St Teresa Senior Weekly Bulletin 21 November 2022

BSA ORCHARD PLANTING

This week, our Head of Boarding and our Deputy Head were joined by the Boarding Schools Association representative Jane Graham and some of our international boarding community to plant a crab apple tree on our school grounds to join the ‘Boarding Orchard’.

The Boarding Orchard was launched by the BSA in 2014. It aims to be the ‘largest’ orchard by geography in the world and encourages schools to involve their pupils in planting trees to support the environment. Since launch, schools across the UK including Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - have joined the Boarding Orchard, and trees have also been planted at boarding schools across the world. The crab apple was chosen as a symbol of knowledge.

BOARDING NEWS

On Sunday night the boarders gathered in the Library to showcase their Christmas Performances. We had a wide range of submissions and all the boarders absolutely loved watching their friends on stage. Some highlights of the night included Issy's lovely rendition of 'Silent Night', Lucia and Casilda's Christmas music video, and an appearance from Morayo as Santa! To celebrate all their hard work all the boarders received a chocolate Christmas treat.

On Wednesday afternoon Mrs Sladen came for her regular hot chocolate club. The girls decorated gingerbread men, drank hot chocolate, had chats and just had a fabulous time. The girls love hot chocolate club. Thank you Mrs Sladen.

Last Friday afternoon during our Sixth Form PSHE lesson, we participated in a Question Time event with some local politicians. We welcomed Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley Conservative MP), Brian Creese (Chair of Guildford Labour Party), Zoe Frank (Liberal Democrat candidate for Mole Valley) and Lisa Scott (Green Party Councillor) to the school. The session helped us to widen our political knowledge and develop our ideological beliefs. (see the next page for more information)

On Tuesday lunchtime in the Lecture Theatre, there was an exciting webinar on offer to Year 12 students where they learnt about the option of taking an undergraduate degree in the USA. They enjoyed finding out about what you need to know about the US application system and they discovered what it is like to study in the US.

On Wednesday lunchtime it was the November Seminar for the Year 12 Oxbridge Pathway Programme. The seminar was run by Dr Poffley and he focused on what Oxbridge has to offer and how Oxford and Cambridge are different from one another. All Sixth Form students are invited to attend the Oxbridge Pathways Programme at the start of Year 12 , there are events every month to support them to learn about this specialist application option for University. The girls found this session very interesting and look forward to the rest of the sessions to come this half term.

We also have some very exciting news to announce this week, the Head Girl team are working with Mrs Menzies, Mr Bradford and Miss Pitchford to create a St Teresa’s Podcast! On Thursday afternoon, the Head Girl Team met with Des Paul, a producer and presenter of podcasts who is highly experienced in both radio and television. He gave us lots of useful tips on how to make our upcoming episodes to make them even more interesting and engaging for everyone! We will be recording the first episode next week with some exciting guests. I look forward to keeping you all updated.

I hope everyone has a restful weekend and I look forward to updating you on more Sixth Form fun next week!

Emma W (Deputy Head Girl)

On Thursday, Julia and Aleisha, our Sixth Form Mental Health Ambassadors, attended the Year 8 assembly with the Mental Health Ambassador team to give a talk on the mental health charity STEM4. Julia said that 'it was great to speak to the Year 8 students about how they can support themselves and their friends, share tips with them from different wellbeing apps and the people within the school community that they can speak to.'

Some of our Sixth Form students attended the One Ocean Workshop with KBR. This was the first of a number of sessions that will run over the course of this year, we all discussed why we were interested in the topic area and what we want to learn about during the programme. I am looking forward to attending session 2. Julia

QUESTION TIME

On the 18th of November, the Sixth Form were excited to have been able to participate in a 'Question Time' event with some local politicians. We welcomed Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley Conservative MP), Brian Creese (Chair of Guildford Labour Party), Zoe Franklin (Liberal Democrat candidate for Mole Valley) and Lisa Scott (Green Party Councillor) to the school. After some preparation sessions with Mrs Marsden-Wilkins, we posed a range of questions to the politicians and listened carefully to the debate and the ideas of various political parties. Some of the questions were: "Do you think anything can be done to decrease the cost of living in the UK at the moment and do you think any steps could have been taken to avoid the economic issues we are facing?" and "Do you think that it is undemocratic for the Conservative Party to be on its third PM without an election?" The session has helped us widen our political knowledge and develop our ideological beliefs. Mrs Marsden Wilkins

SPANISH STUDY DAY

Last Tuesday, some Year 11 and Sixth Form students attended a study day about the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar at the British Film Institute at South Bank in central London.

