Autumn Term
1st MARCH Issue 1 : 4th September 2020
2021
Dear Parents, We've cleaned, we've polished, we've mown, and today, we've tested. Thank you for your overwhelming support in getting your daughters here; within 23 hours of the appointment system going live, 90% of you had booked! Thank you, once again, to our volunteers, who will be here over the course of three days to help with mass testing. We are very much looking forward to seeing the girls again on Monday. In terms of face coverings, there is a degree of contradictory phrasing in the guidance that has been issued by Government. I would like to reiterate that we are 'strongly encouraging' pupils to wear masks in any location where two-metres distancing is not feasible, whilst acknowledging that we must also take a pragmatic approach. If your daughter has a medical exemption, do please let our medical team know (medical@st-teresas.com). I would like to thank parents and girls in Years 11 and 13 for their forbearance whilst we digest the material that has been released concerning the awarding of GCSE and A Level grades. At time of writing, we are still awaiting detail form the examination boards themselves, which will no doubt prove invaluable. However, Miss Nelson and I will be making appearances at the assemblies of these year groups next week to share all the information we currently have, together with an expected way forward (which we have been hammering out this week). We will, of course, also communicate this to parents, with the usual caveat of it being subject to change! I wish you all a wonderful weekend. Roll on Monday!
Kind regards, Dr Claire McShane
BOARDING NEWS The boarders first weekend back on the hill after half term was spent doing a whole range of activities. Friday night was games night, we played Monopoly, Cluedo, and Giant Jenga. On Saturday, the girls were super excited to visit the Starbucks drive-thru in Cobham. Sunday, the girls had a relaxing walk and saw some sheep in the neighbouring field. We finished off the afternoon by making " Maids of Honour tarts" . On Sunday more boarders are arriving, we are so excited to welcome them back. Hooray!
ART WORK OF THE WEEK COMPETITION Our winner of this week’s art competition is
Chloe W in Year 9 based on The Woman in Black Please do send your entries to n.menzies@st-teresas.com
YEAR 10 SPANISH Year 10 Spanish were using DeckToys to escape from the Island of Deck using Spanish vocabulary and structures about the topic of free time, which they have been working on during previous lessons. In order to escape from the Island, they have to collect keys, which they are given whenever they finish an activity. You can see from the photos below the kind of activities the students have to do (matching, listening, writing, videoing, filling the gaps, recognising tenses and oral practise by recording themselves). They covered all bases of vocabulary and structures already introduced so it was a good exercise for the girls’ retrieval practice. Students worked in pairs in breakout rooms and teachers got a report of how well the students did in each activity so it was a great formative assessment.
STEM 4 PARENT CONFERENCE The Stem4 talk on Monday was very good, unfortunately it was not able to be recorded due to the personal nature of some of the stories shared. However, the following resources were recommended: Worried about Coronavirus - a booklet for young people from stem4 https://stem4.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Stem4-Covid-BookletWEB-2.pdf Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Coronavirus - a booklet for parents from stem4 https://stem4.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Stem4-Covid-BookletParents-WEB-1.pdf Asking for help - a leaflet for young people on how to ask for help if they are concerned about a mental health problem https://stem4.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Tesco-Booklet-WebVersion-2.pdf
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 The month of March is quite a busy time for the music department : we have the Spring Concert on 11 March, the Soiree on 15 March and the Interhouse Music Festival. Please see details below.
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.
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_NGYxMGFjMmEtYjZlYS00NjY2LThlOGQtYTdiMDc3NDY yYWYx%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a% 22cfaae515-e182-4981-91d2-da83c34c9a92%22%2c%22Oid% 22%3a%22f30de722-580b-4ce5-86ae-a2c944b32742%22%7d
MUSIC SOIREE 2021 St Teresa’s Music Soiree is on Monday 15 March at 17.00 on Teams. Teams Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19% 3ameeting_MmI5MzdmZDMtY2M1Zi00NTE4LWI2MzUtOTRiODY3ZmQz OWI3%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22cfaae515-e182 -4981-91d2-da83c34c9a92%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f30de722-580b -4ce5-86ae-a2c944b32742%22%7d
ENRICHMENT SOCIETY
This week, Enrichment Society welcomed LJ and Cameron (Year 13) who delivered a fantastic presentation on Section 28 and its impact. Section 28 was a British law that prohibited the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ by local authorities between 1988 and 2000. The presentation (belatedly) marked LGBT History Month, which is celebrated each February.
Many thanks to LJ and Cameron for leading such an insightful presentation, and to Dr Poffley for chairing the session. EnSoc continues on Thursday, 11 March at 4:30pm with a series of presentation from Mr Gill’s Year 12 Psychology Students. 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@stteresas.com. All areas of interest and expertise are welcome!
