johnson led the sing along) and sustenance came in the form of large bags of German Haribo.

We finally arrived at Hotel Fleck (which Anne informed us meant, rather entertainingly, ‘Hotel Dirty Spot’ in English) and were relieved to find that it was, despite the name, very nice, serving extremely good food (can’t beat a schnitzel!).

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On the morning of the first day, we visited Marksburg Castle, which is built on a hill very high over the Rhine, vaguely resembling something from a Disney movie. The castle is over 700 years old and our tour guide was extremely informative about both its history and the medieval torture techniques employed by its residents. Frankly, he was rather graphic, but the accounts were softened by the spectacular views which surrounded the castle. Our first ‘Konzert’ was that afternoon, but before we could perform, we needed to find a replacement for a piece of drum kit that had been left behind in England.

After pillaging a local school, we arrived at our venue - a concert hall in which Beethoven had performed! The concert was introduced by the German students who explained who we were and what we would be performing.

Our musical repertoire was well received by the audience - so much so that they attempted to pay us at the end (apparently it’s a German tradition). In the evening we were introduced to the delights of Mafia, a rather complicated psychological card game, played with great passion by Mr Dury, which grew in popularity throughout the trip.

On our second day we visited Phantasialand, a huge theme park and home of the world’s steepest drop on a log flume ride. Although we had fun, the enjoyment was slightly dampened (no pun intended) by the fact that it rained torrentially all day. Having dried off, that evening several of us stayed up to watch Germany play in the semi-final of the football World Cup. Thankfully, Germany triumphed.

The third morning was spent on a boat trip down the Rhine, passing the famous Loreley Rock and other picturesque landmarks of the region and, after a brief and soggy lunch stop in Koblenz, we arrived at our final concert venue, which was extremely grand. Despite some setbacks, including some people being unable to perform at the last minute due to illness, everyone was supportive and the concert was a huge success. In the audience

were Anne’s parents, who said they thoroughly enjoyed our performance.

That evening, we went bowling to celebrate our last night in Germany and to say goodbye to Anne, who was not only amazing as a language assistant at school, but also invaluable on the trip as translator and excellent flautist.

Next morning, we set out after an early breakfast, sad to be leaving this wonderful country. Ironically, the weather improved dramatically on the coach journey back and so we were able to take away with us memories of the beautiful German countryside. After one last game of Mafia on the ferry, we embarked on the final leg of our coach journey back to Bruton, feeling exhausted, but somewhat better educated in eighties movies. Thanks must go to the brilliant staff, namely Mr Dury, Mrs Johnson, Mrs Hale, Mr Willis and Anne, who worked so hard to ensure that the trip ran smoothly. We had a wonderful time!

Harriet Sheves, Georgina Lewis and Tierney Chappell Senior 5

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MUSIC

Winter Concert Students from across the Senior School put on an entertaining and varied evening of music for the school’s Winter Concert. Performing to a typically appreciative audience of peers, parents, staff and governors, the concert opened with some early music courtesy of two chamber ensembles directed by Mrs Holbrook.

The School Choir then performed two contemporary popular songs, one a capella, before a brief return to the Renaissance as the school’s brass ensemble blasted out three dances by Susato. Contemporary pop groups from Senior 2 and 3 then took to the stage to give performances of music by Mraz, Newman and Caillat. These groups are both still relatively young, but the potential for growth was very much evident in the renditions given, which were tunefully sung (with harmonies) and accurately accompanied by guitars, hand drums and piano.

The school’s Chamber Choir then sang two movements from the school’s 2013 nine lessons Carol Service, featuring fresh settings of the traditional Bible readings, before the penultimate item continued the Christmas theme, as Mrs Holbrook once again returned with a chamber group of musicians and singers, co-trained by the brilliant Mrs Hale.

The finale featured the school orchestra, which powered through an epic arrangement of themes from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The music was challenging, but the girls acquitted themselves fantastically.

However, the concert would not have been such a success without the Herculean efforts of supporting visiting instrumental teachers, or the support of all those who turned up to watch.

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Artwork georgina lewis

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Sexey’s Hospital Concert

Woodwind Recital

Classical musicians from Bruton School for Girls visited the intimate setting of Sexey’s Hospital Chapel on Friday, 6 December, in order to give a lunchtime concert to local residents. The programme, put together by Mrs Holbrook, comprised a fine selection of Baroque and Christmas music, featuring composers such as Bach, Handel, Boyce and Purcell. The girls performed very well in the Chapel, producing a fine instrumental and vocal timbre that resonated beautifully in the new surroundings.

January’s lunchtime recital programme featured members of the woodwind family and was the first recital to be performed at the Prep School. Harriet Sheves opened the programme with a successful unaccompanied flute solo, a piece that she is soon to submit for her GCSE performance portfolio. Clarinettists Georgina Chadfield and Li-Yun Kuo then gave strong performances accompanied by Mrs Perrett, featuring music by Harris and Schmitt respectively.

The concert concluded with a congregational, O Come All Ye Faithful, accompanied by Barbara Jenkinson on the organ, before Canon Jenkins gave a closing vote of thanks. In his speech he noted that BSG was originally founded using money raised from sales associated with Sexey’s Hospital and so it was fitting that girls from the presentday school were the first Bruton students to use the space for a musical performance in recent times. It is hoped that this event will become an annual Advent fixture. Thanks and congratulations go to all performers, as well as to Mrs Holbrook, Mr Burns and Barbara Jenkinson for running the event.

Genevieve Baker followed with a rendition of a Siciliana by Cimarosa on the oboe, demonstrating beautiful control in the long lyrical passages, before Georgina Moore performed a Presto by Quantz, really showing how much she has progressed on the instrument over the past year. Beatrice Thomas then performed a quirky waltz entitled Coffee and Croissants, showing once again the potential of an instrument often overlooked at Senior School level.

A lovely recital was rounded-off with an upbeat performance of Christopher Norton’s Carthorse Rag by Olivia Barber on flute, who performed with all the poise of a county-level musician. Many thanks go to the Prep School for hosting the event and to all the woodwind teachers in the Senior School for their efforts in putting the programme together.

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MUSIC

Prep School First Acoustic Evening

Lunchtime Recital

Musicians from the Senior School gathered in the Hobhouse Theatre on the evening of Friday, 31 January to perform BSG’s first ‘Acoustic Evening’. An astonishing array of talent was on show, with girls performing solos, duets, trios and other forms of ensemble, all self-rehearsed to an extremely appreciative audience. Material offered included some brilliant original compositions as well as innovative cover versions of contemporary music.

On Monday, 24 February, the Prep School hosted professional musician Mr Quinney for a 30-minute lecture/demonstration. Mr Quinney brought three different saxophones into school and explained to the Prep School students about his history as a musician growing up in Canada. He then expertly performed a number of different pieces on the soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, showing the students just how versatile the instrument is.

The evening was a real demonstration of the depth of high level musical talent within the school. Congratulations must go to all those students who worked so hard to produce such an enjoyable evening. Thank you also to everyone who turned up at the end of the week to support the performers.

He was joined by Mrs McCormick for an unusual duet with viola, and played a number of his other excerpts with backing tracks.

The students were treated to pop music, jazz improvisation, as well as some transcriptions of classical compositions. There was also time for questions at the end, giving the students a further insight into the instrument.

Thank you to Mr Quinney for his brilliant contribution to BSG’s lunchtime recital series and to Mrs McCormick and Mrs Snow for hosting the event.

Art work georgina bullock

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Vocal Recital

Scholars’ Recital

Students from both the Prep and Senior Schools joined together to give the first musical performance of the year on Wednesday, 25 September.

Senior School music scholars put on a varied programme of music for friends, family and staff on Wednesday, 26 February. Harriet Sheves opened the programme with two pieces for flute; the first a duet with Miss Brown, the second a solo fantasy by Telemann.

Harriet performed with confidence and poise, displaying a strong tone on the instrument.

This was followed by Laura Jenkins, who performed a jig on the viola, accompanied by Miss Holbrook on the piano. Laura has a lot of potential on the instrument and continues to be an extremely valued member of the music department, holding the middle string parts in the school orchestra single-handedly.

The event was a lunchtime vocal recital, ably arranged by vocal tutors Mrs Hale and Miss Marton. The music performed was predominantly West End show music, with tracks from Oliver, The Lion King and Miss Saigon all featuring. Congratulations to all the students who participated, and thanks go to all parents, students and teachers who gave their support to the event.

The sole Senior 1 music scholar, Rebecca Light, then performed a minuet that forms part of one of Bach’s extant scrapbooks.

Rebecca played with confidence and control, making a lovely sound on the school’s Steinway. Lucy Hunt, who continues to go from strength to strength, followed the minuet with two contrasting vocal works: the short Mozart operatic aria L’ho perduta, which she performed in Italian, preceded by Alan Menken’s melodic God Help The Outcasts.

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The penultimate scholarship performance was given by India Davies, who sang Weill’s typically brilliant My Ship. India was performing with a heavy cold and showed great fortitude in giving a strong rendition under adverse circumstances. Finally, Malgorzata Kasprzak, the newest addition to the scholarship team, performed two unaccompanied works for cello; the Prelude from Bach’s Suite Number 1, followed by Faure’s Elegie. Malgorzata continues to offer genuinely engaging performances with a maturity and passion beyond her years.

After a brief interval, members of the music department staff gave a series of excellent performances, featuring music by Rutter, Vivaldi, Bach, Norton, Van Morrison and Bellini. Thank you to all the scholars for such an entertaining event, to the musical staff for giving of their expertise and to all who came to support.

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MUSIC Annual Spring Concert Students from across the Senior School gathered on the evening of the 25 March to deliver a programme of music for the annual Spring Concert. A wide variety of music featured, from Imagine Dragons to Haydn.

Most of the main school ensembles were in action, although an illness suffered by Mrs Hale prevented the school’s choral groups from participating on this occasion. The school’s largest ensemble, the orchestra, performed the second movement of Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, with Georgina Lewis leaving the leader’s seat to perform the solo trumpet line.

The classical element of the concert was further supported by contributions from various chamber ensembles, including Mr Burns’ Baroque Ensemble and Senior String Trio, as well as Miss Holbrook’s Junior String Quartet. These groups produced some beautiful sounds in the resonant acoustic environment.

More contemporary music was performed by the contemporary groups from Senior 2 and 3, both of which are growing in presence on

stage, whilst Olivia Edwards and an a capella vocal group also performed brilliantly music in the more modern contemporary idiom (London Grammar and Imagine Dragons covers respectively).

There were two excellent classical solos on the programme too; Malgorzata Kasprzak, fresh from her Grade 8 distinction, gave a magnificent and moving performance of Fauré’s famous and challenging ‘cello Elegie, accompanied by Mr Willis; and Olivia Barber stunned the audience with a virtuosic rendering of Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca on tuned percussion.

The orchestra brought the programme to an end with a Viennese style performance of The Radetzky March, complete with audience participation. Many, many thanks to all the staff who helped to put this varied and enjoyable programme together, as well as to all the students, parents, governors and staff who came to support the event.

Congratulations also to all the girls who put so much effort into creating a truly memorable musical evening.

Ar t work l av ender l ai

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Colston Hall GCSE Music Trip On the evening of Tuesday, 4 March, Senior 4 GCSE music students visited the Colston Hall in Bristol to watch a concert given by the Vienna Tonkunstler Orchestra as part of the Bristol International Classical Season.

The programme featured three major works

by Beethoven: the first of these was his Sixth Symphony, the Pastoral; the second was his Fourth Piano Concerto, featuring soloist Barry Douglas; and the final piece was the immortal Fifth Symphony. The performance was excellent and the music inspirational.

performed by Eva Cowlishaw, Flora Mclaren, Julia Robbins and Monique Sang. Mr Willis also compered the concert, giving the audience an insight into the mechanics of the instrument at St John’s, as well as some historical information about the musical items in the programme. The repertoire consisted of music by Bach, Saint-Seans, Tchaikovsky, Fauré, Healy Willan and Pietro Yon. Many thanks and congratulations go to all the girls for taking part in a successful evening of musical entertainment, as well as to Mr Willis for organising the event in aid of such a worthy cause.

musical Cats, with Lucy Hunt providing vocals for the famous Memory.

Thank you to Mrs Holbrook for organising the event, to all the girls and staff for performing so beautifully and to all the girls who came to support their friends at this lovely end-of-year recital.

Royal British Legion Georgina Lewis and Geraldine Lue, Senior 5, visited Bruton Community Hall on Thursday, 17 October, in order to provide musical entertainment for the local branch of the Royal British Legion.

The girls played for over twenty minutes on their violins, covering a range of pieces, both as soloists and as a pair. Their performances were extremely well received by the grateful tea guests, who presented the girls with tea and chocolates for their efforts at the conclusion of the visit.

Yeovil Concert

String Recital

On Wednesday, 18 June, students from the Senior School visited St John’s Church in Yeovil to perform a concert in conjunction with BSG keyboard tutor Mr Ray Willis in aid of the Somerset Flood Relief Fund. The concert was part of the ‘Wind and Wave’ series, created to support the charity by the Somerset Organists’ and Choirmasters’ Association.

On Wednesday, 2 July, Senior School string students put on a wonderful lunchtime concert in the Music School. Organised

by Mrs Holbrook, the event featured solo performances by Lucy Hunt, Poppy Gotto, Alice Phippen and Laura Jenkins, with piano teacher Mrs Brookfield leaving her usual instrument to perform a solo on the cello.

Music from classical composers such as Rossini was performed alongside traditional folk compositions and West End smash hits.