Conducted mainly in Spanish, the morning consisted of a clip-based presentation giving an overview of Almodóvar’s work including narrative themes, character archetypes, visual style and influences, casting and intertextuality. The presentation focused on All About My Mother (1999) and Volver (2006) and explored how Almodóvar’s themes, characterisation and style are apparent in both films. Students were supported in studying key scenes and engaging with in depth textual analysis.

They all enjoyed an enriching experience for their studies, in beautiful surroundings and on a wonderful sunny day, which allowed them to eat outside during the lunch break.

YEAR 10 HEART DISSECTION

Year 10s have just started their new topic around the heart and circulation. They started off the topic by exploring the different chambers and blood vessels associated with the heart through a heart dissection. The girls all got heavily involved and all had a go at dissecting various elements.

SOLOISTS RECITAL

Last Thursday, an enthusiastic audience were treated to some wonderful performances by the talented instrumentalists in the lower part of the school. Showcasing a range of styles and instruments, the girls showed huge talent and bravery in what was, for some, their very first public concert at St Teresa's. With repertoire ranging from Bach to Elton John, the evening was a delight and the girls played and sang superbly. We are all looking forward to their next performances!

PSHCE AFTERNOON AT CRANMORE

On Thursday afternoon, Year 9 joined Cranmore's Year 9 for a joint lesson on consent. They developed their knowledge following on from the Schools Consent Project workshops. They learnt about the law of consent and discussed key terminology. Working in groups, they gave advice to characters in real life scenarios. Thank you to Cranmore for hosting the afternoon.

EXTRACURRICULAR

1:15-1:45pm

Monday DJ Club Years 7+8 with Mr Fuller in M2

Grade 6 Theory with Mrs Yalden in M3

1:45 – 2:15pm

Sixth Form and Staff Choir with Miss Cantwell in Mairlot Hall

Tuesday Grades 1-2 Theory with Miss Cantwell in M2

Grades 3-5 Theory with Mrs Yalden in M3

1:45 2:15pm

Trombone Group with Mr Caister in M3

Pop Group with Mr Palmer in the drum room (starts after half term)

After School

Jazz Group with Mr Walker in M2

Symphony Orchestra with Mrs Yalden in Mairlot Hall

Sinfonia Orchestra with Miss Cantwell in M2

Wednesday

Concert Band with Ms Haystead in M2

Senior Choir with Mrs Yalden in the Chapel

GCSE/A Level Composition Clinic with Miss Cantwell in M2

Thursday

8:00-8:35am

String Ensemble with Mrs Wallace in M2

Year 7 Ukulele with Mrs Yalden in M3

Music Technology Years 9 11 with Miss Cantwell in M2

Year 7 Choir (occasional) with Mrs Yalden in Mairlot Hall

Friday

1:15 – 2:00pm

Schola Cantorum with Mrs Yalden in Mairlot Hall

Rock Guitar group with Mr Smith in M3

GCSE/A Level Composition Clinic with Miss Cantwell in M2

Year 11 Chemistry Revision Clinic

Chemistry revision clinic is now up and running. Now's the time to start, so don't delay.

Next week we will be revising atomic structure.

Year 8 Chemistry Club

Venue- Lab 32

Time Wednesday 1:45 2:15

Come and experience the fun, excitement and magic of Chemistry in lab 32!

ONE OCEAN

If you would like to attend the 'One ocean' workshops, please respond to the link sent by email. Places are limited (20 students) so this will be on a first come first served basis. 'The extra curricular program is run by committed and passionate KBR employees who work alongside teachers and facilitators to mentor students in gaining a deep understanding of the ocean, its interconnection with the climate and planetary health and how to regenerate that health.'

We expect you to attend two sessions per half term to make the most of this enrichment opportunity. A packed lunch will be provided so do complete the spreadsheet when you put your name down. The next date for this half term is the 8th December 13:30 14:10 in room 35.

Once the workshop is full, I will send out an email to confirm a list of those taking part.

MedSoc

Exciting club open to all year 10s to year 13s

If you are interested in all medical (including dentistry and veterinary science) related issues and like to discuss ethics, assess case studies, be up to date with current affairs in the field and listen to speakers then let Dr Evans know so you can join the team. We meet on alternate Tuesday lunch times, 1.45 2.15pm, room 29

It was a FABULOUS 2022 Christmas Fair with in excess of £7,000 raised. A massive thank you to all FOST committee members, our amazing class reps, parent volunteers, the maintenance team, sponsors, stallholders and everyone who attended and supported this event.

