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End of year newsletter of the Godolphin and Latymer School
OLPHIN NEWS
Summer 2012 – Issue 22
Girls receiving medals at the Godolphin and Latymer Sports day 2012
Godolphin&Latymer
www.godolphinandlatymer.com
FREE AND LOYAL ART THOU
Contents Student Zone 4 Aspire Afternoon 5 & 10 Year Reunion
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Geography
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Drama
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Technology
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Art
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Olympic Connection
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Rowing
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Modern Foreign Languages
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History of Art
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Science
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Visit to the British Library
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Breaking the Sound Barrier
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Walking With Romans
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Staff Zone
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Godolphin and Latymer School from above
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Student Zone I just Love music! From the age of about six it was always very clear to me that music was going to be a huge part of my life. After writing my first ‘song’ (it really should not have been classified as anything so complete) and performing it at an elderly care home towards the end of my time at primary school, I became a little obsessed with performing in general, and from that moment on grasped every opportunity to do so! That’s how I got involved with The Troubadour. I’d known they were a brilliant venue for budding singer/songwriters for ages, but had always assumed I had to be a little more established as an artist before I asked. This turned out not to be the case; I did ask, and have now performed twice there, and have booked two more dates over summer which I’m really looking forward to. For someone who didn’t really expect a reply to my initial phone call, I’m completely overwhelmed to be asked back after every gig – long may it continue! Helena Skelly
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Aspire Afternoon On 21 June, three Old Dolphins came back into school to share their stories of life after G&L with the UIV. Sarah Gowing (Class of 2002), Jessica Berry (Class of 1986) and Shilpa Jamieson (Class of 1998) each provided a unique and valuable insight into their career fields. Shilpa studied Biology at Oxford but soon realised she didn't want to be a scientist. In 2003 she joined the Ministry of Defence Faststream where she has worked in various roles, including working on legal and human rights policies during the Iraq war, working in the office of the Deputy Permanent Secretary and a range of strategy and finance roles. Jessica is a Maritime Archaeologist, a director of the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) and founder of the Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust (MAST). A former journalist, she worked for The Sunday Telegraph, The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian and Mail on Sunday. She started at Reuters in Brussels after graduating from Edinburgh University, followed by 2 years in the Middle East based in Jerusalem. After completing her Masters at Flinders University, Australia, she worked firstly as Assistant Curator at the Western Australian Maritime Museum, then as a freelance maritime archaeologist in Ireland, before working for Wessex Archaeology as a Project Supervisor and then at the Association for the Development of Maritime Archaeological Research (Adramar) in France. Since 2010, Jessica has been part of the project team excavating the Swash Channel wreck, a 17th century internationally historically significant Dutch armed merchantman off Poole in Dorset and is the archaeological advisor for the 1685 Coronation wreck in Cornwall.
After leaving Godolphin in 2002, Sarah took a gap year and spent 3 months teaching English in Southern India, travelled across Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. Sarah studied at Newcastle University Medical School, graduating as a doctor in 2008 and then undertaking a two year Foundation Programme at South Tyneside Hospital, rotating through a variety of specialities. More recently she spent 15 months living and working in New Zealand. Sarah will start on the Core Medical Training programme starting in Southampton in August, with the aim of pursuing a career in Geriatric Medicine. The UIV pupils had many questions to ask the Old Dolphins afterwards. With the unifying experience of G&L, it was a lively and informative afternoon. A huge thank you to Sarah, Jessica and Shilpa for taking the time out of their busy schedules to come back to G&L.
5 & 10 Year Reunion 100 Old Dolphins from the classes of 2007 and 2002 returned to Godolphin and Latymer on 21 June for a drinks reception, to mark 5 and 10 years since leaving school. Chairman of the Friends of Godolphin & Latymer, Dr Kenneth Wolfe, welcomed everyone back. ”It was a pleasure as always to see so many of them again and hear what direction their lives have taken since leaving G&L.”
Class of 2002
The Old Dolphins enjoyed reminiscing about their school days and exchanging stories with each other and a number of former staff, including former Head Mistress, Margaret Rudland. A fare of delicious canapés and wine were served by our excellent catering team. Class photographs of both year groups were also directed by Kenneth.
