Autumn Term
22nd FEBRUARY 2021 Issue 1 : 4th September 2020
Dear Parents, On Monday we got the joyous news that we would be reopening on 8th March. Today, I sent a communication by letter and video to you about our plans for this, but in summary: We are aiming to mass test the whole school on Friday 5th March, so please sign up for this when the booking system opens next week. Testing is strongly encouraged but not compulsory. Mrs Graham will be in touch with details about testing early next week; please bear with us as we rearrange testing, change our testing venue to increase our capacity, train our wonderful volunteers, open our booking system, and generally get things organised. I assure you we are working extremely hard to get this sorted. We therefore expect all girls to be able to return to the classroom on Monday 8th. School transport will operate as normal from 8th March. Masks to be worn, as before, unless exempt. There is a request to wear face masks in classrooms where two metre distancing is not possible. There has been a slight refinement to this message this morning by Government; masks in classrooms are not mandatory but 'strongly encouraged'. All previous measures, instituted in September, will apply (year group bubbles, designated areas, slightly staggered end times to the day, PE kits to be worn to school on days girls have PE, etc). Yesterday we also received initial guidance about the arrangements for GCSE and A Level pupils. Grades in the summer will be determined by teachers using a variety of evidence. There will be no algorithm, and of course, we will work as hard as possible for the best interests of the girls. We are awaiting further clarification from the examination boards, and we will be in touch with further detail as soon as we are able. Please note the earlier results days of 10th August (A Level) and 12th August (GCSE).
I would like to thank our volunteers for all the time they are giving up in order to get us back to school, and back to a semblance of normality. We're very much looking forward to seeing all the girls. Finally, I would like to thank FOST for their generous donation to our pupil Wellbeing Room! It is an oasis of calm.
Best wishes Dr Claire McShane
YEAR 9 ‘FANTASTIC PLASTICS’ PROJECT Here is some lovely artwork from our lockdown textiles project 'Fantastic Plastics' created by Shanelle in Year 9. Remember: "Don't Litter Beaches'
ART WORK OF THE WEEK COMPETITION Our winner of this week’s art competition is Alex Mc in Year 9 The drawing was based on her English text : The Woman in Black. Please do send your entries to n.menzies@st-teresas.com
WELLBEING We are delighted to announce that our Wellbeing room is now fully furnished and ready to go. Once Covid restrictions allow the wellbeing room, situated next to the medical centre, will provide girls with a quiet space when needed. It will be a place to read books from our new wellbeing library, meditate, make origami, practice mindful colouring, read the mood cards, listen to gentle music or just be alone and quiet. The walls are covered with colourful inspirational quotes, a whiteboard for positive messages, fairy lights and a beautiful butterfly mural. There is a soft grey sofa, fluffy pink beanbags, beautiful blankets and pastel cushions. Girls wanting to use the room will need to see the school nurse first, she will supervise and support the girls in the room. It will also be a place for small, more intimate lunchtime sessions such as friendship support and mindfulness club. The room was designed and put together by our wonderful Year 10 Mental Health Ambassadors and generously financed by FOST. We are extremely grateful to them all and are very much looking forward to putting the room into very good use!
STEM 4 PARENT CONFERENCE If you are interested, stem4 (supporting teenage mental health) are running a mental health conference for parents and staff free and online. I highly recommend their conferences.You just need to follow the link in the attached flier to book your place. Paula Cawley, Deputy Head (Pastoral)
BOARDING NEWS The boarders returned on Sunday with lovely stories of their half-term adventures. They enjoyed going for walks and staying with their host families. Now well-rested the girls are ready to take on their online lessons. The evenings this week have been spent drinking hot chocolates chatting and playing Uno.
Please see the attached flyer that the Head Girl Team have come up with, there is a wide range of fun activities for all age groups.
Mrs Angel’s Year 12 Business students proudly displaying their efforts and enjoying the rigours of online learning.
YEAR 7 SCIENCE CLUB In the week before half term, the girls in Science Club were testing their engineering abilities with paper spinners! They were judged on which spinner made the most spins before hitting the ground, and on decorations. With three different models, Eris had the spinner with the most spins- demonstrated in a very impressive testing video. Katy had the best decorated spinner, with lovely tassels. And honourable mention goes to Layla, who gave us a live performance of her spinner.
Over half term the girls have been making and testing their own pH indicators, and we are very excited to see the results!
UNIFORM SALE Schoolblazer have decided to run a sale offering up to a 1/3rd off selected uniform items to help parents get ready for the return to school. The sale will run from 1st – 15th March. Take a look on their website www.schoolblazer.com
MUSIC NEWS We are delighted to let you know that the Interhouse Music Festival is about to take place. Please see information below. The current holders of the trophy are St Dominic. We would like to encourage as many girls as possible to take part and send their recordings to Mr Caister before Friday 12th March. Ensembles with girls from different houses are allowed.
ST TERESA’S INTERHOUSE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2021 ENTRIES NOW OPEN!
Submit an audio recording of a musical performance. Each entry receives a merit, and each category winner receives 5 Merits! All styles from classical to pop and ensembles on any instrument will be accepted. At stake, is the St Teresa’s Interhouse Music Festival Trophy! AND St Teresa’s Musician of the Year 2021! Closing Date is Friday 12th March Send your recording (not a video) to Mr Caister, with your name and house as soon as possible.