FOST is always looking to increase its team size, especially with parents from the Senior School, so we can do more in terms of events and improvements for our school community! Should you be interested in assisting on an ad hoc basis or joining the committee, please get in touch with Cathy Hastoy, Deborah Whipple or Jo Clark via Classlist.

E mail equestrian@st teresas.com

Booking System st teresas equestrian.ecpro.co.uk

Visit our website www.st teresas.com/ equestrian

Or find us on Facebook “St Teresa’s Equestrian”

We hope that you are all well.

As the weather is so variable at the moment, please make sure that you come with a jumper (no hoodies!) and/or a coat to wear when it’s chilly out. As we are on top of a hill, we get a bit of a cold wind when riding in the arena!

A reminder that if you wish to cancel a lesson, we do require 48hrs notice or more in order to offer credit. Any later and we are unable to fill the slot with a rider for a catch up lesson or off the waitlist.

Finally, while the weather is showing on and off rain, we’d like to remind our riders that we still run lessons in the wind and rain provided there is not a risk to anyone’s safety. As an alternative for those who don’t want to ride, then we do offer stable management lessons in the warm barn.

Christmas Holidays

The dates are available to book on the system! Please check out our online site to book your spaces now!

We also have spaces for private 30min lessons in the week of Monday 12th December.

The weather was nice last week and everyone rode in the sunshine. STE staff have been riding the new horse Barney, and once he passes a licence he can be used in lessons. At the NSEA competition, our riders competed in eventing and got clear rounds!

The horse of the week is… Barney!

~ Libby C

NSEA News

A group of three NSEA riders headed to Coombelands on Sunday 20th November to compete in the Eventers Challenge qualifiers. Pernille A competed in the 70cm class riding well but unfortunately missed out on the top placings. Lilly S competed in the 80cm and 90cm classes on her two ponies with one amazing clear round and two unfortunate 4 faults.

Lulu S also competed in the 90cm class and also the 1m class on her pony. She placed 5th overall in the 1m class but unfortunately just missed out on qualifying for the Finals at Hickstead. Well done everyone!

This Week

Last Sunday the Church marked the end of the liturgical year with the feast of Christ the King. In this final week of the year we are asked to reflect on: Who or what do we worship? Who or what do we give the greatest priority to in our lives? And where or how does that worship manifest itself in our lives?

In Chapel this week we reflected on the experience of Moses when he was confronted by the theophany in the burning bush. Moses had left behind his old life in Egypt and had fled far away into the wilderness. Any memories that he had of the presence of God that was hinted at in the temples of Egypt was long forgotten, and yet it was in the wilderness that he had the most visceral experience of God’s presence as the voice from the bush calls him to return to Egypt and to lead the enslaved people to freedom.

Significantly, the first thing that Moses was asked to do was to remove his shoes for, as he was told, the ground he walked on was sacred. This act of humility before God has echoes in our own time. For example, in the last week, we have seen players ‘take the knee’ out of respect for all people regardless of colour or gender. We saw many thousands bow in respect as they filed past the coffin of HM the Queen. But while these actions certainly show honour, they fall short of worship. The great American bishop famously stated, and warns us, ’ Everyone worships something. If you don’t worship God, you will worship something else. And nine times out of ten it will be yourself! There is certainly a danger that we adopt a ‘toddler mentality’ and place ourselves at the centre of our own private universe. This is the antithesis of what we are asked to do. Instead, in our day to day lives, we are asked to reach out to others, as Moses did, and to recognise God’s presence amongst the seemingly mundane moments and places in our lives. And most especially when we look into the eyes of our neighbour!

Main Chicken tikka masala with rice & poppadums

Pepperoni pizza slice with chef’s salad

Chef’s carvery Roast Pork leg or chicken with Yorkshire pudding

Puff pastry filled with locally sourced pork sausage meat

Traditional battered fish / cod fishfingers

Eat healthy choice Beef meatballs in a fresh tomato sauce & wholewheat fusilli pasta

Chargrilled chicken Caesar salad

World cup France Boeuf a la Bourguignonne

World cup Spain Paella saffron rice loaded with chicken, chorizo & king prawns

Poached salmon with nut free pesto pasta & olive salad Vegetarian

a tomato sauce