8th MARCH 2021
Dear Parents, It has been truly wonderful to welcome the girls back up the hill this week. And what a week it was: we've performed two lots of LFD tests with the help of our parent volunteers, we had a reconnecting session on Wednesday where all year groups had time to socialise, set targets and have a pastoral checkin, the Head Girl Team presented an inspiring assembly on International Women's Day on Monday, and if all that were not enough it was also Science Week. I hope you all enjoyed our live-streamed DucklingCam - there was much excitement (in my study anyway) during period 2 on Wednesday when the balls of yellow fluff emerged from their shells, looking somewhat confused and a bit squashed. A plethora of activities has gone on, and my thanks to the Science Department who have truly hit the ground running. Indeed, the entire school has hit the ground running, and it was an exceptionally successful recommencement. My thanks to all: staff, pupils and parents as ever, for your support. This has truly been an effort on the part of the entire school community. Parents with daughters in Years 11 and 13 were today sent a recording of the assemblies that myself and Miss Nelson spoke in, together with a letter, outlining our strategy for the months ahead and awarding A level and GCSE grades. I hope you find this useful. When the examination boards have released more detail, we will, of course, be in further communication. I do wish you all a very pleasant weekend. Kind regards, Dr Claire McShane
ART WORK OF THE WEEK COMPETITION Our winner of this week’s art competition is: Elena L in Year 8. Please do send your entries to n.menzies@st-teresas.com
MATHS NEWS On March 21st, the nation will be asked to complete the decennial Census, helping the Government make decisions about transport, education and healthcare in our local areas. As a census has many mathematical links, the Maths department, with the help of Years 7 and 8, will be running the ‘St Teresa’s Census 2021’. On Wednesday 17th March, all students should look out for an email pinging into their inbox, where they will be asked a series of questions about what makes them tick! In the last week of term, Years 7 and 8 will be analysing this data and we look forward to sharing what they find out soon.
ENGLISH NEWS Year 7 are working on modern pilgrimage poems in English inspired by Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
Modern Pilgrimage Poem In the early days of spring, When the wind flows through the air And the swallows sing I went on a pilgrimage to St Hilda's Way The sun rose filling the sky with a golden glow The sound of excited chatter filled the air A farmer hoping for his crops to grow A frantic mother in despair A bubbly baker with a warm heart And an eager teacher ready to start We set off along the dirt track Ready to begin our adventure The sound of grass swaying in the wind surrounded me A flock of birds filled the skies We walked silently, admiring the nature around us A small building appeared in the distance The church of St Hilda's Way. By Georgie H, 7SB
A broad selection of entries on the topic "My Happiest Day" were submitted for this year's competition. Students competed in the Intermediate and Senior age categories, with both prose and poetry pieces entered. Our students performed superbly against fierce competition from local schools including St John's and CLFS, winning a total of 12 certificates! Special praise goes to Annabelle M, Natasha B and Abigail B who were winners in the Intermediate Prose Section, and Naomi R, who was a winner in the Intermediate Poetry Section. Their entries will go forward to the next round. The following students are congratulated for their runners-up certificates: India S, Sophie Y, Lucy S, Freya D and Shanelle E in the Intermediate Prose Section; Georgina S and Corellia W in the Senior Prose Section; and Ella M in the Senior Poetry Section. Congratulations to all!
MEDICAL NEWS Mask Wearing Many of you and your daughters may be struggling with glasses fogging up whilst wearing a face mask please see picture of Anti-Fog Lens Cloth that may be the solution, this one is approximately £5 and available on Amazon. HPV Vaccinations Just a reminder that the HPV vaccinations will take place on Monday 22 March for Year 8 girls. Please can you ensure your daughter wears a short sleeved shirt that day and brings a water bottle. Thank you.
YEAR 8 RAISING TEENS SEMINAR A reminder for Year 8 Parents: 'Raising Teens' Seminar on Thursday 18th March 7:00pm – 8:30pm Following the letter and email that has been sent to you, we are looking forward to nurse and therapist Julie Johnson's 'Raising Teens' Seminar on Microsoft Teams, which will look at rituals and rites of passages which may help teenagers during this transition phase.
Please let Miss Cantwell know whether you will be attending on your daughter's Teams account or your own email address so she can add you to the meeting. Year 8 pupils have automatically been invited.
YEAR 7 SCIENCE CLUB This week in Science Club we had a little Chemistry lesson. The girls completed a neutralisation reaction using ethanoic acid (vinegar) and calcium carbonate (in egg-shells). This reaction resulted in very fun 'bouncy eggs'! Our winner for this week is Katy, who had a very impressive dyed egg which was also our bounciest! Second place goes to Eris who had a very articulate write up, and third to Layla, for her funniest un-bouncy egg. Honourable mention also goes to Jessica who's egg unfortunately popped in the testing stages....