The concert concluded with the Senior 3 string quartet performing two movements from the

The programme consisted of a mixture of organ solos performed by Mr Willis, cello solos performed by Malgorzata Kasprzak (many of which featured in her recent Grade 8 examination) and songs from the shows

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PREP

Roman Assembly Indian Workshop In the annual Arts Curriculum Week, the Prep School explored different aspects of foreign cultures.

As a volunteer at the Prep School and member of the Joybells team 2013, it was a great pleasure for me to give a talk to Preps 3 to 6 about children in India. Together, we discussed the differences between how girls are raised in the UK and how Indian girls are brought up. It was inspiring to listen to the girls’ opinions and experiences. To my delight, lots of questions were asked, which ranged from what a normal school day at Joybells looked like to more serious issues of adoption and funding the children`s future. Many girls told me afterwards how lucky they felt having such a fulfilled childhood and receiving such a long education.

Additionally, Indian dance sessions ran throughout the week for the different year groups, including Preps 1 and 2, where the children choreographed their own Bollywood routine after learning some characteristic Indian dance moves.

Personally, I enjoyed working with the girls tremendously. I like to think that the experience was just as much fun for them as it was for me.

S a r a S ta e h r L 6

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Our Trip to Charterhouse We were all waiting outside the school grounds excitedly and nervously for the coach to arrive, with bags packed and yummy lunch sorted.

The coach arrived and we all clambered on.

Once we got on we fastened our seat belts and set off. As we got closer to Charterhouse I wondered what it would be like. I was expecting an old, rusty, big, run-down building, but how wrong I was! It was a little modern, clean structure.

When we got off we were all eager to get our bags and start the first activity. We met our instructor, who was called Ben and looked like Harry Styles from One Direction. We walked on to the grassy area and played three games.

There was a beanbag game, a hoop game and also Dodge Ball. My favourite was Dodge Ball because it was energetic and exciting. It also helped to improve my throwing. The balls were bright and colourful and fun to play with.

After we had played all of the games it was time for lunch. We all washed our hands and went into the dining hall, which was big and spacious. We sat down and lunch was handed out.

After that we did some team building. We walked into a forest and it was magical. All of the magnificent trees were bending over like swans arching their necks. The light shone through like thousands of fireflies soaring through the air. We learnt the rules and we started to build dens. Some of us were collectors, but I was a builder. It took a long time, but we got there. After what seemed like only a minute it was time to leave the forest. We took the long walk back to the Charterhouse base.

We waved goodbye with a sob. I had a great day at Charterhouse and didn’t want to leave, but I couldn’t wait to tell my family all about it!

Ta r a C r o o k P r e p 4

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PREP On Sunday, 11 May, Preps 5 and 6 went to Charterhouse. We were all exited, especially my class, as it was the first time we had been there. We got there at 4.45 p.m. and then Matt, an instructor, gave us a tour of Charterhouse.

After that we went to the Blue Room, a meeting room, to discover who was in which dorm. I was in Fox’s Hole with Amelia Kirkby and Evie Dalby-Welsh. Other people went in other dorms, called Cuckoo Cleeves, Lamb Leer, Dragon’s Chamber and Rhino Rift. We unpacked and went back to the Blue Room to have hot chocolate. After supper we did an evening activity where we had to fit loads of things into a tiny matchbox. We went inside and put everything we had on the table and made it into a drawing of something to do with the dorm animals. My dorm had to do a fox.

At 9.00 p.m. we went to bed.

Breakfast started at 8.00 a.m. When the bell rang it meant that everyone had to meet up at the entrance of the dining room. An instructor called Andrew told us what we were doing and what to wear. There were two groups: Prep 5 and Prep 6.

Prep 5 was doing gorge walking in the morning and Prep 6 was doing archery in the morning and then we swapped over, but rather than Prep 6 doing gorge walking they did climbing. When Prep 5 and I got back we all wanted to have a hot shower! We were freezing because we had to do lots of things in water. The most freezing one was the ‘idiotbrain-freeze-ice-cream-challenge’. Prep 6 was doing archery and they were warm! After lunch Prep 6 did climbing and Prep 5 did archery.

Everyone had a bull’s-eye in Prep 5.

Next we had dinner (fish fingers!) and then we went on a night walk, led by an instructor called Andy. We passed an old mine entrance and walked on a hill of slag, which was waste from lead smelting. Andy said that Isabelle Nathan in Prep 6 had to do the bridge challenge where she had to go under a bridge.

She also was challenged to do one lap of the

Charterhouse Student Report lake, but she didn’t want to do it, so she was let off. After some hot chocolate, we went to bed at 9.00 p.m.

The next day, we had breakfast as normal before leaving to go sailing and kayaking at Durleigh Sailing Club. It took an hour to get there. Prep 5 did sailing first and Prep 6 did kayaking. We all put buoyancy aids on and were given instructions on how to sail. As it was windy we went in two big boats, – five on one boat and five in the other boat. Holly Grant was in my boat and she was very, very, very scared that we were going to capsize, so she screamed her head off. Prep 5 and Prep 6 then swapped over: Prep 5 went kayaking and Prep 6 went sailing. Prep 5 went to the Bridgwater Canal, which was very dirty and no one wanted to capsize. When we got back, we had dinner and then sat around a campfire

with Andy, singing songs. We also had a dorm challenge where each dorm had to perform a play. My dorm did a play about the Bomb Pit which is a place of earth workings shaped like a bomb. We slept well!

Breakfast was at 8.00 a.m. again as usual the next morning, after which we packed our bags. This took ages, but in the end we managed it and went for our last activity which was orienteering. Andy said we should meet in the classroom so he could talk to us about what to do if we got lost. We found orienteering quite hard, but we had to work as a team. When we finished it was time for lunch before heading home. The trip to Charterhouse was very, very exciting and I can’t wait for next year.

T i l l i a n a L a n d r ay P r e p 5

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The Gloomy Day

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PREP Once there was a museum owned by a very pink piglet and a shiny pony. The museum was running perfectly fine until a week ago.

I’ll tell you exactly what happened. One dull night the two animals went to bed. Suddenly the clock hit twelve o’ clock. This is when disaster struck!

A sneaky cat crept through the tiniest gap in an open window. The cat slowly tiptoed up to the bullet proof glass like a hungry lion creeping up on its clumsy prey. Then he struck! As soon as he touched the cold glass the ear-piercing alarms went off. The piglet and the pony woke up and hurried down stairs to see what the trouble was.

The robber cat had tried to hide, but he was too slow. The pony picked up the phone and started dialling the number.

The Cat, The Pig and The Pony Friendship is a Key to Life “Oh no, I’m in trouble!” murmured the cat.

“I think so too!” replied the piglet.

Suddenly, the sound of roaring sirens filled the area and before you could say clickerclick the cat was being dragged into the BIG police van.

“Goodbye!” shouted both the piglet and the pony together loudly.

“Well that’s the end of him then!” laughed the pony.

“You can say that again!” giggled the piglet.

The two of them celebrated and got their gems back.

E va L arsen Prep 4

Once upon a fable there lived an elephant, a tortoise and a fox. They were bickering very loudly.

“I will win any race,” snarled the fox.

“I might too,” trumpeted the elephant.

The tortoise said nothing, but in the end the fox said in an evil voice: “Why don’t we have a race then?”

They practised for a couple of days and were soon ready, all except the tortoise.

It was the day of the race and the whistle blew. The fox sped across the line and the big elephant was behind. The elephant stopped, staring at the starting line which the slow tortoise had just crossed. He ran back swiftly and put the unhurried tortoise on his rear and sprinted to where the fox had gone to sleep under a tree. They made a break for it. They kept running and running. They were a few feet away from the finishing line. The crowd roared which woke up the fox. He saw them and went, “Oh no!”

The elephant and tortoise crossed the finishing line. They had won.

Violet Little Prep 4

Artwork georgina lewis

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Sports Day

Swimming Gala Fire, Water and Earth gathered for an exciting afternoon by the pool with huge rain clouds overhead. The weather decided it would keep with tradition and rain persistently all afternoon. However, spirits were still very high and there were some tense and competitive races. It was lovely to see all the girls taking part, working together in their Halls and cheering each other on.

Excellent performances came from Rosie Eckl, Charlotte Holman, Emilia Gotto and Jemma Lewis, who all demonstrated their stamina, effective technique and determination. A special mention must go to Georgia Hill in Prep 5 who has made amazing progress in her swimming this term and should be very proud of her swims both in the breaststroke and freestyle races.

Earth were victorious in the end, after a strong performance in the closing relays.

M i ss C o w p e r

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PREP

This summer the Prep School was delighted to announce the success of Emilia Gotto, Charlotte Holman, Jemma Lewis, Isabelle Nathan and Genevieve Sang, who are the first pupils to achieve their John Muir Award, Discovery Level. They have been working towards the award for two years and, with the invaluable assistance of Dr Stephanie Greshon, they have spent many busy and happy hours in the Railway Cutting Nature Reserve, discovering, exploring, conserving and sharing their wild space. Emilia Gotto, Prep 6, wrote the following in her Four Challenge Review.

Discover a wild place.

What wild places have you discovered?

We have discovered the cutting in the school grounds.

What did you like or not like about the wild places you visited?

I liked the pond and the pretty greenery.

I also liked the earthworm shelters, but not all of the brambles and thorns, because they looked ugly and hurt you.

What is special about them?

The pond is special because many animals have made a home there. The slow worm shelters provide a warm and comfortable environment for the slow worms to live in.

John Muir Award

In addition, the greenery is important for animals to hide in and make dens in.

Explore its wildness.

What have you done to get to know wild places? How have you experienced them?

We have gone on walks through the cutting to look at all of the scenery. We have walked along the top of the cutting to see it from a bird’s eye view and we have also climbed trees.

What things have you found out?

We did a grass survey to see what types of grass we have and we have over 20 different types! We listened to bird and animal sounds and worked out what animal they came from.

As well as that, I have looked at the flowers and found out what they were called. I have found out more about wild life and now I can conserve it better than I could before.

Conserve take Responsibility.

How have you taken responsibility?

I have taken responsibility by clearing the bank in the cutting so that glow worms can live there.

What have you done to make a difference and put something back for wild places?

I have cleared the brambles away and put them in a heap so that animals can shelter

under them. I helped to make and put up bird boxes for birds to live in. Also, I have put up dormouse boxes. As well as that, I have taken away all of the rubbish I have found. I also made bird feeders out of lard and seeds and little maggots!

Share your experiences.

Who have you shared with?

I have shared my experiences with the whole school, my class mates, the teachers and Dr Stephanie.

How have you shared your experiences of wild places?

I have shared them by helping to make a board of all our experiences and discoveries in the cutting. I have also told people about my time in the cutting.

What things have you thought about?

I have thought about the safety of the animals and how I might be harming them. I have thought about what the animals may like to eat and what environment they like.

How do wild places make you feel?

Wild places make me feel peaceful and make me forget about all of the pollution and all the damage that is being done to the world.

Emilia Got to Prep 6

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Ode to a Nightingale I took your freedom selfishly Because your voice enchanted me.

It painted a picture in my mind I am sorry that I was so unkind.

Your song was as beautiful as the night sky.

It was sweet and brought a tear to my eye.

When I was on my death bed, you came to me.

You were a dog, as loyal as can be.

You sang your sweetest song And it wasn’t long Before I was right as rain And said you would never be caged again.

Suzanna Reese Prep 6

Moore Valley Trip

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PREP

Should School Uniforms be Banned?

It is known that most schools in the United Kingdom wear school uniform. Some children do not want to wear school uniform because they think that it is uncomfortable, but let us look at the pros and cons of school uniform.

On the one hand, school uniform looks smart and so it can enhance a school’s reputation.

Furthermore, children who wear uniform do not have to worry about what they are going to wear. There might be less bullying in schools where a uniform is worn, because there is no competition to see who can wear the coolest brand. School uniform can also help to instil pride in the school, because everyone is wearing the same clothing and so they feel more united. Moreover, if a child gets lost on a school trip it is easier to know what school they are from if they are wearing uniform.

However, school uniform can be negative.

Children cannot express themselves by wearing school clothes. Goths want to wear dark clothes and not colourful school uniform, for example. Also some schools do not let religious pupils wear religious items of clothing and on cold days pupils are not able to wear their warm winter clothes instead of the school uniform. School uniform might therefore damage a child’s self-image because they are not able to express themselves as they want to. In general, school uniforms are also very expensive.

In conclusion, school uniform can be both good and bad. I believe both sides of the argument because school uniforms do look neat and tidy, but students do also need a way of expressing themselves.

Genevieve Sang Prep 6

Artwork Georgina lewis

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EYFS

Artwork eleanor ablett

The Hooves on a Horse Parody of a well known nursery song.

The hooves on the horse go clippity-clop, clippity-clop, clippity-clop.

The hooves on the horse go clippity-clop all day long.

The pony’s ears go flickerty-flick, flickertyflick, flickerty-flick.

The ears on the pony go flickerty-flick all day long.

The donkey’s tail goes swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish swish.

The donkey’s tail goes swish, swish, swish all day long.

The horse’s mouth goes munch, munch, munch, munch, munch, munch, munch, munch, munch.

The horse’s mouth goes munch, munch, munch all day long.

The shire horse’s hooves go thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.

The hooves on the shire horse go thud, thud, thud all day long.

The Shetland pony goes neigh, neigh, neigh, neigh, neigh, niegh, neigh, neigh, neigh.

The Shetland pony goes neigh, neigh, neigh all day long.

Is a b e l l e N a t h a n a n d J e m m a Lewis Prep 6

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SCIENCE

Girls in Science Day In October, a total of 90 young girls from local primary schools joined our Prep School for Girls in Science Day. There were three fun science related activities. The girls were split into groups and had a turn at each activity.

