Autumn Term
18th JANUARY 2021 Issue 1 : 4th September 2020
Dear Parents and Guardians, I do hope that this finds you well. I just wish to bring you up to date on the latest Government guidance concerning Lateral Flow Tests (mass testing). These are the tests that we were ready to use as we returned to school, prior to the newest lockdown and school closures. It remained that any pupil or staff member who had come into contact with a positive Covid-19 case within the school would be able to receive serial testing over seven days. On each day that a negative test was recorded, those pupils and staff had leave to remain at school. This would have included our boarders and key worker children. We have now been informed that this is no longer the case, and serial testing will not be used. In brief: we're back to isolating whole bubbles. On our reopening, I believe that Lateral Flow Tests will be used initially to 'screen' for Covid-19, but there is no comment on the former plan to set up weekly testing of pupils. I also wish to draw your attention to the consultation being run by the Department for Education - Miss Nelson has sent the link to parents of girls in Years 13 and 11, to whom my comments are principally addressed - as to how best to manage the process of awarding A Level and GCSE grades this year. This consultation is for parents, teachers and pupils, so please do have your say. I am cautiously optimistic that the noises being made are sensible: the possibility of 'mini' papers produced by examination boards to be taken at school under exam conditions (but marked by teachers), together with the absolutely vital component of external moderation, and a range of evidence i.e.: not simply mock performance. I wish to reassure all girls and parents that we will always do our utmost to support them through this exceptionally difficult time. We weathered it last year, and we shall do so again. My continued congratulations to all the pupils for approaching their studies with such good cheer, and my sincere thanks, as ever, to all the staff. I do hope you all have a very pleasant weekend. Best wishes, Dr Claire McShane
Consultation on how GCSE, AS and A level grades should be awarded in summer 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
ART WORK OF THE WEEK COMPETITION Our winner of this week’s art competition is Lulu S in Year 8. Please do send your entries to n.menzies@st-teresas.com
BOARDING NEWS On Friday, we celebrated Oynisa's 13th birthday with lovely chocolate and vanilla cupcakes - Thank you Bev! This weekend we saw snow! Unfortunately, it did not last long enough to take a photo. The boarders kept warm inside and watched movies. Sunday, the boarders were very busy make chouquettes and cheese straws. They were lovely! Next weekend we will do more baking. Viennese fingers are on the list.
Healthy Screen Use As is inevitable with online learning, the girls are spending increased amounts of time on their screens. We are trying to mitigate this by shortening lessons (we do encourage girls to spend the 10 minutes between lessons away from their screens), removing homework in KS3 and reducing it in KS4 and 5, running screen free days and encouraging activities away from the screens. However, I thought it prudent to summarise some advice about healthy screen and workstation usage. Aside from ensuring they are hydrated, well rested and take regular breaks, preferably outside, we recommend checking the following: That the screen is not too close to your eyes; the proper distance is about the length of your arm. Just hold your arm out in front of you while sitting straight in your chair; your fingertips should barely reach the screen. If working in PowerPoint or with any screen with a white background, change it to a pale cream colour. Glasses with an anti-glare coating can help to reduce eye strain and associated headaches. Lowering blue light can help, some find an app such as f-lux, the Windows “night light” feature, or a blue light screen protector or glasses to be very helpful. It is worth noting that sometimes headaches are to do with the actual refresh rate of the laptops (how often the screen shows an image every second), and the more expensive laptops tend to have better refresh rates. If any headache or vision problems persist, it is recommended that your daughter has a vision test You may find the pdf attached with the weekly bulletin useful to help you check your daughter’s workstation. Mrs P Cawley Kate from Y 8 designing a set in Drama.
BIOSOC A great talk in Biosoc this week from Miss Battersby who talked about how the different vaccines work and tried to demystify some of the scientific terminology that’s being used when the vaccines are being talked about in the press.
Biosoc is every other week - year 9 and above are welcome to join the Teams meetings.
ENRICHMENT SOCIETY
It was wonderful to welcome over 30 girls from years 7-13 to Enrichment Society on Thursday! This week, Mr O’Farrell presented on whether right or wrong really exist, which involved looking at Philippa Foot’s famous thought experiments, exploring altruistic behaviour, and asking just what the ethical implications of driverless cars are!