YEAR 7 SCIENCE CLUB This week in Science Club we had a very exciting experiment: making and testing vegetable indicators! The girls were given instructions on how to make their own indicator, and they then tested lots of solutions with different pH's. This was one of the hardest tasks they've done yet and we were absolutely blown away. As for the winners..... No one has been able to knock Eris off her pedestal, and she has won again! With a very impressive range of solutions, her indicator was very successful! In second place we have Katy, who documented her finds very well. And in third place we have Layla who also made a great indicator! -Saskia C (Year 12)
ENGLISH Please see some Year 7 English work inspired by Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ by Emily M and Sienna N.
And Year 10 portraying duality in the novella ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ by Jadwiga KL.
As part of our celebrations for World Book Day, the English Department invited Years 7,8 and 9 to submit entries of a favourite scene from a book and here are a selection:
SCIENCE WEEK 2021 Please see all the events we have running throughout Science Week. We also have ducklings hatching next week
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 are looking forward to seeing everyone back at school on Monday. We’ve received approval to run 1-to-1 lessons for riders who ride with us as part of their education, these girls have already been contacted. We will then be reopening to all our riders as of the 29th March, running lessons and Pony Days over the Easter holidays. We are trialing a new booking system and we will be sending you the link in the next few weeks. This system will allow payments to be made online rather than through invoices and we hope this will make bookings and payments a lot easier for you and for us.
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.
We’re so excited that in a few days the girls will be back on site at St Teresa’s. Fear not, FOST has still been busy in the background throughout the lockdown. The 2nd hand uniform shop continues trading and we’re working on some exciting plans for the future, so watch this space…
Recent FOST activity FOST were pleased to contribute to the World Book Day this week by arranging a visit by children’s author Catherine Vase. Catherine spoke to girls in years 1-3 about her books and read some of her titles including ‘The Penguin who wanted to fly’ and ‘The Big Hair Affair’. She also introduced them to the world of book illustration and was very impressed with their drawings. Her books are available for purchase on her website at www.catherinevase.co.uk Christmas Fair 2020 Our first Virtual Christmas Fair in December was a huge success! Although we couldn’t be together in person, the monies raised were very much in line with previous years. A huge thanks to all those involved and to parents and the wider school community, including Cranmore pupils who got involved. We’ll definitely be learning from the experience and including some of the virtual elements in our future FOST events. What’s next? We’ve raised a fantastic amount of money towards our 2nd hand uniform cabin but there’s still some work to do to make it a reality…We’d love to hear your ideas so please do get in touch and get involved – we’re always recruiting new members! Fostst2020@gmail.com
This Week What are you looking forward to when the pandemic restrictions are removed. All of us are looking forward with joy to our return to school, but what else have you missed? Perhaps, like many, you have spent much time during the past year watching films and boxsets online peering at tiny images on a phone or other digital device. Certainly, many are looking forward to returning to watch a film on the big screen in a cinema. It’s a totally different experience! But for many, part of the enjoyment of going to the cinema includes watching the previews of films that are soon to be released. These previews cleverly give you a taster of what is to come, without giving away the whole of the plot, the climax or the conclusion. All we get are glimpses that only make sense when we have seen the whole film. In our Gospel reading in Chapel this week, we saw a similar preview (Mark 9:2-13) as we heard the account of the Transfiguration. The disciples were familiar with the human Jesus. They had spent time with him, seen him eating and sleeping, and heard him preach. Yet they had also seen glimpses of the divine Jesus, the powerful miracle worker who could heal the sick and silence the storm. And in the Transfiguration they saw Jesus’ full divinity revealed in all its glory as they had a glimpse of the heavenly kingdom, with the resurrected Elijah and Moses confirming Jesus as the fulfilment of all that the Law and the Prophets had anticipated. As we reflect on this account, confirming Jesus as both fully human and fully divine, we also reflect o how we can recognise glimpses of the Kingdom of God in our lives and look forward, in hopeful joy to God’s kingdom being fully revealed.
Menu Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Starter
Soup of the Day
Soup of the Day
Soup of the Day
Soup of the Day
Soup of the Day
Main
Traditional Beef Lasagne
Roasted Chicken Breast with Yorkshire Pudding
Locally sourced Pork Sausages
Chicken Burritos with Fresh Tomato Salsa
Traditional Battered Cod or Cod Fish Fingers
Chef’s
Chef’s Salad Marinated Olives
Chef’s Salad
Chef’s Salad
Shredded Iceberg Salad
Chef’s salad
Vegetarian
Fresh Vegetable & Quorn Lasagne
Fresh Vegetable & Noodle Stir Fry
Meat Free Sausages
Vegetable & Bean Burritos with Fresh Tomato Salsa
No Chicken Teriyaki with Noodles
Sides
Crusty Bread & Roasted Vegetables
Roasted Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables
Mashed Potato & Broccoli
Cajun Slaw & Sweetcorn
Chips & Peas
Additional
Jacket Potato & Beans
Jacket Potato & Beans
Jacket Potato & Beans
Jacket Potato & Beans
Jacket Potato & Beans
Dessert
Chocolate Cake Slice
Coconut Flapjack Slice
Banoffee Pie
Shortbread Biscuit Rounds
Fresh Fruit Salad
Trolley
Items in Italic - Sourced from F Conisbee’s, our local butcher