Each science department had an activity running throughout the day. In chemistry, the girls made bath bombs, choosing their own colour and scent. By the end of the day, Mrs Marsh’s classroom was an attack on the senses with a myriad of smells and colours.

In biology the girls did some identification, using water from our pond. The girls loved finding all the little creatures and identifying them. After that they made mobiles of

A r t w o r k J o e y ta m food chains, picking their own carnivores, herbivores and plants, so that each girl left with a unique memento.

In physics, the girls were posed the question, ‘Could you be a rocket engineer?’, before setting about building their own rocket that could be propelled using their breath alone.

The girls were very serious when talking through any changes that could be made to the template, as well as the pros and cons of each change.

Overall, the two days were a great success.

Every girl left with a new take on what science could mean for them.

Jemima Gibson W yer U6

‘ Every girl left with a new take on what science could mean for them.’

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The Eden Project

‘ The Eden Project is a wonderful place to go and we all had a great day out.’

On the Friday of Girls Go Green Week, Senior 2 and 3 spent an amazing day at the Eden Project. The Eden Project is a British charity set up to inform people of all ages about how to be eco-friendly and why we should preserve plants. Miss James organised the trip and we started off in the Learning Centre where a woman gave us a talk all about Eden and its eco way of functioning. At Eden they use rain to flush the toilets, and every bit of soil on their banks serves a purpose.

We set off in groups of three or more to look around all the Bio-domes and generally have a good time. We got to look at all the different types of plants from around the world.

At the Eden Project the Millennium Seed Bank Project stores and preserves all types of seeds. The MSBP hoped to preserve 10% of the world’s seed plants by 2010, and they did.

They got as many plants as they could from all over the globe and brought them back to the Eden Project. The Eden Project is a wonderful place to go and we all had a great day out.

J a i m e Pa r s o n s S en i o r 3

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SCIENCE

Monkey Banks Miss Bennett Jones showed us a slide show about Re-use, Recycle and Reduce, or if you prefer ‘Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do or do without’. I never knew that there were so many ways of using toothpaste. You can use it to clean piano keys, get rid of spots on your face and so much more.

Next we were shown some yellow painted milk bottles. I wondered what we would be doing with them. Soon we were told; we were going to make monkey banks. Money banks shaped like monkeys! Miss Bennett Jones gave us some coloured paper and scrap fabric and we got to work. We cut out a nose, a mouth and a pair of eyes and stuck them on. Some people did tails, bows and even hair. We got to take them home to show our families. It was a really fun activity and everyone enjoyed it.

Flor a Huins Senior 1

Mrs Rostrup’s Energy Saving Workshop On Wednesday, 25 September, all the Senior 1 girls took part in Girls Go Green Week activities. My group was the first group to learn about energy saving with Mrs Rostrup. Firstly, we talked about all the main kinds of energy.

After that we watched some demonstrations.

There was one where you had to spin a handle to make a little light-bulb shine. There was also one where there was a mini solar panel on the top of a toy carousel and Mrs Rostrup shone a light over it and it started spinning very slightly.

Once we had done those, we used peddlepower to make Scalextric cars move around a track. We raced the cars and we did time trials; my best score was four seconds flat. By the time we had finished we were all puffed out from all the peddling. It was great fun!

Is a b e l S c o t t S e n i o r 1

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Growing Your Own Food

Bushcraft

Miss Donaldson showed us how easy it is to transform a tiny space into a kitchen garden.

Her front garden is five by five metres, but she grows lots of different vegetables and fruit, such as gooseberries, onions, garlic and various salad leaves.

On Monday, 23 September, half of my year in the morning and half in the afternoon participated in the bushcraft activity for Girls Go Green Week. Not many people understand the true meaning of bushcraft. Many think it is just about surviving in the wild, just like Bear Grylls, but in fact it is also about thriving in the wild and being able to sustain life.

In her top garden she has a lot of wild Cow Parsley as it looks so pretty among all the other plants. In a raised plant bed she grows beetroot and more Ruby and White Chard. There is a fig tree and a large quince tree; quinces are fruits that look like a cross between an apple and a pear and they are a yellowish sort of colour.

She taught us about which wild plants or flowers were edible. I learnt that you could eat elderberries, stinging nettles and even rose petals! Ever since, I have been trying to find them to have a taste.

Miss Donaldson said that eating food that you grow yourself can taste so much better and be really rewarding. It is a lot cheaper to grow your own food and better for the environment, because there is less shipping.

Is a b e l S c o t t S e n i o r 1

It was very interesting to learn about the plants that we see everywhere on a daily basis.

Some plants, I bet you didn’t know, you can eat and use as natural anaesthetics too. You can also twist particular branches and make a heavy-duty rope to tie things together; we tried this by making a shelter out of branches and brush, just big enough for one person to be cosy and warm. We used knives to shave away a point on thick sticks, being careful not to harm ourselves or our neighbours.

The last thing we did was make a fire.

Some people succeeded, but others had some trouble. Overall, it was an enjoyable and thought-provoking experience. I want to thank Mr Hotson for coming in and taking the time to teach us the art of bushcraft.

Meghan Sherwin Senior 4

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SCIENCE

Mock Earth Summit During Science Week, Senior 5 and the Sixth Form took part in a Mock Earth Summit, run

by Miss James, Miss Maidment and Mr Reid.

An Earth Summit is where world leaders meet to discuss global environmental issues, such as climate change and how to prevent it.

Science in the Kitchen

Astrodome

Senior 2 girls had the opportunity to spend extra time in the kitchen this week, investigating yeast and making some fantastic bread and hot cross buns.

On Friday, 7 March, girls from Senior 1, 2 and 3 got a chance to go in an astrodome.

This involved looking at stars, planets and constellations.

Different experiments were set up in order to find out in what conditions yeast grows best.

The girls discovered that the advantage of looking at science in cooking is that there is usually something to eat at the end!

We also saw our star sign constellations, which was great fun. We learnt about life on other planets and about sunrise and sunset. We looked at a 3D projection of a space station.

F r e ya A p p l e g at e S e n i o r 1

Mrs Laing The projector showed a 3D image of the stars.

We were shown a rocket and space stations which have been used in the past. My favourite part was when we saw how the craters in the moon were the result of asteroids hitting the surface.

Suddenly out of the sky, it looked like an asteroid was crashing onto us. Everyone screamed and ducked as if it were real. It was fascinating to think that there might be life on other planets. It was an amazing experience which made me more interested in space.

Lucy Robertson Senior 1

When we arrived, we were all split into different countries and given information packs about how our country deals with the issues of climate change. We were asked to create a video about the problems faced by that country and what they are currently doing to reduce their carbon emissions. This was really eye opening, as many of us had not previously realised what a global issue climate change is, and how many underdeveloped countries suffer as a result.

After we had watched most of the videos, each group put forward a representative to discuss how the greenhouse effect could be reduced. Not only was this discussion incredibly entertaining, but it also highlighted how difficult it is for politicians to make decisions that affect such a diverse range of people. For example, small countries with little wealth and a large population were far more reluctant to spend money on reducing emissions when it is large countries like China who produce high levels of emissions.

Although many people were not originally interested in climate change or the politics of it, we all came away with new enthusiasm for the subject. It was an incredibly interesting, diverse and informative afternoon.

Thank you to everyone who organised and ran the event; it was enjoyed by all and gave everyone something to think about.

Olivia Bishop and Tierney Chappell Senior 5

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Marine Conservation On 3 March, Ruth Williams, a Marine Conservation Manager, came to talk to us about her job at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, on the marine conservation project. First she talked about the sea life, which was really interesting.

Then she talked about Banana Pingers which keep dolphins away from nets.

After that we played some games. The first game was when one person was blindfolded and had to catch the fish (the rest of the girls) without getting stuck in the net. Then we sat in a circle and had to play the memory game.

Finally, we made a pledge to the sea. It was all great fun and everyone really enjoyed it.

Flor a Huins Senior 1

Winfrith Nuclear Trip On Monday, 3 March, the Lower Sixth science students went to visit the Nuclear Reactor based in Winfrith, Dorset. Upon arrival, we were split into two groups; one group went on a tour of the reactor and the other listened to a fascinating presentation on what was really happening at Winfrith and how the reactor would be decommissioned. When the workers at Winfrith brought out white boiler suits for us to wear whilst touring the reactor we were

ecstatic. We looked like Ghost Busters! After the tour and presentations, there was time for a quick lunch and then the groups swapped around.

To round off the visit the two groups were taken a little further into the site to view the Dragon Reactor. Although we were a little disappointed that there was no actual dragon, it was still exciting to walk up to the top of the reactor and look inside.

Overall, the day was very enjoyable and we are very grateful to Mrs Rostrup and the science staff for organising this trip.

H a n n a h B u r g e ss L 6

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Engineering We were all excited to do the engineering activities, but lots of us didn’t know quite what to expect. Two engineering activities were enjoyed by all. These were a tower building competition using spaghetti and a surveying exercise.

sunshine was lovely, even if we did have to wear voluminous yellow jackets! However much we complained about the jackets, we understood that it was a reminder of how important safety is in the construction industry.

It was interesting to see how Pythagoras’ theorem came into use outside the classroom when we were doing some surveying on Coburn. Learning outside on a rare day of

The programme of activities was particularly inspiring because Old BSG Girl, Lindsey Borthwick was one of the civil engineers.

She explained how only 7% of engineers

are female and how the industry really wants more females to join. The day got us thinking about whether we would like to become civil engineers ourselves and how we might go about doing this.

Overall, Senior 3 had a really great day. Thank you to all the engineers who led the activities.

J o a n n a H a wk i n s S e n i o r 3

Soap Making On Wednesday, 5 March, the Senior 4 girls made some soap as part of Science Week.

The teachers split us into groups of four: in each group two girls were responsible for making the soap and the other two for making a poster to advertise the soap.

It takes a lot of time to make soap. First of all you have to melt some oil with fatty acids.

While this is melting you have to mix some sodium hydroxide with propanol. Once the

fatty acids are melted you add half of the solution and stir for 45 minutes while adding the remaining solution. Meanwhile, another girl stirs some salt into the water to make a saturated solution of sodium chloride.

Once the soap is done you have to filter it.

You could add different colours and different smells such as lavender or roses.

The girls who were creating an advertising poster had to think about what made their

soap unique. Some of the poster slogans were funny, such as, ‘Put some reggae reggae soap in your bath,’, or, ‘Don’t be jealous of lucky charm soap’.

Overall, it was a great activity involving lots of fun and teamwork.

Liv Angerer and Almudena R u i z- Q u i r a n t e S e n i o r 4

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GCSE Science Live!

It was a crisp morning on Wednesday, 5 March, no more than two months before Senior 5 took their first GCSE examination (exactly 63 days if you were to ask) and we were taking some time off normal lessons to spend a day dedicated to science. Opinions were divided. Nevertheless, excitement was building in the car park, mainly from Mrs Rostrup, as we left Sunny Hill to visit ‘GCSE Science Live’ at the Colston Hall in Bristol. Many schools were at the event and so upon arrival we held our ground near the entrance, instinctively creating a protective barrier around the packed lunches - I’m sure that’s something to do with evolutionary psychology.

The first lecture was with Professor Dave Cliff, a real-life computer scientist with probably more energy than the world’s first computer, of which he spoke, used by the British to break codes during World War II. He went on to tell us about some of the incredible uses of computer technology today, in, for instance, prosthetic limbs which allow amputees to walk naturally by learning from their previous steps. He also told us about robots that can hide under your sofa during the day and then emerge at night, like something from Dr Who, and hoover your house. Of course, no computer talk would be complete without a ‘How to become a billionaire’ bit and Professor Cliff gave us exclusive insight into Steve Jobs’ business plan. He finished by explaining that he had not been an A* student at school and the world of computer science is looking for “young people who are willing to work hard and are passionate about what they do.”

Pretty inspirational!

Professor Jim Al-Khalili had been much awaited by Mrs Rostrup in particular, who was hoping for another autograph. In his talk he explained some of the theories behind time travel, which is apparently very possible, although not as easy as The Doctor makes it look. He told us that if we were to get into a rocket and travel around the galaxy for four

years, we would leap 40 years into the future on Earth!

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock was next on the itinerary. A leading female space scientist and presenter of Sky at Night on the BBC, she gave a fascinating talk on the planets of our solar system and discussed whether life could be sustained on other planets; it is quite likely in her opinion. She then told us about her retirement plan to emigrate to Mars. Through the ‘Mars One’ programme, run by two men in the Netherlands, this one-way trip now seems entirely possible and thousands of people have already signed up for selection. This stirred up quite a lot of debate amongst the audience.

A chief AQA examiner sandwiched our lunch break nicely. He gave constructive advice on our upcoming examinations, which we took away with us as frantic scrawls on the back of our programmes.

Professor Alice Roberts, a clinical anatomist, anthropologist and television presenter, among other things, explained vividly how a 1.5 million year old skeleton of a boy sheds light on what it means to be human and what we can learn about ourselves by looking at our closest living relatives. Her fascinating talk led into a lecture with Professor Richard Dawkins, world famous author of The Selfish Gene. He ran through the entirety of human evolution in about ten minutes, until we reached our 200 millionth great-grandfather – a fish. His talk was both humorous and thought-provoking.

As we left the Colston Hall we discussed the events of the day and by the time we had arrived back in Bruton debate was still underway. Everyone took something away from Science Live!, whether it was a sneaky picture of Professor Al-Khalili on Mrs Rostrup’s phone, or a genuine passion for science.