Next Thursday at 4:30pm, Mr Caister will present a session on the EnSoc Team entitled ‘Into the 20th Century’, exploring the links between art and music of the time, including Kandinsky and The Rite of Spring. The event is compulsory for Music Scholars, but everyone is warmly invited to attend.
A reminder that girls from all years are welcome to attend Enrichment Society. Each session will be broadcast live on Teams on Thursdays at 4:30pm. A reminder that Academic Scholars from years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 are requested to attend a minimum of 3 Enrichment Society sessions each term. Scholars should ensure that they have completed the relevant survey for each session that they have attended. Once again, if any parents, guardians, or other family members, are interested in delivering a talk at Enrichment Society via TEAMS during the year, please email Mr O’Farrell on j.ofarrell@st-teresas.com. All areas of interest and expertise are welcome!
Great Work from Art! Some extracts from Katie P’s online portfolio (UCAS applications). The art and design applications are nearing deadline and students are putting the finishing touches to their digital online portfolios.
Ice Fossils In Year 7Art, the girls have been choosing and freezing different natural items to create these beautiful winter treasures.
Sport News Here are the results from the Virtual cross-country competition some of the girls have taken part in. Overall Girls only U12 results- Year 7 Place
School
Points
1
Epsom
4
2nd
St Teresas
9
3rd
Manor House
10
st
Virtual Cross Country Event
Overall Girls only U15 results Year 8&9 Place 1st 2nd 3rd
School Manor House Epsom St Teresas
Points 6 11 13
Overall Girls only U17 results Year 10&11 Place 1st 2nd 3rd
School CLFS St Teresas Epsom
Points 7 9 11
Overall Girls only Senior results Yr12&13 Place 1st 2nd 3rd
School CLFS Epsom College St Teresas
Join PE in their Moving Mountains Challenge
Visit our website www.st-teresas.com/ equestrian
E-mail equestrian@st-teresas.com
Or find us on Facebook “St Teresa’s
While we’re counting down the days until we can open again, we’ll do our best to keep you all updated with what the horses are up to! We’ll also be updating our page on Firefly with information and activities for you to do at home. Check out Resources —> Sport —> Equestrian to find us!
Hi Everyone. I hope you didn’t get too wet in the storm this weekend, luckily we had our lovely big rugs on and plenty of hay to keep us warm! I was allowed to make friends with the new horse yesterday, Sky. The tall, blonde human said I had to behave myself and not annoy her, but she started it! In the end, after a few ‘hello’ squeals we are now friends. The humans say I’m not allowed to go out in the field with her as they say I’m annoying and Sky might tell me off, so back to the field with Ellie I go. Have a nice weekend! Tango x
Lockdown Competition - Design your own cross country jump! Along with our updates, we’re also including a small competition where you can design your own cross country jump. Be it a water complex, a brush, a log, or something you’ve made up entirely on your own! The deadline is Monday 15th February, email in your designs to equestrian@st-teresas.com and the winner will receive Mary King’s latest book ‘My Way: How I train for success’
Good luck to you all!
This Week In our Chapel Service this week ,we reflected on the account of the call of Samuel (1 Samuel 3:310). What is perhaps most striking about this account is how long it takes Samuel to find out that God is calling him. It takes him—or rather, Eli, his flawed mentor—three occasions before it is realised that it is God who is calling Samuel. We, similarly, often struggle to hear God’s call in our lives. There are endless distractions that come in the way and make it difficult to discern God’s call. We can be distracted by the lure of wealth. While there is no intrinsic wrong in money, we all recognise how its attractiveness can distract us from what has true value. In our lives we must endeavour to hear the call to compassion and to sharing our resources with those who are not as fortunate as we are. We can be distracted by the lure of power and influence. We have seen, over the past few weeks, how corrupting power without integrity can be. In our lives we must endeavour to hear the call to humility and to serving others. And we have seen, particularly in this time of COVID the distraction of worry and fear. In our lives we must endeavour to hear the resounding call to live in hope and to recognise the loving, accompanying hand of God in our lives.
Then, with Samuel, we too will be able to declare, ‘Here I am, Lord; O come to do your will.’