Please note that unaccompanied pieces will be accepted.You may find an accompaniment online. If you wish your concert or soiree entry to be considered, please let Mr Caister know. GOOD LUCK!
SPRING MUSIC CONCERT Our yearly Spring Music Concert is on Thursday 11th March at 19.00. This year it will be a virtual affair. Teams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19% 3ameeting_NGYxMGFjMmEtYjZlYS00NjY2LThlOGQtYT diMDc3NDYyYWYx%40thread.v2/0?context=% 7b%22Tid%22%3a%22cfaae515-e182-4981-91d2da83c34c9a92%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a% 22f30de722-580b-4ce5-86ae-a2c944b32742%22% 7d
As part of our celebrations for World Book Day, the English Department invites Years 7,8 and 9 to... Set up a favourite scene from a book you have enjoyed, take a photograph, and send it in. You could recreate the Mad Hatter's Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter's room under the stairs or Frankenstein's laboratory.......get creative.... there are prizes to be won!
Entries should be uploaded to the World Book Day Team, ensure to include your name and form. The competition closes on Thursday 4 March at 4:15pm. Lockdown appears to have brought out some talented bakers amongst you! If you are really keen, why not think about applying for Junior Bake Off??
ENRICHMENT SOCIETY
This week we welcomed Ms Hobkinson, Head of Georgaphy, to Enrichment Society. Ms Hobkinson presented a fantastic session entitled ‘How well do you know the world that you live in?’
The presentation resulted in the following reactions from some of those who attended: That we should have a broader look on things and not just divide the world into wealthy and poorer people, but consider the middle groups! (Georgina) The blame instinct is the instinct to find a clear, simple reason for why something bad has happened. (Isabel) How we have some irrational fears about what could happen in the world and tend to lems that could arise. (Jadwiga)
overlook the real prob-
Not to generalise e.g. not every country in a certain continent fits the average statistics of that continent. (Alexandra) We should help others and have a broader mindset to see the world. (Eris) Slow change is still change! (Amelia) I've learnt not just to focus on the negatives in statistics and that even though it might be small change it is still effective. (Olivia)
Many thanks to Ms Hobkinson for leading such an insightful presentation. EnSoc continues on Thursday, 4 March at 4:30pm with a presentation chaired by Dr Poffley marking LGBT History Month. 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!
YEAR 9 MODEL CELLS COMPETITION
And the winners were Amelia S and Flavia W
Portrait of a Scientist Competition To begin our celebration of Science Week we would like to invite all students to take part in our portrait competition. Portraits must include the scientist’s name, a picture of the scientist and at least some reference to their field of work – see examples below Winning entries from each yeargroup will be displayed in the Science Department. Email a good quality photo of your portrait to Mrs Battersby by Wednesday 10th March. Please remember to say which form you are in.
Visit our website www.st-teresas.com/ equestrian
E-mail: equestrian@st-teresas.com Call: 01372 750257
Or find us on Facebook “St Teresa’s Equestrian”
We hope that you are all well and are looking forward to the return of school in March. We have already been receiving emails asking what will be happening to the riding school. We are currently in contact with our governing bodies to clarify when we can open and what we will be able to do as unfortunately it’s not clear what step we come under. We have sent out an email to you all that includes further information, if you have any queries we will do our best to answer them. Take care and stay safe!
Lockdown Competition - Design your own cross country jump! Thank you to everyone who sent in photos of their entries for our competition. They were all amazing and we had a difficult time choosing between them all.
But we have chosen one. The winner of the ‘design your own cross country jump’ competition goes to… Drumroll please!
Holly C for her incredible model of a spread jump!
Well done Holly! A copy of Mary King’s ‘My Way’ is waiting for you in the office.
We have also awarded a second and third place.
Second place goes to Beth B. And in third place is Molly M. Congratulations to you both! We have some sweetie bags waiting for you.
This Week This beautiful image by Charlie Mackesy perhaps, more than any other, sums up our feelings as we digest the news that we are on the road out of the COVID pandemic, with schools reopening in just a matter of days. His - or the horses - words of wisdom remind us that storms do come to an end. And it is no surprise then that the artist draws on the Biblical image of trust in God’s love, the rainbow, to announce the end of the storm. Colour does raise our spirits and give us joy. We thought about the reaction to the opening scenes of the 1943 film version of The Wizard of Oz. As Dorothy sings her hopeful song, Somewhere over the rainbow everything is black and white. The original audiences gasped in amazement as the colourless screen burst into glorious Technicolor as Dorothy and her friends continue their journey of rediscovery. Colour does help to bring us hope. Most recently we have all shared our genuine thanks for the NHS in a similar way. Hardly a house in the land has been without a rainbow giving thanks to the NHS and looking towards a time when the pandemic is gone. In the Scriptural account of Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41) we hear how Jesus shows his power and authority over nature as he silences the storm. While this truly demonstrates His divinity, we shouldn’t miss the point that Jesus performs this act of mercy from within the boat. At every moment, while His disciples faced the storm, He was there among them. As we look forward in hope towards the end to the pandemic, we remember that Jesus is here beside us in the storms of our lives, and that this is the reason for our hope.