K at i e R o b e r t s S e n i o r 5

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SPORT

With fresh faces and a new team, the time had come again for 1st XI hockey training.

The season started positively with lots of enthusiasm and energy, even though the team as a whole had never played together before.

There was definitely a lot to be learnt, not only about hockey, but about the way that every element of the team worked.

We felt privileged and honoured to be coached by Mr Reid and the only way we could pay him back was to put what we had learnt into the matches.

The highlight of the season was our last match, which we played against Wells Cathedral

1st XI Hockey Report

School. The game was challenging and everyone worked to their absolute limits.

This match really demonstrated our hard work and determination to play clean, technical hockey and we came away with great pride in our win.

It was an exhilarating season. Thank you to Mrs Davies for putting up with all of our moods and sharing in our moments of sheer joy.

C h a r l o t t e C r o ss U 6

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Gleam Report Hockey 2013 U15

U14

Team: Eliza Robertson, Megan Hotson, Lottie Hotson, Isobel Edge, Lottie Garratt, Alexandra Chadfield, Eleanor Rickards, Meghan Sherwin, Lily Piper, Olivia Barber, Alice Healey, Isabelle Robson.

Team: Poppy Gotto, Imogen Huins, Jaime Parsons, Georgina Moore, Emily Forrester, Laura Jenkins, Emily Wootton, Hermione Williams, Holly Newcombe, Lily McCarry, Ane Damborenea Trigueros, India Davies, Genevieve Baker, Elena Lipscomb, Holly Hanson, Bethany Lewis, Olivia Wingate, Michelle Garcia.

Played: 10

Won: 2

Drawn: 2

Lost: 6

Most Improved: Eleanor Rickards, Liv Angerer.

Intermediate Half Colours: Megan Hotson, Lottie Hotson, Isobel Edge, Alexandra Chadfield.

Intermediate Colours: Eliza Robertson.

The U15 team gave some superb performances, applying their improved game play to matches and playing effectively as a team. Despite six losses, the girls provided their opposition with challenging games and showed resilience throughout. They developed their understanding of the 11-a-side game, particularly positioning, and increased their ability to incorporate this into matches. This talented year group will ensure that there is a fight for places in the 1st hockey team next year.

M i ss As t o n

Played: 9

Won: 4

Drawn: 0

Lost: 5

Most Improved: Laura Jenkins, Genevieve Baker.

Team Colours: Poppy Gotto, Imogen Huins.

This term, the U14 squad have been getting to grips with the 11-a-side game, working hard to apply the skills they learnt whilst playing the 7-a-side game. The girls showed marked progress in terms of their positioning and understanding of the game, which was evident in their results; a 4-0 loss in their first game against Warminster and a 2-1 win against Downside in their final game. Great teamwork, determination and adaptability throughout the term characterised this large squad of players.

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M i ss As t o n

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SPORT

Gleam Report Hockey 2013 U12A Team: Mary Parr (Captain), Alina Cochrane, Rebecca Light, Lucy Robertson, Bethan Martin, Mai Barber, Freya Applegate, Flora Huins.

Played: 12

Won: 2

Drawn: 0

Lost: 10

Most Improved: Freya Applegate, Rebecca Light.

Team Colours: Mary Parr.

U12B

U13A Team: Eloise Thorne, Elsie McCloud, Jessica McCarry, Jessica Rowe, Charlotte Convey, Ellie Pitchforth, Nia Davies.

Played: 10

Won: 2

Drawn: 1

Lost: 7

U13B Team: Alice Penny (Captain), Abigail Candy, Alice Phippen, Alana Scott, Amy Lugg, Millie Whitmarsh, Topaz Oram, Abby Gordon, Karris Chappell.

Played: 5

Won: 0

Drawn: 1

Lost: 4

Both these teams have gone from strength to strength this term. There has been a great level of commitment and availability for matches, which has led to the vast improvement they have made as individuals and in their teams. The girls have worked hard on their positional play and decision making, which has led to many scoring opportunities against other schools. The highlight of the term for the U13A team came at Clifton High on a very early and chilly morning. The girls fought hard and came from behind to win 5-3.

Charlotte Convey scored the best goal of the season, finishing a fantastic cross from the right wing by Nia Davies.

The U13B team topped off the season with a good fight against Wells at home. Although it was a defeat, it was end-to-end action with strong defence and quick breaks. This final game showed how hard the girls have worked this term.

The positive attitude in both these teams has been impressive.

Most Improved: Abby Gordon, Ellie Pitchforth.

U13B Team Colours: Alana Scott.

Junior Half Colours: Charlotte Convey, Elsie McCloud.

Junior Full Colours: Jessica Rowe.

M i ss C o w p e r

Team: Isabel Scott, Eloise Noble, Isabella Maunder, Ella Lambert, Abigail Hatton, Cynthia Choi, Zuzu Burton, Amelia Bullock.

Played: 6

Won: 1

Drawn: 0

Lost: 5

This year the U12 team has really grown as a group of girls. They all displayed unfailing commitment to both matches and practices, and as a result were an absolute delight to teach. They started the season with relatively little structure to their game play and developed a great awareness of both positional and tactical play. This is a promising year group, who have demonstrated real determination and shown a huge desire to win. The results do not do them justice, as many of their losses were in the dying seconds of a game. They will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Most Improved: Zuzu Burton Team Colours: Ella Lambert M i ss C o w p e r

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U11 – Prep 6

U8/9 – Prep 3/4

Team: Rosie Eckl, Emilia Gotto, Charlotte Holman, Jemma Lewis, Isabelle Nathan, Suzanna Reese, Genevieve Sang

Team: Lola Barber, Tara Crook, Lucy Robbins, Violet Little, Eva Larson, Hazel Madge, Keira Eveleigh, Isabella Reese, Cerys Dunn, Hannah Mendoza-Wilson, Rosie Bullock, Sophie Rhodes, Aicha Masrour.

Played: 5

Won: 1

Drawn: 1

Lost: 3

Most Improved: Genevieve Sang Prep School Half Colours: Isabelle Nathan Prep School Full Colours: Emilia Gotto, Charlotte Holman The U11 team went from strength to strength this term. The turning point came when they played in the U11 ‘B’ Team All Hallows Tournament, at Bruton School for Girls. The improvement in one day was phenomenal.

They all understand how the game of hockey should be played and each one of the girls worked extremely hard to improve their positional play. They really do play very good hockey. The results table does not reflect their improvement, as they lost a couple of their games in the dying seconds of the match.

U10 – Prep 5

Won: 0

Drawn: 1

Lost: 4

Most Improved: Georgia Hill U10 Team Colours: Tilliana Landray The U10 team worked as a unit and developed a better understanding of the positions and their roles. They started to use the width of the pitch and to have the confidence to apply some of the more complex skills learnt in lessons to competitive situations.

Mrs Davies

Won: 0

Drawn: 1

Lost: 3

Most Improved: Eva Larson, Keira Eveleigh U8/9 Team Colours: Lola Barber, Tara Crook This was an exciting term for the U8/9 team.

The year group started with a real mix of experience; girls who had played for a year and those who had never picked up a hockey stick. Despite this, they worked well together, supporting each other as a team.

They exuded enthusiasm in lessons and matches and developed their fundamental skills, showing significant improvements.

Their understanding of the game in terms of attacking, defending and positioning increased and they gained confidence in applying their skills to competitive games without panicking.

M i ss As t o n

Team: Haya Al Ibrahim, Abigail Barber, Evelyn Dalby-Welsh, Kate Hegan, Amelia Kirkby, Tilliana Landray, Carlene Smith, Georgia Hill.

Played: 5

Played: 4

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Gleam Report Netball 2014 1st VII Team: Charlotte Cross (Captain), Georgina Chadfield (Vice-Captain), Rebecca Cole, Molly Stringer, Emma Fox, Rosie McMahon, Claudia Lavender, Eleanor Ablett.

Played: 9

Won: 1

Drawn: 1

Lost: 7

Senior Half Colours: Emma Fox, Molly Stringer, Georgina Chadfield, Rosie MacMahon.

Senior Full Colours: Charlotte Cross.

The 1st VII team grew in stature as the term progressed. Charlotte Cross led from the front and was instrumental in leading pre-match warm-ups and getting the team focussed prior to playing. Georgina Chadfield was outstanding at keeping track of match shirts, first aid kits and making sure Mrs Davies remembered the bibs.

1st XI v Parents After playing our last match against Wells Cathedral School, our heads were held high as the hockey season came to an end. However, we were stopped in our tracks as we were packing away our shin pads and gum shields, by a declaration of war. A duel that only the toughest could fight. A hockey match against The Parents. So, on Sunday, 15 December, the battle began.

With what seemed like 50mph winds and the rain beating down on the 1st XI Santa hats, the atmosphere was surprisingly exhilarating and uplifting. We were all ready to go. Santa beards pulled down and our eyes on the ball, we battled and tackled until the last whistle blew. The Parents played superbly. The Players’ Player went to Mr Arathoon, who took us all by surprise with his great runs onto the ball and some mighty strong shots on goal.

It was such a fantastic way to fully end our hockey season.

Mrs Davies

The attack really came into their own with Emma Fox, Molly Stringer and Charlotte Cross making a formidable trio. Their passes were both fast and accurate and the feeding of the ball into Rebecca Cole (their secret weapon standing at 6ft 4in) was awesome.

Our defence also played a huge part in the success of this team. Claudia Lavender added height, leaping into the air and putting off her opposition. The length of her arms enabled her to make interceptions which looked impossible. Rosie McMahon had superb movement and a cracking throw which allowed the team to mount a quick attack when our defence turned the ball over.

Mrs Davies

2nd VII Team: Christy Wong (Captain), Rosamund Arathoon (Vice-Captain), Tierney Chappell, Eleanor Ablett, Lara Wylie, Olivia Parsons, Emilie Redgwick, Katie Roberts, Katie Lloyd, Imogen Kirwan.

Played: 8

Won: 4

Drawn: 0

Lost: 4

Most Improved: Lara Wylie, Christy Wong.

The 2nd VII team showed truly fantastic team spirit throughout the season. At the helm was Christy Wong, who is a very focused and competitive young lady, who led her team by example. The team came up against some tough opposition throughout the term, but in true BSG style they remained motivated and determined. These girls have been a credit to the school and it has been a real pleasure to coach them.

Mrs Davies

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Gleam Report Netball 2014 U15 B

U15 A Team: Olivia Barber, Lottie Garratt (Captain), Meghan Sherwin, Eliza Robertson, Megan Hotson, Alexandra Chadfield, Eleanor Rickards Played: 8

Won: 4

Drawn: 0

Lost: 4

Intermediate Half Colours: Olivia Barber, Meghan Sherwin, Megan Hotson, Lottie Hotson, Eleanor Rickards.

Intermediate Full Colours: Eliza Robertson, Alexandra Chadfield, Lottie Garratt The U15 A team have had a mixed season in terms of results, but have grown immensely as a team and have thrived on the challenges that each game brought. They were led by Lottie Garratt this season, who really impressed us all by rising to the challenge and organising the team effectively.

They started the season with a fabulous win against Downside School showing the potential within the team right from the word go. Lottie Garratt and Olivia Barber maintained their strong rotation in the circle from last season and the play flowed throughout.

They had a few close games which unfortunately did not go their way.

However, each match was an opportunity to learn and the girls certainly improved their game as a result. Megan Hotson was a key strength in many matches, feeding the ball effectively from defence to attack and continuously talking to the team as they played.

Team: Isabelle Robson, Estelle Spinner, Chelsea Pitt, Isobel Edge, Alice Healey, Lily Piper (Captain), Kasie Ng, Molly Gravatt, Robyn Wilson-Smith, Joey Cheung.

The whole team showed great determination and resilience throughout the season finishing with two very strong performances. There was a second win against Stonar, which tested the girls right up to the final whistle; they kept their heads, played their game, finished two goals up and took the win. The last weekend of the season was a demonstration of everything that this team had learnt; they showed grit, determination and great skill as they won both games convincingly against Clayesmore and Monkton Combe School.

They have been a pleasure to coach and the PE Department very much look forward to seeing them improve and become a very strong 1st/2nd VII Squad.

Team Colours: Alice Healey, Lily Piper.

Mrs Fischer

Played: 7

Won: 2

Drawn: 1

Lost: 4

Most Improved: Joey Cheung.

The U15B team, led by Lily Piper, went from strength to strength during the season. They started the season a little under-confident, but soon became aware of their potential.

With increased strength and accuracy in their throws they demonstrated a flowing level of play at times. This was very evident in a strong win against Sexey’s School and a fantastic draw against Royal High School Bath. The latter game could have gone either way, but the girls remained patient and played their game to hold the strong Bath team to a draw.

Joey Cheung was a great strength in the circle; having never played netball before coming to BSG, she listened well and adapted her basketball skills in order to defend the circle.

She was named ‘Most Improved Player’ for this very reason and should be congratulated on her commitment.

The whole team bonded throughout the season and their ever-improving skills helped them to two fabulous and convincing wins against Monkton Coombe and Clayesmore School in the last weekend. They should be very proud of their achievements.

Mrs Fischer

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SPORT U14A

U13 A

Team: Jaime Parsons (Captain), Laura Jenkins, Holly Newcombe, Imogen Huins, Ane Damborenea Trigueros, Poppy Gotto, Harriet Bennett, Emily Forrester.

Team: Jessica Rowe, Charlotte Convey, Nia Davies, Jessica McCarry, Eloise Thorne, Topaz Oram, Ellie Pitchforth, Karris Chappell.

Played: 9

Won: 3

Drawn: 0

Lost: 6

Team Colours: Jaime Parsons, Imogen Huins, Ane Damborenea Trigueros.

