Autumn Term
7th DECEMBER 2020 Issue 1 : 4th September 2020
Dear Parents, Please find an excerpt from today's assembly from Dr McShane: You girls, have been superb. I couldn’t have asked of anything more from you. You have followed the rules. You’ve not enjoyed them, you’ve not enjoyed being stuck in the same four classrooms, you’ve not enjoyed the uncertainty of the future and factors beyond your control – particularly the exam cohorts. But you have carried yourselves cheerfully, you’ve got on with it. One of life’s greatest unsung skills is the ability to get on with things; in some ways getting on with things, a singularly unglamorous phrase, is the same thing as bravery. And bravery is all you ever need. It underpins everything. Thank you girls. You are a credit to this wonderful community. We’re living through a particularly strange period; we are, in fact, living through history. But it is a peculiar history. It is one of frustrations and stasis and not going anywhere, yet I cannot remember being so busy. And yet it is all so tedious. I’m staying in the same place, yet I’m run off my feet. I’m bored by the whole thing but I’m overstimulated. How is that possible? Well I think this actually isn’t a new concept. T.S Eliot, one of my favourite poets, very nearly expressed this with the words: At the still point of the turning world Neither flesh nor fleshless; Neither from nor forwards; at the still point, there the dance is, But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity, Where past and future are gathered. Neither Movement from nor towards, Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point. There would be no dance, and there is only the dance. As always with Eliot, at first it sounds just like a symphony of beauty, and a masterful command of English – almost unbeaten, in my opinion, save one bloke from Stratford upon Avon. Then, once you’ve got over the assault on your senses, you have to work out what Eliot is trying to say, and once you’ve done that, you crumple in a heap on the floor again, weeping at the intelligence and beauty of it all, whilst still not quite understanding it – again a contradiction (but I’m happy to live with it). This bit, however, could be said, plumb spang, to apply to our times. There’s no getting round all the contradictions of our current predicament (or indeed, life itself). We always want what we don’t have. Constant movement makes us stressed; lack of movement makes us bored. But perhaps the problem lies in how we think, which tends to be in opposites. In this sense, the poem explores the possibility of a mindset in which contradictions can exist in total harmony. Now, this is very difficult to articulate, and Eliot spends the entire, lengthy poem called Four Quartets trying to make this point in different ways. But essentially, it is at the seemingly contradictory ‘still point of the turning world’, that we find the dance.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Dr Claire McShane.
ART WORK OF THE WEEK COMPETITION Our winner of this weeks art competition is Pretoria in Year 7.
The Headmistress would like to wish all pupils, parents and staff a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
BOARDING NEWS The last weekend of term was filled with baking and icing Christmas shortbread and gingerbread whilst packing up belongings to take home. It was certainly festive with Christmas songs playing and each girl received a stocking from the boarding staff. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us in Boarding!
MUSIC NEWS Year 7 Schola Cantorum – December 2020 Many congratulations to the girls in this group who have completed a very successful first term. They have worked incredibly hard to learn music for the Advent Evensong and for the Carol Service. The Evensong music was particularly challenging and a genre of music that they had not encountered before. They rose to the challenge magnificently and we look forward to hearing them sing again as they continue their musical journey through the school. Well done girls!
SANTA FUN RUN
Menu Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Inset Day
Mild Beef Chilli Served with Rice & Nachos
Pasta Carbonara
Chicken Tikka Masala
Traditional Battered Cod & Cod Fish Fingers
Chef’s Trolley
Sliced Iceberg Lettuce & Sliced Beef Tomatoes
Chef’s Salad
Tomato & Cucumber Salad
Chef’s Salad
Vegetarian
Fresh Vegetable & Bean Chilli with Rice & Nachos
Spaghetti Neapolitan
Vegetable & Chickpea Masala
No Meat Meatballs in a Fresh Tomato Sauce with Rice
Sides
Sweetcorn
Green Beans & Carrots
Rice & Broccoli
Fries & Peas
Additional
Jacket Potato & Beans
Jacket Potato & Beans
Jacket Potato & Beans
Jacket Potato & Beans
Dessert
Carrot Cake
Lemon & Blueberry Slice
Sticky Toffee Traybake
Fresh Fruit Salad
Main
Items in Italic - Sourced from F Conisbee’s, our local butcher
HOLIDAY CLUBS AND EVENTS