MUSIC NEWS The Spring Concert on Thursday night was a wonderful occasion with so many of our amazing musicians singing or playing so well. Works by Handel, Sibelius, Vivaldi and Faure were included. So many notable performances. A huge thank you to Lara Andrews and Ella Machtynger who devised the concert and complied the performances for viewing. CLICK HERE to see the concert in full.
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!
MUSIC SOIREE 2021 St Teresa’s Music Soiree is on Monday 15 March at 17.00 on Teams. Please CLICK HERE for the Teams link.
ENRICHMENT SOCIETY
Enrichment Society made a welcome return to the Sixth Form centre this week! On Thursday, we welcomed representatives of Mr Gill’s Year 12 Psychology group, who presented on a truly diverse series of research topics: Imogen L looked at how the shape of a glass can influence how much you drink; Hannah K examined the mental health benefits of outdoor adventures; Phoebe L presented her research on how film makers might control the brain responses of viewers; and Ruby D explored whether there is a relationship between music preference and personality type. Well done to all four presenters, and we look forward to the next Psychology Takeover of EnSoc!
EnSoc continues each Thursday at 16:30 on Teams, and it will be live for one year group at school each week. 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!
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 have had a lovely first week back at school. It has been lovely to start teaching again, even though there are so few of you that we are able to teach we’ve loved every minute of it. The ponies have also had fun in their lessons which is great!
We will be continuing like this for the remainder of this term and we’re so excited to open up to all on Monday 29th March for our Pony Days! Sadly we are not taking on new riders who are not part of either St Teresa’s or Cranmore, but hope to book these new riders in for the summer. We are also trying out a new booking system. It has only been available to a small amount of people, but we’ll be looking to open it up to all shortly. Bear with us while we get the hang of it and if you have any feedback please do let us know! Easter Pony Afternoons We have a few spaces left on our Pony Mornings and Afternoons. Mornings run from 9.30am to 12.30pm, and Afternoons run from 1pm to 4pm. Priced at £50 a session. Please contact the office for all Pony Day bookings, and payments will be made on our new system.
For those who have booked in, or are thinking about booking in for the Easter Holidays, please bring your own hat and boots to ride in as we are not lending out equipment until it is deemed safe to do so.
NSEA Reports Competitions will be opening from Monday 29th March, and we hope our NSEA riders are as excited as we are to get out and about competing for 2021! We have some riders already booked in for a show jumping competition on the 8th April at Felbridge Showgrounds. We wish them the best of luck!
Next FOST Meeting The FOST class reps meeting is taking place next Friday. If you have anything to raise please let your class rep know so we can discuss then. We would especially love to hear any ideas for covid-safe fundraising. Puffa Jackets Puffa jackets are still available to girls in years 5 and up. Please contact h.wood@st-teresas.com if you would like to order one. 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
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
This Week The Jerusalem Temple was known to be the most beautiful building of its time. And for the Jewish people it was the place on earth where God was truly present. We know that Jesus visited the Temple frequently. We have two accounts of him visiting the temple as a child, once when he was presented by Mary and Joseph when he was a child, and once when he was found discussing with the teachers of the law in the Temple courts. So it is perhaps no surprise to see Jesus’ reaction when he arrives in the Temple only to find the outer court overrun with cattle, sheep, and pigeons for the sacrifices, and the moneychangers making their profits. Instead of a place of quiet contemplation where earth meets heaven, there was all the noise and chaos of a market place. Rather than a place where all are welcomed, it had become a place where the people of God were pushed to the margins and excluded. No wonder Jesus railed against this injustice and cleared the Temple of the animals and the moneychangers. He was restoring the relationship between God and all peoples, and nothing could get in the way. Our lives can sometimes become like those Temple courts, overrun with so much that can keep us away from God - thoughtlessness, self-centredness, our lack of care for others. During this season of Lent, we ask, with Jesus’ help, to drive those habits, attitudes and behaviours out of our lives so that we can once again become people of prayer, with God’s love truly living in our hearts, and a growing desire to share that love with all we meet.
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
Beef Stroganoff with Crusty Bread
Spicy Chicken Flatbreads with Pineapple Salsa
Crispy Duck Stir Fry
Beef Bolognese Cannelloni
Hand Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets & Dips
Chef’s
Chef’s Salad
Chef’s Salad
Chef’s Salad
Chef’s Salad
Chef’s Salad
Vegetarian
Roasted Vegetable & Mozzarella Frittata
Cheese & Tomato Pizza Slice with Homemade Coleslaw
Vegetable Spring Rolls with Sweet Chilli Dip
Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato Sauce
Quorn Chilli Con Carne with Rice
Sides
Rice & Roasted Vegetables
Piri Piri Wedges, Broccoli & Rice
Vegetable Fried Rice, Green Vegetable Mix Rice
Garlic Ciabatta Slice, Peas, Roasted Vegetables & Rice
Roasted New Potatoes, Green beans & Rice
Dessert
Mixed Melon Pots
Rice Krispy Choc Squares
Grape & Kiwi Pots
Ice Cream
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Trolley
Items in Italic - Sourced from F Conisbee’s, our local butcher