The U14A team had a very strong squad this year, with competition for places from the B team, which kept the girls focussed on performing well. Ane Damborenea Trigueros was a very welcome addition to the team mid-way through the season. She went from strength to strength, creating with Harriet Bennett an effective defensive barrier in all games. The team were very unlucky to have a number of games cancelled due to bad weather, but in all their fixtures they battled throughout, led by Jaime Parsons, who kept the cohesion in the team regardless of the outcome.

M i ss R i c e

U14B Team: Hermione Williams, Alice Tindal, Emily Wootton, Georgina Moore, Olivia Wingate, Lily McCarry (Captain), Holly Hanson, Sherry Deng, Joanna Hawkins.

Played: 7

Won: 4

Drawn: 0

Lost: 3

Most Improved: Alice Tindal, Joanna Hawkins.

Team Colours: Georgina Moore.

The U14B team was led by Lily McCarry, whose shooting was consistent throughout the season. Their best match of the season was against Downside, where they won with an impressive 18-2 score line. They showed their true fighting spirit with a nail-biting 13-12 victory over our local rival, King’s Bruton.

M i ss R i c e

Played: 7

Won: 5

Drawn: 1

Lost: 1

Most Improved: Topaz Oram.

Junior Half Colours: Charlotte Convey, Nia Davies.

Juniors Full Colours: Jessica Rowe.

The U13A team had a very successful term.

They lost only the first game of the season against a tough Leweston side. The girls played with enthusiasm and focus, always giving their best and not accepting anything less.

As a team, the girls developed their application of holding space, effective dodging techniques and accurate, fastpaced passing. Charlotte Convey and Eloise Thorne, with their marking and intercepting skills, prevented many goals from being scored. Ellie Pitchforth, Nia Davies and Jessica McCarry worked together effectively to consistently create a fast break when the defence turned over the ball, delivering a fast ball into the attacking circle for scoring opportunities.

Jessica Rowe’s speed, skill and communication were a real strength of the team and working alongside Karris Chappell’s accurate shooting skills in the circle, this was a solid attacking team. Topaz Oram was a welcome addition to the U13A team, contributing her super speed, agility and consequently her frequent interceptions, which led to her being awarded ‘Most Improved Player’ this term, for which she should be congratulated.

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Gleam Report Netball 2014 U13 B Team: Alana Scott, Elsie McCloud, Alice Phippen, Alice Penny, Millie Whitmarsh, Abigail Candy, Abby Gordon, Amy Lugg.

Played: 4

Won: 1

Drawn: 0

Lost: 3

Most Improved: Amy Lugg Team Colours: Abby Gordon, Abigail Candy.

The U13B team cannot be faulted on their high work rate; during every game, they played their hardest and to the best of their ability. Nearly half of their matches had to be cancelled due to bad weather, but despite this the team showed great improvement over the term.

Their best performance of the season was against Warminster School, a match which they won 19-11. The girls have used their matches, games lessons and after school clubs to develop their skills and understanding of tactical concepts. They showed admirable teamwork and resilience, for which they should be congratulated.

Special congratulations should be given to Alana Scott and Elsie McCloud for both being awarded ‘Players’ Player’, or ‘Woman of the Match’ on more than one occasion. This is particularly impressive for Elsie, who had not played netball before the start of the season.

M i ss As t o n

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SPORT Team: Rebecca Light, Lucy Robertson, Mai Barber, Freya Applegate, Abigail Hatton, Ella Lambert, Eloise Noble, Zuzu Burton.

Won: 3

Drawn: 0

Lost: 3

Team Colours: Lucy Robertson.

The U12A team gained some great results and they improved as the season progressed.

Their strength was in the attack, but their defence remained strong and they created attacking play from their backline. Their best performance of the season came against Warminster School which they won 19-11.

This was a close-fought game, each team scoring from their centre pass. BSG managed to intercept Warminster’s stray passes with Freya Applegate (GA) and Mai Barber (GS) keeping calm under pressure in the shooting circle.

U12B Team: Bethan Martin, Alina Cochrane, Mary Parr, Amelia Bullock, Cynthia Choi, Flora Huins, Isabel Scott.

Played: 4

Won: 1

Drawn: 0

U8/9

Team: Genevieve Sang, Suzanna Reese, Charlotte Holman, Jemma Lewis, Isabelle Nathan, Rosie Eckl and Emilia Gotto.

Team: Lola Barber, Rosie Bullock, Tara Crook, Cerys Dunn, Keira Eveleigh, Eva Larsen, Violet Little, Hazel Madge, Hannah Mendoza-Wilson, Isabella Reese, Lucy Robbins, Aicha Masrour, Sophie Rhodes.

Most Improved: Suzanna Reese, Isabelle Nathan.

U12A

Played: 6

U11

Lost: 3

Most Improved: Abigail Hatton, Bethan Martin.

Team Colours: Flora Huins.

Prep Half Colours: Emilia Gotto.

Prep Full Colours: Charlotte Holman.

The highlight of the U11 team season was the U11 Primary School Tournament, which was a great opportunity for the team to apply their game play to several matches. Their improvement throughout the tournament was evident, as they were developing their movement around the court and passing effectively. During matches the girls worked together to show their ability to mark players with determination in defence and dodge and create space in order to attack the opposition’s goal. This is a team with enormous potential.

Over the season, ‘Players’ Player’ and ‘Player of the Match’ have been awarded to Genevieve Sang, Suzanna Reese, Charlotte Holman and Isabelle Nathan, who should all be congratulated for these achievements.

U10 Team: Tilliana Landray, Amelia Kirkby, Georgia Hill, Holly Grant, Clara Abel, Abigail Barber, Carlene Smith, Haya Al Ibrahim, Kate Hegan, Evie Dalby-Welsh.

Most Improved: Holly Grant.

Team Colours: Georgia Hill, Abigail Barber.

Due to poor weather the girls missed out on a number of fixtures over the Spring Term.

However, they went from strength to strength as a team and worked incredibly hard during their games sessions and extra-curricular club to improve their skills and tactical knowledge.

This was very clear in their match against Stonar on a lovely sunny morning, which the girls were very unlucky to lose 7-5. They held their positions and created scoring opportunities which led to a closely fought end-to-end match.

Congratulations to Amelia Kirby, Georgia Hill, Holly Grant and Tilliana Landray for all being awarded ‘Player of the Match’ over the season.

M i ss C o w p e r

M i ss As t o n

The U10 team improved enormously over the season. They worked on passing the ball with strength and accuracy, moving into space and applying the footwork rule to games.

Their understanding of different positions also developed over the term, which has been evident during the matches.

Gleam Report Netball 2014

Most Improved: Isabella Reese, Cerys Dunn.

Team Colours: Tara Crook.

The U8/9 team approached netball with fantastic enthusiasm this term. They worked hard and with great determination to develop their understanding of the game, their skills and their ability to apply these skills to matches. Their improvement over the term was impressive.

Congratulations to Tara Crook and Aicha Masrour on being awarded ‘Player of the Match’ for their effective movement and passing skills.

With their level of energy and eagerness to learn, the U8/9 team will continue to progress and we look forward to coaching them next year for the 7-a-side netball game.

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Sports Day Record Breakers Name Event Time/Height Lottie Garratt (S4) High Jump

1.46m

Claudia Lavender (S5)

80m Hurdles

12.72 seconds

Claudia Lavender (S5)

80m

10.77 seconds

Montacute (S4)

4 x 50m Relay

30.57 seconds

Stourhead (S1 and S2)

4 x 50m Relay

33.62seconds

Sports Day The sun was shining as Hadspen, Longleat, Montacute and Stourhead were all assembled on Coburn. Music was playing. What more could one ask for?

Montacute smashed two 4 x 50m relay records in both Senior 3 and Senior 4. Stourhead Senior 1 and Senior 2 also broke the 4 x 50m relay record.

Events kicked off with the Senior 1 and 2 High Jump; Kit Edgell almost equalled the school record, but managed a superb jump of 1.24m to gain her first place. The main event started with a whole school warm-up to YMCA. Mrs Robbins had the crowd up and dancing.

Everyone did the actions.

Christy Wong and the outgoing Deputy Head Girls challenged the PE Department to a relay race. The staff team was completed

by Mrs Botterill, who donned her trainers, hitched up her dress and took to the track with the PE department staff. The staff team lost, unfortunately, for the second year in succession. We are the Champions was played by DJ for the afternoon Leah Morris, as the Head Girl team crossed the finish line victorious.

Runners in the Senior 400m race had planned their tactics and decided to go for a gentle jog to the strains of Chariots of Fire. They ambled around the track, crossing the line together.

It was a hot afternoon, but there were many superb individual performances. Claudia Lavender beat the Senior record for the 80m hurdles in a time of 12.72 seconds and everyone stopped to watch Lottie Garratt break the Senior 4 high jump record which had stood since 1998. Her winning jump on the day was 1.46m, although she had jumped 1.48m previously in the season.

The afternoon ended with the presentation of certificates and lots of clapping. There was a wonderful atmosphere throughout the afternoon.

Mrs Davies

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SPORT Claudia Lavender Pole Vault

Athletics Round Up

Claudia Lavender qualified for the National Athletics Finals which were held at Birmingham Queen Alexandra Stadium on Friday, 11 July.

She participated in the Pole Vault and was one of 25 athletes selected from Somerset.

BSG took a group of young athletes to the Area Athletics Championship held in Yeovil.

This was a marvellous and successful day.

Mrs Davies

3rd Jaime Parsons Shot 7.11m 3rd Meghan Sherwin Discus 18.30m 3rd Eleanor Rickards Javelin 17.86m

2nd Claudia Lavender 80m Hurdles 2nd Claudia Lavender Long Jump 2nd Isobel Edge Discus

Personal Bests Hermione Williams Long Jump Lottie Garratt High Jump

13.00 seconds 4.71m 18.99m

3.90m 1.48m

The following girls qualified for the Somerset Athletics Championships: Lottie Garratt for High Jump and 300m Claudia Lavender for Long Jump and Pole Vault Meghan Sherwin for Discus and 100m All three girls are in the 4 x 100m relay squad.

Junior Area Athletics Championships In June, Mrs Davies took a small group of Senior 1 and Senior 2 athletes to Yeovil to compete in the Junior Area Athletics Championships. This was the first time that many had set foot inside a very well-equipped stadium and so some appeared daunted at first. However, it did not take the girls long to become focussed and warm up appropriately for their various events. The weather was dreadful and in good old British fashion the heavens opened from time to time and huge puddles formed around the track. Undeterred, the girls all competed admirably and some managed personal bests.

Junior Area Athletes: Senior 1:

Senior 2:

Mai Barber Nia Davies Freya Applegate Topaz Oram Bethan Martin Abby Gordon Ella Lambert Jessica Rowe Kit Edgell Charlotte Convey Jessica McCarry Mrs Davies

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TRIPS Parliament and the British Library Propaganda Exhibition On Friday, 13 September, the history department took 18 girls to London to see the Propaganda Exhibition at the British Library and take a tour of the Houses of Parliament.

When we arrived at the Library, we were all astounded by the scale and beauty of it, and after an hour of wandering around and looking at the other exhibitions we had fallen in love with the place. Once we gained entrance to the renowned Propaganda Exhibition, we were taken aback by the creativity and ingenuity of the displays and the range of propaganda on show. It felt as if we were walking through history, as we viewed hundreds of years of incredible posters and documents from all around the world.

After leaving the Library, we made our way to the Houses of Parliament. Unfortunately, we didn’t meet David Cameron, but we did get a feel for the heart of our British Government.

We walked where countless influential and iconic men and women have walked before.

Despite the long journey home and the hours of traffic, the whole trip was an incredible experience and gave everyone a greater insight into our past.

Thank you to Miss Maidment and Mrs Watts for organising the trip.

Olivia Bishop Senior 5

American Mesuem On Wednesday, 8 October, the Senior 4 history GCSE class went to the American Museum in Bath. We visited the Gangster Exhibition which had lots of interesting things, including John Dillinger’s death mask, that shows the exit wound where he was shot, and the fake gun that got him out of Alcatraz.

Next, we went into the main museum and learnt about the Americans migrating from the east to the west. It was amazing how some people managed to do it; the terrain they faced was life-threatening and did take many lives. We were allowed to try on some costumes, such as cowboy hats and ladies’ dresses, which made the experience even more exciting. We also learnt about the American Indians, who were very intelligent and even had their own government system.

After lunch and a trip to the gift shop, where we were upset not to be able to buy the £10,000 original painting of cowboys, we blazed our own trail back to school.

Meghan Sherwin Senior 4

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TRIPS There are few school trips so exciting that you are planning for them almost a year in advance, but the history trip to Russia in 2013 was one such trip. On Wednesday, 23 October, 16 history students, both GCSE and A Level, flew into St Petersburg, eager to spend a few nights there before taking the overnight TransSiberian train to Moscow. Miss Maidment, championing the use of the iPad, allowed us to blog about our experiences every day.

Firstly we travelled to St Petersburg. We drove out of the city to visit Pushkin City and the Catherine Palace where Catherine the Great spent the majority of her reign after overthrowing her husband. The palace was originally built by Catherine’s aunt-in-law, Elizabeth I, and is ridiculously opulent; almost every surface is covered in gold leaf and there is an entire room made of amber.

We visited the Political Museum which looks at Russian political history from the October Revolution in 1917 up until the end of the Cold War in 1989; Miss Maidment was in her element, as this was essentially a GCSE and A Level crash course condensed into about an hour and spoken to us in very fast Russian before being translated into very fast English (we were a little pushed for time). The whole thing was pretty intense, but we saw some really interesting historical documents and enjoyed viewing the events that we study at school from the Russian perspective.