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Class of 2007
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Geography Music Thames Barrier: studying the weather forecast The weather forecast had not been good for several days and waking to a torrential rainstorm on Thursday 21st June confirmed our worst misgivings. Today was the UIII Geography field trip to the Thames Barrier and Greenwich Observatory where we were to discover what protects London from the risk of flooding and how London became the location for the 0 meridian dividing the earth into West and East hemispheres and from where the World’s time is calculated! Greenwich mean time. After collecting packed lunches and last minute instructions we made our way to Hammersmith tube station. It was quite an operation squashing us onto the tube train but the Station Guards held the train until all of us were safely aboard waving their flags when it was safe for the train to proceed. The Station Manager phoned ahead warning Westminster station that we were on our way!
At the Barrier we learnt about the possible dangers from flooding and the reasons that possibly the threat is imminent. It was explained how the Barrier worked and seeing it made the textbook diagrams come to life. Travelling back upstream we disembarked at Greenwich. The intention was to walk through Greenwich Park to the Observatory and it was exciting to see all the preparations for the Olympic Games; we were told the horse riding events were planned to take place there. At the Observatory some of us had our photographs taken straddling the longitude line; pondering whether we would ever have the opportunity of crossing the International Dateline 180o away!
Arriving at Westminster we made our way to the boat terminal, opposite the London Eye. We had the boat almost to ourselves which was definitely a good thing as our teachers helped us fill out our questionnaires and encouraged us to listen to the Captain’s commentary which included amusing anecdotes about some of the landmarks we passed.
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Extended Geography Session Located divided proportional circles, bar charts, flow diagrams and statistics were on the agenda when the LV settled down to their extended Geography session. This practical work was based on data collected in Abergavenny during the fieldcourse to the T’yr Morwydd field centre in February. Abergavenny is a small market town in south east Wales. It is particularly attractive as it has retained much of its Georgian architecture and charm. It still has an animal market on Tuesdays and specialised antique and bric a brac sales most days; these are held in the covered market. The students spent their study day analysing traffic patterns and pedestrian movements. They also undertook shopping surveys in the CBD and covered market. The final session involved producing a land use transect from the outer suburbs into the centre which incorporated a GOAD map.
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Drama Bugsy Malone Two amazing evenings! Over 250 people each night came for the Lower School’s production of Bugsy Malone. 78 aspiring actresses from the LIV and UIV sang, danced and acted their way through Sir Alan Parker’s famous musical on June 12th and 13th. Their performances were brilliantly supported by a team of 16 students from the UIV – LVI who operated the sound, lighting and scene changes. The set and costumes looked amazing thanks to Miss Ockenden and Miss Lorys. Mr Cosgrove now has an order book for Splurge gun sales! Special thanks to my two LVI assistants, Lex Bradshaw and Edwina Booth-Clibborn.
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Technology The last few months have been a busy time for girls throughout the school in all areas of the Technology department and both parents and staff were able to view and sample the girls’ achievements at the Technology exhibition. It is the first time work from all areas of the school has been displayed and we were very pleased with the results. Girls in UIV entered a national competition run by “Love British Food” which required them to “Design a menu fit for The Queen that celebrates the food produced in your part of the country in the form of a canapé and that uses locally produced seasonal ingredients.” After an inspiring demonstration by a local chef UIV girls rose to the occasion and produced a delicious range of inspiring canapés. Unfortunately we didn’t win the opportunity to cook for the Queen but our winning menu was much appreciated by visitors to the exhibition and we were able to include some other mouth watering treats for our visitors.
However Daisy Walker in LV did win the Hammersmith and Fulham Young Chef of the year award last term and she is to be congratulated on being the second Godolphin student to do so. Her task was to “Prepare and cook a two course, nutritionally balanced ,meal in one hour which demonstrated a knowledge of practical skills.” In addition to producing a delicious meal of “ham wrapped stuffed chicken breast served on mashed potato with broccoli and cherry tomatoes followed by strawberry mousse” she was complemented by the judges on her skill in the kitchen.