In the evenings, to keep ourselves occupied we played endless rounds of Uno. Tensions were particularly high in Mrs Botterill’s corner, as she attempted to claw back victory after a crushing defeat in the first round, and the friendship between Rosie and Alice grew more strained by the minute, as Alice employed repeatedly cold blocking moves. She came second, but at what cost? Miss Maidment emerged the victor.

Visiting a monastery in Moscow, we had the chance to observe ten minutes or so of a Russian Orthodox service which was incredibly

Russia moving. Georgina and Emma now have a love for Rachmaninov’s Vespers as they spent the rest of the evening wandering around listening to it. Georgina was so moved she felt like she was on a film set.

As far as the Sixth Form coursework was concerned, we gained some invaluable information (at the Contemporary History Museum) in the form of a whole room on the advancement of Soviet space travel (complete with replica spacesuit for the first dog in space). The thought that this dog was more noble and self-sacrificing then we would ever be was a very sobering one. Miss Maidment was in spasms of delight over the nuclear ice-breaker. Next we went to the observation platform near one of Moscow’s two ski slopes in the 1980s Olympic Park. If you looked hard enough you could see six of Stalin’s Skyscrapers from the platform with the seventh right behind you. On the way to the Arbat, we saw the old film studios built in the 1920s which have been the location of many of the most successful films of the Soviet period, and they still function today.

Words cannot truly describe just how wonderful this trip was and the pictures barely do it justice. From nearly lost iPods and headaches from excessive gold leaf, to falling in love with fleeting faces and an abundance of wax figures, it was a real joy. We left Russia with a greater understanding of our studies, as well as closer friendships and a deep appreciation of Russian culture. With highlights too numerous to mention, half of us are already planning a return trip.

Thank you to Mrs Botterill, who finally won a game of Uno, which meant we could all go home. Thank you also to Miss Maidment for arranging everything so perfectly. It truly was a trip of a lifetime.

Ciara Chapman U6

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King Lear

Romeo and Juliet Unzipped

In March, Sixth Form English Literature and drama students visited the National Theatre in London to see Sam Mendes’ production of King Lear. As Sam Mendes is a prestigious figure in film and theatre, it was with great anticipation that we presented our tickets at the theatre to see his interpretation of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy.

On Thursday, 27 February, Senior 3 went to Salisbury Playhouse to see a performance of Romeo and Juliet Unzipped. When we entered the theatre we were invited to write a message on the set of wooden steps on stage leading up to a balcony, before the performance began.

Mendes sets the play in a violent world, a dictatorship, where Cordelia’s refusal to conform becomes a political as well as a personal act. Simon Russell Beale’s performance was perhaps the most powerful and compelling of the evening, presenting as he did a tyrant king reduced to a poor, half-mad wretch, exciting the audience’s condemnation and their pity in equal measure.

Thank you to Mrs Evans for organising the trip and to Mrs Johnson for sharing the experience.

Olivia Edwards U6

Chalke Valley On 24 July, the Senior 4 historians went to Chalke Valley History Festival for the day.

They arrived in bright sunshine and headed to the first lecture.

During the day three lectures were attended, including one about the Cold War and the Emancipation of Women in World War 1.

They were all very thought-provoking and led to deep discussion on the bus home.

There was also the opportunity to experience a World War 1 trench, which included

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Throughout the performance the cast acted out scenes in both modern and traditional ways, as well as explaining what was going on in the play to ensure that everyone understood. There was also a lot of audience participation, which made the performance very funny. After the cast had finished the play, they answered some questions about the play such as what their favourite scene was, who was their favourite and least favourite characters, and who they thought was to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. There was then a poll to see who we thought was to blame for the deaths of the young couple.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience and definitely had a good laugh during the play. Thank you to Mrs Life for organising the day, which was enjoyable and informative.

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explosions, gun fire and tunnels collapsing.

There was a slight uproar from the students, as at one point a large amount of soil was thrown at them, covering them in dirt!

However, this was soon forgotten, as after a lovely lunch break sitting out in the sunshine with ice cream, milkshakes, lemonade and crepes we attended our final lecture before heading home.

Eleanor Rick ards and Megan Hotson Senior 4

Ar t work cl au di a l av ender

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TRIPS

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France BSG returns in force to Maison Claire Fontaine.

They say that good things come to those who wait. For some students, the trip to Maison Claire Fontaine had been anticipated for two long years. 33 keen girls, a mix from Senior 1, 2 and 3, as well as four ridiculously-excited teachers, assembled on the school car park bright and early on 9 June, ready to take on the challenge of French markets, French lessons, French châteaux, French food, French people even: however much French they knew, they were ready to put it to good use.

For Senior 1, it was the first time away from home for some, a big journey across the Channel into the unknown, with only each other and their favourite soft toy for reassurance. An array of furry creatures appeared in their dorm, adorning every bed without exception and guarding them at night.

Such was the immersion in French culture that it went round the clock: the petite souris had to make a discreet appearance one night to reward a fallen tooth. There was, however, no

chance that the patter of imaginary feet might wake up the girls, such was their exhaustion from exerting themselves during the day. And that was only from speaking French! Whether it was sculpting, cooking, mosaic-making, interviewing shopkeepers, having lunch, buying ice-creams, all was done in Gallic style, with the correct script to go with it and a delightful air of genuine enjoyment. By midweek, every sentence was punctuated by one of Élodie’s favourite catch phrases, aptly used to demonstrate understanding and raise a smile.

By the Friday the girls could speak using four different tenses, having started the week with good working knowledge of only one.

An incredibly intense learning experience it had been, and those who, for almost a year, had lived in anxious anticipation of their first trip abroad, now needed convincing that it would be good to return home finally. They had fallen in love with France, the French, the language, the food, even snails, and had an Auchan shopping bag full of goodies to prove it. Their outlook on life had been broadened, their perceptions challenged, their taste buds tickled and their brains fully exercised.

Box ticked.

Senior 2 were equally keen, emboldened by their knowledge and superior age, to approach every challenge with zeal. Whether it was for ordering charcuterie, interviewing passers-by, observing relics, answering questions about the love affair between Bussy-Rabutin and his various Madames, BSG spirit was seen in abundance, with enough resilience and reciprocity to make Mrs Botterill proud. They danced till the cows came home at the disco, dressed up to the nines for their evening out at the restaurant, tried every flavour of sirop under the sun and shrugged their shoulders for a hobby. Some will go down in history for their impersonation of the Sun King – Jessica McCarry was in excellent regal form – whilst others tried their hand at absolutely everything, dazzling the

French teachers with their resourcefulness and thirst for knowledge. Alana Scott stuck out for displaying so much gusto and skill, earning herself a prize as BSG Ambassador.

Senior 3 were clearly the grown-ups here, with make-up and outfits fit for purpose. The same enthusiasm permeated their every transaction with the local population. Once again, a proud teacher noted the comments of impressed shopkeepers, charmed by this flurry of keen, polite girls enquiring about prices and opening times without even spending a euro.

Such was their amazement that young people could be so genuinely nice in this day and age that they did not seem to mind missing out on business. Don’t they know there is a rampant crise économique out there?

Whilst the girls thought they were having a ball, the teachers were having an even better time. A ‘jolly good’ trip, according to Mrs Rostrup (you can just hear her say that, can’t you?), who managed to mix business with pleasure whilst being a fantastic nurse for the week. Once again, we were hosted like kings by her friends Alex and Mark, who so ably run Maison Claire Fontaine, and Mrs Rostrup’s involvement in the trip played no small part in this. Miss Maidment, who had been swatting up on her French grammar for two terms, was a total hoot of course, not to mention an excellent role-model for the girls, as she tried her French on anyone who would listen. So amusing was her conversation that it had to be censored in places before she tried it out on the locals. After a couple of days, she was assigned a body guard in the shape of Manon, our fantastic French assistant, to attempt to rein in her enthusiasm. Our stomach muscles have only just recovered. It was of course, in her own aptly-chosen words, ‘the best trip ever’. Nothing wrong with that, I might add, although I can foresee a fly in the ointment: how can MCF 2016 be an improvement on this trip? I can’t wait to find out!

Mrs Harvey

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TRIPS

On 6 July, one of the greatest adventures of a lifetime began for five Lower Sixth girls. Julia Robbins, Olivia Kayes and Portia Wilson-Smith were waiting at the Sunny Hill car park for a mini bus to come and collect them in order for them to be transported to the bustling Heathrow Airport (stopping along the way to collect Hannah Burgess and Charlotte Hunt from the Solstice Park).

After a relatively short bus journey in comparison to the long overnight flight they were about to embark on, the girls arrived at Heathrow and after getting through customs decided that the only thing that they needed was a good McDonald’s! But alas, Heathrow Airport was too upper class and only had a champagne and caviar bar, Starbucks or a small Eat restaurant which was a huge disappointment, but one that was bounced back from nevertheless due to high spirits and excitement.

When they arrived in India the first stop was Dehradun. The girls were set to take a Shatabdhi train for six and a half hours and then tuk-tuks to The Himalayan Torchbearers which is where they would reside for the next two weeks. Nothing could have prepared them for the ride, as it was very bumpy and there were a lot of animals in the road. After this terrifying ride, the girls, Miss Maidment and Mr Reid quickly settled into their rooms and promptly fell asleep.

Joybells

The following day the girls went on their first expedition to the busy town of Dehradun. It was quickly noted that the Indian population were particularly fascinated by them. One day when the girls walked down the street attempting to avoid the many mopeds and cars streaking past, they were greeted by a man on a moped who shouted, “Hello babies!” at them, which caused a few laughs.

They also visited Paulton’s Bazaar which was a very bizarre experience! Here the grittier side of India was on show, as the girls had their first experience with beggars. The bazaar was exhausting and so a stop at the small English coffee shop known as Barista for some refreshments was felt to be in order, before catching a bus to the school, where they taught until 5:30. Just as they were leaving to go to St. Joseph’s where the AASRAA project was held the heavens opened!

The AASRAA trust is an organisation that helps to educate underprivileged children in Dehradun. Julia, Olivia and Portia taught a class of 12-15 year olds, who were a boisterous bunch. They definitely kept the girls on their toes and educated them on how to speak Hindi and how to appreciate all of the recent rap music in India.

Hannah and Charlotte taught the younger pupils and found that the language barrier presented more of a problem for simple instructions, such as drawing a picture or learning vocabulary. After a rather shaky first day, which they found exhausting, they caught a bus back to The Himalayan Torchbearers for dinner and bed. All fell promptly asleep snuggled in their mosquito nets with the ceiling fan on full.

The following day, after some help from Miss Maidment in the shape of a fantastic lesson planning session, Hannah and Charlotte got into the swing of things and found it a lot easier to control and teach their class.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes were particularly popular songs.

One of the highlights of the trip was the opportunity to go and visit many of the attractions of India. Unfortunately, Julia, Charlotte and Portia were too ill at this point, so Hannah and Olivia set forth together on what they referred to as their ‘Couples` Retreat’. The first attraction they visited was the Ghandi Museum, which is the house where Gandhi spent his last few months before being assassinated.

On the same day they also saw Humuyan’s tomb, which was a challenge, given the heat and the number of stairs. Later in the week they visited the Jamal Majid, an old mosque in Old Delhi and the biggest mosque in India.

It is a huge building made of red sandstone.

Before entering, the girls had to remove their shoes and don some hilariously patterned robes to cover up. Once they had taken selfies of their new, trendy outfits they made their way into the mosque. It was a shame that the day was so blisteringly hot, for as soon as they stepped out of the shadows and into the huge, sandstone courtyard their bare feet began to burn, even though carpets had been laid to

prevent exactly this. After bathing their poor burnt feet in a small puddle, the girls caught a peddle rickshaw around the crowded streets of old Delhi. They watched as the streets descended into chaos, a million miles away from the wide, organised roads of New Delhi.

Instead the streets were narrow, bustling with people and hundreds of electricity cables running overhead.

Half way through the trip the Shatabdhi train was boarded once again in order to travel back to New Delhi in order to meet the second group and, unfortunately, say good-bye to Miss Maidment. The second group consisted of Lydia Lunn, Ellen Thorne, Mrs Davies and Emma Burgess (Mrs Davies’ daughter). As soon as they arrived at New Delhi it was off to Agra joined by Hannah and Olivia. When they reached Agra they managed to navigate their way to the hotel for the night – ‘The Grand Imperial’, which only lived up to its name in terms of looks, as the water was brown and the swimming pool which was enjoyed for only an hour, was soon inhabited by monkeys!

The next day it was off to the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort. The Taj Mahal visit was an incredible experience. One of the stones (Carnelian) known to the Indians as Firestone glowed if a light was put against it, much to the delight of the group. In order to enter the tomb the girls had to wear shoe covers on their feet, so that they didn’t bring in anything dirty. Hannah and Olivia also found a chipmunk along one of the paths, which they took great joy in chasing. After taking in the beauty of the Taj Mahal the group were then transported to a marble shop where the craftsmen were descendants of those who had helped to put together the intricate designs of the Taj Mahal itself. Then it was off to the Red Fort, which although had splendid views and was very impressive, seemed small when compared with the Taj Mahal.

Whilst some girls were exploring the sights in Dehli and Agra, others had fallen ill and were experiencing the delights of an Indian hospital. They were treated very well and were given English food which was very exciting. It was safe to say though that after a couple of days they were bored, forced to find entertainment in harmonising with the air conditioning and making rubber glove friends.

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Joybells

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TRIPS They were very happy when the others brought them Gummy Bears and Sprite and came to play cards with them, but even happier once they were all discharged and could get on with the rest of the trip.