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Art The standard of work exhibited at this year’s GCSE Art and Design exhibition was extremely high and a strong command of core skills and technique was seen throughout. It was especially pleasing to see such original pieces produced using inventive approaches to convey meaning, thoughts and ideas. In GCSE Art and Design pupils have the opportunity to use a broad range of specialist discipline areas such as
collagraph, dry-point etching and screen-printing as well oil and acrylic paint and a variety of types of photographic processing such as manual SLR black and white developing, photograms and cyan-type. Current pupils are also exploring textile design and cold-glass techniques. Viewing the quality of work in this year’s exhibition was thrilling and the girls should be immensely proud of their achievements.
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Olympic Connection For anyone that has walked through the school reception area in recent weeks you will not have failed to notice the impressive Olympic torch standing proudly on display. It was kindly loaned by Mrs Hucket, mother of Naomi and Katie, and this is her story.
The final story that will stay with me forever is of a young man who ran in place of his wife, whom he had nominated for her brave fight against cancer. Unfortunately she lost that fight earlier in the year, so he ran in her memory, and was greeted at the end by their four year old son.
I've been associated with the Olympics for a long while and was really excited to have the chance to run with the torch so I was very happy to go to Cornwall. Being runner no 12 on the first day of the torch relay was a real bonus. The atmosphere was incredible. I had to be at the local leisure centre at 5.45 am, for an 8 am run. Everyone was really excited, and nervous. Because it was the first day the officials were equally nervous and excited. Everyone was quiet and a bit tense before their runs. Afterwards was almost the best bit. After each torch bearer finished their run they returned to the pick up bus, and that's when the real excitement started. I sat next to a 70+ year old man who had been a tennis player and coach for many years. As the bus drove slowly through Penzance he was greeted by lots of people - he had coached children, parents and grandparents in some families. I handed over to a lady with bright pink hair who is registered blind. She had been nominated by her son for the superb job that she had done in raising him as a single mum, and her determination to work to keep them both, rather than depending on the benefits that she could have claimed.
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Rowing On Sunday 17th June, the Boat Club marked the end of the 2011-12 competitive season with Water Splash and Prize Giving. Water Splash is a fun event at the Boat House on Putney Embankment where G&L and KCS rowers form mixed Octuples to race each other. This is followed by KCS and G&L’s prize giving.
Senior Coxswain – Kitty Walker Sculling Shield – Isobel Higgins
This season’s recipients of prizes were:
Well done to all the rowers for their commitment and prowess in this great sport.
2011-12 has been one of the Boat Club’s most successful seasons, with a number of races won, and some strong performances on the water.
Most Promising J14 – Margot Doumar Most Promising J15 – Caris Coyle Most Promising J16 – Elspeth White Junior Coxswain – Cicely Gascoigne
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Modern Foreign Languages German Exchange to Hamburg After arriving at Hamburg airport and following some last minute checks of “how do I say…” the daunting moment had come! Two weeks sounded like a long time but, as I already knew my exchange partner from her previous trip to London, I had no worries at all. It was amazing to experience the differences between the British and German lifestyles, especially the school days which somehow ended up with me teaching a lesson! The weeks were filled with fantastic activities but my favourite has to be the Dom. The Dom is a huge theme park, with the most delicious donuts-covered-in-icing-sugar-chunks in the world! We also visited the famous art museum, the Kunsthalle, and there was an exhibition in memory of Louise Bourgeois. Her huge spider has to be a highlight as it was 9.27 metres tall! Looking back in my diary, the last words I wrote really sum up the whole experience: we all agree that it has been a great trip!
Visit to Montpellier 26 eager UIV girls departed from Gatwick airport to Montpellier (France) for a week’s study visit in the Easter holidays. Hosted by French families, they benefited from total immersion in French life and culture: after a full morning of language tuition, they were offered a variety of activities in the afternoons, ranging from a cookery course, a coach excursion to the Camargue area and prehistoric caves, a photo treasure hunt in Montpellier and a visit to the local museum in there for art appreciation. The weather was gorgeous, all the girls really enjoyed themselves and it is now evident that this experience has greatly enhanced their understanding and the quality of their language.