Another highlight was a trip to Rishikesh, the home of the Ganges. The girls were very excited by the fact that they could paddle in the holy river! Lots of selfies were taken and one injury was sustained by poor Mrs Davies who had to go and have stitches in her shin without anaesthetic - a very brave soldier!

One night whilst they stayed in Rishikesh they were able to view an Aarti ceremony and a few of the girls were lucky enough to touch the holy fire as it was passed around.

When their time in Delhi was finally over they caught a train in the early hours of the morning to Dehradun. The journey was long, but the train was quite spacious and the girls were provided with food and chai tea throughout the journey. They were finally Joybells bound.

They received a warm welcome from Joy and the children at Joybells, with hugs and the promise of a much needed lunch. After being introduced to the children they did some room and furniture shuffling before unpacking quickly and heading to the teachers’ hut for some rice and dahl. The girls then made the five minute walk together up to the school to play with the children. Sadly, the heated game of football was interrupted by one of many thunderstorms. The torrential rain drove them to shelter in a large hut by the football field. There the children taught the girls some clapping games, handshakes and singing games, such as the amusingly named Shake Your Body, which was, undeniably, the best. It was lovely to finally meet the children, even though it seemed quite a daunting task to learn all of their names!

Joybells However, within a week the girls had memorised the children`s names, favourite colours and animals. The children’s enthusiasm and willingness to learn made them a joy to teach. The classroom environment was a whole world away from the boisterous AASRAA School, although both were incredible to teach at in different ways.

The girls quickly settled into the routine of Joybells. Assembly was at 8 o’clock every morning and lessons started shortly after, finishing at 1 o`clock with a short break.

After lessons the girls ate lunch, then rested, planned lessons or walked to the local shop.

At 5 o’clock they were ready to head up to the school again to play with the children. Some more athletically inclined teachers played football, whilst others joined the students not playing football, to play games, sing, give

each other interesting hairstyles or watch the children filling up their cameras with selfies.

It is safe to say that the girls had never eaten so much curry in their lives. In Dehradun they found a good vegetarian restaurant which served a range of food which suited everyone, even chips for Hannah. Overall their time at Joybells was loved by all who went there as it was incredibly hard not to fall in love with the children and the stunning scenery. Waking up to see the foothills of the Himalayas every day is not something that will be forgotten.

H a n n a h B u r g e ss , O l i v i a K ay e s a n d C h a r lot t e H u n t L 6

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INTERVIEWS Mrs K Marshall

Mrs Pearce

Q. Which fairy tale character do you identify with and why?

Q. Where in the world would you like to go and why?

Q. Which fairy tale character do you identify with and why?

A. The girl who had to spin gold from straw – I think all teachers spend their lives trying to spin gold from straw!

A. Madagascar – I love lemurs!

A. I have always liked the idea of being Gretel in the story of Hansel and Gretel, so that I could eat all those delicious sweets on the gingerbread house. I would like the story to end there, as I wouldn’t fancy being put in a cage and fattened up to be someone’s dinner!

Q. What is your worst habit?

A. Worrying about things I can’t control.

Q. If you could have a superpower with one catch, what would it be?

A. Everyone I teach would get top grades, unless they were boys!

Q. Which Harry Potter house would you be in and why?

A. Gryffindor – because I like Hermione.

Q. What’s the naughtiest thing you did whilst a student?

A. Skiving off school on a games afternoon to meet my boyfriend.

Q. What is your worst fashion disaster to date?

A. Wearing a bright pink jumpsuit.

Q. What would be the soundtrack of your life?

A. A hymn – In Christ Alone.

Q. If you could do anything, what would your top three things be?

A. See the Northern Lights, snorkel off the Barrier Reef and swim with dolphins.

Q. What is your most memorable moment at Bruton?

A. So many! Floella Benjamin’s speech at Speech Day, the Upper Sixth in all their finery at Speech Day, numerous staff pantomimes, Miss Donaldson and Mr Duncan in comedy sketches, and Mr Smallwood in a hovercraft on Coburn.

Q. What is your worst habit?

A. Mr Pearce would definitely say my rather obsessive tidying at home. He has got into the habit of writing ‘please keep’ or ‘do not throw away’ on important documents.

Q. If you could have a superpower with one catch, what would it be?

A. Having the ability to think of a place and instantaneously be there (as in Star Trek) would be good. I hate long journeys by car and especially by plane, so this would be excellent.

Q. Which Harry Potter house would you be in and why?

A. Hufflepuff. Apart from liking the sound of the name (I think Miranda Hart would like that word!) I read somewhere that this house values hard work, patience, loyalty and fair play and I think that sums up my values.

Q. What’s the naughtiest thing you did whilst a student?

A. I have always been a bit of a goody-goody.

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INTERVIEWS Mrs Kelley Q. What is your worst fashion disaster?

A. You may not be aware that I have been engaged in a fierce ‘Who can wear the funkiest tights?’ competition with a colleague for a few years now. Well, a couple of years ago I bought a pair of pink patterned tights especially and wore them to school thinking, ‘I’ll win today’. Unfortunately, as I am quite tall the ‘one size’ tights kept falling down and I needed to yank them up about every 15 minutes. My Sixth Form classes may have wondered why, on that particular day, I hardly got up from my seat! To make matters worse, I didn’t see my fellow competitor that day, so she did not appreciate the tights!

Q. What would be the soundtrack of your life?

A. At the moment I would say a hymn that has always been special to my parents. The hymn is a rather old one called All The Way My Saviour Leads Me and it is about how trusting in God and knowing He is guiding us is the most important thing in life. These are the first four lines: All the way my Saviour leads me, What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my guide?

Q. If you could do anything, what would your top three things be?

A. This is a very difficult question to answer!

I think that what I am doing is number one – stopping work to spend time with my husband and family. Number two might be to buy a cottage by the sea, so that I could spend time there with family and friends. Thirdly, go on a course at the Hummingbird Bakery to become more skilled at decorating cupcakes.

Q. Where in the world would you like to go and why?

Q. Which fairy tale character do you identify with and why?

A. There are many places I would like to visit - Australia, the Scandinavian countries, Egypt to name but a few. However, if I had to pick one I would choose our favourite spot in the Cotswolds, Rodborough Common,as I really don’t think you can beat the English countryside.

A. It’s not really a traditional fairy tale, but I took a ‘Which Frozen Character Are You?’ quiz on Facebook a few weeks ago and it told me that I am like Olaf. Olaf is loving, dependable and fun to be around and I would like to think that these are qualities that I too possess.

If I had to choose a more traditional fairy tale though, I think I would choose Sleeping Beauty, because I am an exceptionally good sleeper.

Q. What is your most memorable moment at Bruton?

A. There are two connected moments. The first one was the last day of the Easter Term 2004. I had just had lunch and was putting my tray away when Mr Pearce casually asked me if I would like to go round for coffee during the holiday. The second one was 16 July 2005 when we had our wedding reception in the school Dining Room. It doesn’t get more memorable than that!

Q. What is your worst habit?

A. I have two. Being a bit obsessive compulsive (it can be a blessing and a curse…) and chewing up the inside of my mouth (yes, it’s gross).

Q. If you could have a superpower with one catch, what would it be?

A. I would like to be super-fast and never get tired (sort of like the vampires in Twilight).

Imagine how much I could get done! Does there have to be a catch?

Q. Which Harry Potter house would you be in and why?

A. I’d like to say Gryffindor, but I’m not sure I’m brave enough. I’m quite brainy, so I think I could feel at home in Ravenclaw (though whether I have “wit beyond measure” I’m not quite sure), but I also like that Hufflepuffs are known for their hard work and loyalty. This question is too hard! I need the Sorting Hat.

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Q. What’s the naughtiest thing you did whilst a student?

Q. Where in the world would you like to go and why?

A. I was SUCH a good student – honestly. In my whole time at school I didn’t get a single detention. I think the most trouble I ever got in was in Sixth Form (I was getting a little overconfident!) when I decided not to hand in a piece of English homework, because I knew no-one else had done it.

A. I would really love to go back to Bermuda and visit my best friend from university. I went to visit her back in 2010 and had the most amazing time – Bermuda really is paradise!

I would also really like to visit Norway and see the Northern Lights and one day I would like to go to Australia. I think I’d better start saving!

Q. What is your worst fashion disaster?

A. My worst fashion faux pas would be how I used to wear my hair when I was at school - slicked back in a ponytail with two little strands hanging down over my forehead in front of my eyes. So much hairspray! My worst wardrobe malfunction on the other hand was a time when I was on the tube in London and both straps on my strappy dress broke simultaneously. I had to make an emergency dash to the nearest Superdrug to buy some safety pins!

Q. What would be the soundtrack of your life?

A. There are so many great songs I could choose and my favourites change all the time!

At the moment I feel that my soundtrack(s) are Don’t Stop by Fleetwood Mac and Happy by Pharrell Williams. I love songs with positive lyrics and a good boppy beat. If I can whack up the volume and dance around the living room like a crazy person to it, then I like it!

Q. If you could do anything, what would your top three things be?

A. One: I would love to perform on the West End. Two: I would love to take a year off and travel the world with my hubby. Three: I would like to make/find/win enough money to buy a big house, a nice car and all the clothes that FatFace can make.

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Q. What is your most memorable moment at Bruton?

A. THIS IS HARD! I have had so many wonderful times at Bruton, but a few highlights are: - Organising Arts Week in 2013 and 2014; especially organising the author visits, watching Shakespeare Live, and dressing up as Effie Trinket on Book Character Day. - Watching the Christmas pantomimes, The Wizard of Oz, Daisy Pulls it Off and various concerts – Bruton girls are so talented!

- Singing The Gleam! Especially in the CD recording session, as I had never even heard the tune before, let alone sung it.

- Helping to run Crossfire (BSG’s Christian Union) – eating cake, playing games, and getting to share a bit about Christianity.

- Being there at the end of the GCSE and A Level examinations to celebrate finishing alongside Senior 5 and the Sixth Form.

- Eating cake! If there’s one thing I will definitely never forget about Bruton, it’s just how much cake there is. No matter what the occasion, or the location, or the time of day, there will be cake!

It has been BRILLIANT being Librarian and Examinations Officer at Bruton School for Girls – it’s been a privilege getting to know all of you and I have absolutely loved all the new, interesting, exciting and hilarious experiences I’ve had here.

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INTERVIEWS Q. If you could have a superpower with one catch, what would it be?

A. Puss from Puss in Boots, because I had to travel a long way to find my fortune (my husband, our family and an enjoyable life style). Occasionally, I quite like wearing boots too.

Q. What is your worst habit?

A. My worst habit is procrastination. Taking several months to complete these questions for The Gleam would be a good example.

Q. What would be the soundtrack of your life?

A. Flying - as I don’t really like walking (Oops, don’t tell the DofE girls). I guess the catch would be that I could only fly for say an hour, before resting for an hour (short arms?!).

A. The fact that I have now been in England a very long time and I have been doing DofE at BSG for about 28 years helped me choose the sound track of my life which is Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head by B.J. Thomas.

Q. Which Harry Potter house would you be in and why?

Q. If you could do anything, what would your top three things be?

A. Gryffindor, of course, as it is the best and I have always been in the best house. (At BSG I was delighted to be in Red House initially [before the current system] and then became a proud member of Montacute).

A. A bit trite, but perhaps:

Q. What’s the naughtiest thing you did whilst a student?

Q. Which fairy tale character do you identify with and why?

Mrs Bagshaw

A. I’m not sure I want to answer this, as my colleagues might be annoyed at me for putting ideas into pupils’ heads. We used to drive our English teacher nuts by making pond/frog noises whilst apparently working hard. She wrote in my year book, “Paula, I wonder how many things I missed from your corner of the room.” Fortunately, I was never caught when sneaking out of school during a free period to go to Dunkin’ Doughnuts.

Q. What is your worst fashion disaster?

A. Do you mean to imply that I am not impeccably dressed and co-ordinated at all times? My daughter would probably nominate my earmuffs, but I like them!

Save the planet (ecologically); End poverty; Ensure world peace.

Q. Where in the world would you like to go and why?

A. The Caribbean Islands – sun/sea/sand - sounds lovely, lazy and hot. (N.B. my soundtrack).

Q. What is your most memorable moment at Bruton?

A. After 28 years the list is actually quite long. There were embarrassing moments, like tripping and sprawling in front of another teacher’s class during my first week. There were also many pleasing moments, such as receiving an A+ for the spelling on my reports (handwritten, before computers with spell checkers) from another member of staff. The various staff v. pupils end of term matches and Book Character Days are featured in my visual memories. I also recall fondly a couple of school trips and all those Bronze and Silver DofE weekends provided plenty of very memorable moments! Sorry – I really can’t choose just one, but I am delighted to have so many happy memories of Sunny Hill.

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SPEECH DAY

p h o t o g r ap h y W i l l i a m s y k e s Good morning everyone, and welcome to the almost always sunny Sunny Hill, although you would be forgiven for not realising this last night. I’d like to echo the Chairman’s welcome to Samantha Weinberg to present our prizes and speak to us today. Over Easter I read her trilogy, The Moneypenny Diaries, fiction skilfully merged with painstakingly researched historical detail. I loved the way reality blended with imagination. I highly recommend them.

I am sure we will be fascinated by your varied career and, as a scientist and journalist, your observations on life. Samantha also has a love of travel, which has informed her writing and

therefore I decided that my thoughts today would take the theme of journeys, building upon the theme of adventure from last year.

As the saying goes, life is a journey not a destination and I like to think we are travelling on an adventurous journey together. I simply can’t believe that two years have passed since I first arrived and so many amazing things have happened and been done by the wonderful girls and dedicated staff here, supported by you our parents. And of course, when I say girls, I am including the boys in the Prep School too. I never lose sight of the faith you place in us to educate your daughters and am

incredibly grateful for the support you have shown as our journey takes the inevitable twists and turns along the way.

Half the fun of a journey is the careful planning and preparation as we decide what to do.

There are so many possibilities and options to choose from and research. Then there is the undertaking itself and afterwards the memories that stay with you of events and happenings along the way. By definition with a school report, what I will talk about today refers more to the memories and milestones of our adventurous journey this year, but I will

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SPEECH DAY also talk about the plans we are making for the future and the challenges we are preparing for, during our undertaking.

This has been a very positive year in so many ways and the school is going from strength to strength. This has been validated by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, or ISI and for that I must thank each and every one of you for the contribution you made to the fantastic outcome. With our parents completing questionnaires, girls talking with inspectors at length about their experiences, our dedicated staff doing what they do best, exceptionally well, and governors supporting us in meetings, we worked well as a team and it all added up. I am hugely grateful to

p h o t o g r ap h y W i l l i a m s y k e s

you all for your support. It is rare for even excellent schools to be found to have the top rating for every area looked at and rarer still for there to be only one recommendation for improvement, but we did it! And if you look at lots of other reports (not something I recommend unless you can’t sleep), you will see that most, even schools with long and well-established reputations, have two recommendations. With 13 areas to be scrutinised and hundreds of regulations to comply with it is not difficult to see why that is!

Some have asked why this outcome is important to us – don’t most schools say they are excellent? Well they do. But other schools

will highlight one or two important areas of excellence, such as learning and teaching and imply they are excellent across the board, when we have nothing to hide and want everyone to look at the whole report - hence our strapline, ‘Excellent and outstanding in EVERY way!’ We believe that what we offer your daughter here is unique and it makes us stand out from other schools. All the elements we have identified: values, character, strength, energy, spirit and very importantly, individuality, go to make the BSG girl. This report provides firm building blocks for us for the future and gives us the confidence to say, ‘We do what we say we do, and we do it very well indeed’. However, we do realise that we

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are not perfect; none of us is, and frankly I don’t want your daughter to grow up thinking perfection is attainable. It’s not a healthy way to live or think as we must always be open to changing ourselves. We all have things to improve, even when things are going well, so I am always interested in your thoughts.

The voyage ahead poses many challenges.

The pace of change in education is moving at an unprecedented rate and girls from the current Senior 4 right down to Reception will be affected by the changes in some way. Rest assured that our dedicated staff are preparing themselves for these radical changes, so they in turn will prepare the girls. This is partly why we are moving towards adding

Functional Skills English or Latin to the Senior 3 curriculum. I’m sure we’ll be excellent at whatever it is we have to do – and once it is clear what is expected, you’ll be the first to know!

Our results are of the highest standard and are a credit to the girls. In Prep 6, 87% gained Level 5 in English in the summer examinations. 88% of the A Level grades were A*- C with 48% of students who applied for university in 2013 successfully obtaining places in Russell Group universities. Rebecca Forrester so impressed the University of Leicester that they offered her a scholarship, which she had not even applied for, towards a degree in Biomedical Science. We are thrilled with our recent Old Girls’ achievements as well. Louise Dubuisson has graduated with a first in English from Royal Holloway, London and two of our former Head Girls both graduated in medicine; Lydia Newton from Newcastle University, and Harriet Sharp, with a first from Gonville and Keys College, Cambridge – and all this from a school which is not academically selective. Due to our small class sizes and the attention we can give each individual girl and her needs, our results put us in the top 12% of schools in the country for value-added at GCSE. Very simplistically, what this means is, were your daughter predicted ten As upon entry to the school we would enable her to achieve seven A*s and three As; were she predicted ten Cs, she would achieve seven Bs and three Cs. We are proud of every single girl and her individual achievement and are always looking at how we can improve further.

Our efforts to develop the widest possible learning experience for the girls continue unabated. Our staff learning focus for the year was upon developing even more challenge, particularly for the most able, both by looking at our lessons and by providing opportunities such as the Extended Project Qualification being piloted this year, as well as the huge number of competitions and

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awards the girls are encouraged to enter.

This year, once again, the Senior 2 girls did fantastically in the Routes into Languages Pop Video competition and a large number of girls gained Bronze and Silver certificates in the Intermediate Maths Challenge, with Li-Yun Kuo gaining a Gold Certificate, which put her in the top 6% of the country. Sherry Deng went on to gain a merit in the European wide ‘Grey Kangaroo’ maths challenge with an amazing second place overall. We had successes in the Cranmer Awards for Tierney Chappell and India Davies, and Malgorzata Kasprzak gained Highly Commended in the British Biology Olympiad. It was rewarding to see that ISI acknowledged what we are doing to challenge the girls, while recognising the excellent support in place already for the girls who need it. We will continue to develop our focus on each girl and her individual needs whatever they might be.

Learning is at the centre of all we do. And it is with good reason that I talk about Learning and Teaching rather than the more commonly used Teaching and Learning. It is the Learning that is central and all important.

For this reason, I appointed Mr William Talbot-Ponsonby to the Senior Leadership Team from September with a singular focus on maximising learning for all girls in the school. Staff learning underpins this, as we must model the enthusiasm and lifelong love of learning so very important in this fast changing world. Looking at how technology has developed over the last decade, who knows what the world will look like in ten years’ time, and this is the unknown world we are preparing our girls for. ISI recognised this major part of our Strategic Development Plan and chose to endorse the plans already underway, in our development of the ICT infrastructure, hardware and software and now its use in the classroom. Your daughters will talk about using the iPads more next year I am sure, but it is not all about iPads. The girls in Senior 1-3 have been introduced to the basics

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SPEECH DAY of computing this year and will be building on this. We have also been spending a lot of time developing our new website; I hope to be able to share this with you at the start of the next academic year. Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, or STEM subjects, are crucial and we are fortunate that over half our A Level girls study these subjects, typical of a girls’ school. We welcome Mrs Claire Thomas as Head of Maths.

Of course there is much, MUCH more to school than just the lessons and learning, however important they are. BSG girls develop confidence, resilience and resourcefulness through our extra-curricular programme and enrichment activities. We have an increasing number of clubs in both the Prep and Senior School, which this year have included archery and the hugely popular Yeovil Town Community Trust Football coaching on a Friday evening – thankfully it’s not as hot here as Brazil at the moment for the girls! Across the whole school, from Reception to the Upper Sixth more than 110 off-site trips were organised last year, ranging from farm and fire station visits for the EYFS children, to the memorable Charterhouse expedition for Preps 5 and 6. From tea parties at the wonderful Cole Manor to Science Live!, Horrible Histories at the British Museum, the Dr Who Experience, the Bath Literary Festival, Cats the musical, King Lear, Maison Claire Fontaine in France, and, of course, the fascinating trip to Russia, which I was so fortunate to accompany in October half-term. Aside from being taught to play Uno for the first time, which was an experience in itself, the journey from St Petersburg to Moscow on the overnight train was unforgettable!

We are working to further raise the profile of sport. The Sixth Form get to play Quidditch and the Prep School has a new programme of ballet clubs on offer. The sports website has been very well received. We have been inspired by the improvement in performances shown by our teams and Mrs Davies has

masterminded brilliantly a change to the sports kit which we are phasing in next year.

Of particular note are the achievements of two girls this year who reached National Finals in their sports. Charlotte Perrott was placed third in the NSEA National Dressage Championships at Novice level and Claudia Lavender, who earlier in the year achieved a national qualifying time and competed in the National Regional Indoor 60m Hurdles, competes in July in the National Athletics in Birmingham in the Pole Vault and is in the top ten in the country at her age. We wish her well.

The musicians are off to Germany, led Pied Piper-like by the inspiring Mr Dury and his team, who have had a wonderful year, with many new concerts and performances, including the recent visit to St John’s Church in Yeovil to perform in aid of the Somerset Flood Relief Fund. Both Malgorzata Kasprzak and Alice Tindal achieved results among the top in the country in Grade 8 cello and Grade 6 piano respectively. The Senior 2 and Senior 3 ensembles are thriving, and the Prep School singing workshop with Chris James was very well received.

We all enjoyed the Pre-Prep nativity, and the Prep School production of Roald Dahl’s Cinderella. Daisy really did pull it off, in truly spiffing style and we are thrilled that Ciara Chapman is heading to the prestigious National Youth Theatre summer course.

ESB results were excellent once again in the Senior School and for the first time in Preps 5 and 6. And, of course, I could not fail to mention the biannual ArtWalk, superbly masterminded by the inspirational and rather worryingly heavily pregnant Mrs La Trobe Bateman. This event truly showed off the artistic talent of the girls, from the private view of examination work to the headwear based on religious buildings by Preps 5 and 6. Tomorrow a number of our staff will be guests at one of several Hauser & Wirth gallery opening events. We are fortunate to

have been closely linked with Alice Workman, the Director, who has supported our varied and stimulating lecture programme, as well as our Careers events and are excited about the opportunities this will provide for the girls.

Our links with the local community are very important to us. From supporting the very special Pitcombe Parish Bell Project, to girls volunteering at Sexey’s Hospital, our girls are enriched by and add to the community within which they live. The Charity Committee is one of the best supported extra-curricular clubs we have, superbly run this year by Olivia Edwards. The girls have raised almost £4000.

We started the year with the WorldWide Walk, a 10k journey around the local area, involving adventures with cows and ploughed fields in order for us to experience what some girls do in other parts of the world, every day, to collect water before they go to school.

We are incredibly grateful for the support of our Old Girls through the Sunny Hill Old Girls Association SHOGA; they provided most of the seminar speakers for our inaugural Sixth Form Governors’ Careers Event and many of the stall holders for the biannual Cocktail of Careers. But it is also the hidden support they give, by talking and tweeting about the school in such a positive way, encouraging people to come and visit, that is so valuable to us. We are also grateful to the PSA, for not only do they organise fantastic community-building events such as the Feast for the Ears, but through activities such as running the second-hand uniform shop they raise considerable sums of money to provide ‘icing on the cake items’ for the school, such as the funding to develop our unique outdoor education area or support our initiatives in the nature reserve and The Meadow, including the fabulous Tepee.

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SPEECH DAY I should like to thank particularly the Governing Body for their support in this our adventurous journey, especially during the inspection, but of course always. And I want to thank each and every member of staff of the school, whatever your role, for all you have done this year. Without your dedication and commitment to the school, the girls would not have had the experiences they have done, and the school would not be going from strength to strength. THANK YOU. And so to those who are leaving our journey at this point. As girls and staff, we have already said our thanks and goodbyes to Amanda Duggan, teacher of business studies, Amanda Moores, teacher of chemistry, Charlotte Kelly, Librarian and Examinations Officer, Emily Aston, teacher of PE, Myra Carter, teacher of piano, and several staff who are re-retirees – Alistair Pearce, Steve Garratt, Richard Wall and John Burrough – once again huge thanks and happy retirements. It says so much about the school that staff who have retired are prepared to come back and support us when asked. Thanks must go to Kristin Marshall, who was supposed to retire last year as Head of Physics, but was persuaded to stay on to support the physics department, and Jill Pearce, former Sixth Form tutor, teacher of maths and Head of Business Studies and Economics, who stayed on to teach economics this year and is now looking forward to more gardening. Finally, Jenny Abraham, whose life has been entwined with the school since girlhood and who is leaving to spend more time on the many things she enjoys doing, having made a huge contribution to the life of the Prep School. I know the whole Prep School loved the vintage tea party yesterday and are very grateful for the wonderful selection of outdoor games you so generously gave them.

THANK YOU ALL! You are always part of the school community and I hope to see you on many occasions in the future.

Of course without the support of parents and the wider community the school would not have the vibrancy that it does and it is for this reason we are encouraged by the increase in numbers in the Sixth Form and Preps 5 and 6.

I thank you all for your support and the faith and trust you place in us in making the smart choice to send your daughters here.

And so we move to the magnificent Upper Sixth… this is your final moment of public celebration. A smaller than usual, but perfectly formed group of delightful young women with an eclectic range of interests and ideas for your futures, many of you have decided this year to apply to University for September 2015 on receipt of your results, which is entirely right for you. Many considered thoughts about the journey of life have been shared with you over the last few days and I am sure that there will have been something that resonates with each one of you. Be true to yourselves, now you know who you are and trust in your judgement without worrying too much about what the future holds. As Baz Luhrmann says, ‘Worrying is as effective as solving an algebra equation by chewing gum’. This is your moment to embark on life’s journey. I hope you embrace it, as we do here every day at BSG, where life is an adventurous journey. Do keep in touch with us. We will continue to reflect carefully on our time journeying, continue to make bold and considered plans for the future and continue to embark on adventures together to give the girls the best start on their most important journey called ‘life’. Thank you!

Mrs Bot terill

A RTWORK S ARA S TAEHR

THE GLEAM TEAM.

Graphic Design – Ice House Design, Bath

The Gleam Team 2013/14 L to R: Charlotte Hunt, Sara Staehr, Olivia Kayes, Abigail Pitchforth, Mrs Evans (Editor), Hannah Burgess Gleam Team 2012/13 The Radford Quill was awarded to Christy Wong Cover illustration Elizabeth Moody

Bruton School for Girls Sunny Hill, Bruton Somerset, BA10 0NT Head Girl: Christy Wong Deputy Head Girls: Ciara Chapman and Rosie McMahon

+44 (0)1749 814 400 admissions@brutonschool.co.uk www.brutonschool.co.uk