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LVI AS and IB Spanish students study day On Friday 29th June, LVI AS and IB Spanish students attended a study day on the Cinema of Pedro Almodovar at the BFI Southbank. This was an ideal opportunity for them to discover how this renowned director deals with themes and issues which in turn reflect the changing social landscape of Spanish society, and provided both material for their personal statements and background knowledge for their A2 and IB studies next year. We hope that the girls will now be inspired to watch all of his films! château de la Baudonnière in Normandy From the 7th to14th July, 53 UIII girls accompanied by six members of staff will be staying at the Château de la Baudonnière in Normandy. This trip promises to be a fabulous experience in all sorts of ways: the girls will be taking part in various activities from archery to bread baking, as well as spending time at the beautiful Mont St Michel and a local market. The evening programme looks equally exciting, with talent shows and quizzes on the agenda. And all in French, of course!
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History of Art New York The UVI had a mind expanding experience in New York where they came face to face with such revolutionary and thought provoking works as Rauschenberg’s Bed (before Tracy Emin) and post-modern fashion: subversions of traditional art making them question all preconceptions of art. Great quantities of sushi were consumed alongside culture.
Florence LVI realized Florence was going to be an intense experience on the first night when Ms Osborne started her post-dinner lecture tour that lasted until 23.30! By the second day they were taking it in their stride and became ecstatic about the promise of a total submersion in Renaissance culture. Painting a real fresco was the icing on the cappuccino.
Bauhaus exhibition At the Bauhaus exhibition (Barbican) students were amazed by the collaboration that had taken place between such famous artists as Kandinsky, Klee, and Gropius with their students and vowed that the same responsibility would be taken by them in the coming year! At the V & A’s British Design 1948-2012 they were spellbound by the national eccentricities of Vivienne Westwood’s fashion, followed by the pure pleasure of viewing 50 years of Ballgowns.
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Science Group 4 Project At the end of May the LVI IB girls all took part in the Group 4 Project: a cross-disciplinary project completed in teams of five or six under the general theme of “The Environment”. The teams had to devise, plan, and carry out an experiment in each of biology, chemistry and physics, reporting their findings at the evening symposium held on 31 May 2012. The project aims to develop and assess the girls’ teamworking skills, their ability to contribute ideas and listen to others, and their capacity to overcome difficulties together. The science content is in fact not assessed at all, and while there was some excellent science carried out, there were
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also a couple of quite tenuous, though very interesting, interpretations of the theme. This year, we also piloted a collaboration with Sevenoaks School in Kent and Prince Alfred’s School in Adelaide, something for us to build upon in future years. As ever, the girls performed brilliantly over the three days, and they acquitted themselves superbly at the symposium which was fun and informative. Some of the video presentations they made are available for viewing on the school website – I thoroughly recommend them as they capture the essence of enjoyment of the Group 4 Project.
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Visit to the British Library The tube journey to the library wasn’t very long but we still had fun on it. Once we got to the library we looked around, I expected it to be a lot older looking but instead it was large and white. After that we went into a room where they showed us our guides for the library. Our guide was called ‘Jo’. From her I learned that all the books produced in Britain come to the British Library and that there are over 14 million books in the library. After our little talk we walked on to a place where the library showed a video of how to make illuminated letters. Then Jo put us into groups and gave us little bags filled with all the things used to make the illuminated letters. I learned that they used stretched animal skin to write on instead of paper, I also learned that they used eggs mixed in with something else as a paste for the gold leaves. They also crushed beetles to make red dye and little stone things to make blue dye. Later on we went to the big exhibition where at the entrance was the royal crest that had three stripes
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diagonal to each other that represented the UK and the Fleur de Lis representing France. Once we entered the exhibition it was filled with people. Jo took us to a little corner and gave us a booklet filled with questions. The questions had different colour borders which were very convenient because the room had different colours and whatever the border colour was the questions were answered in that colour of the room. As I walked around I could see many manuscripts filled with beautiful pictures and illuminated letters. When we finished answering all the questions we went back to meet with Jo. When we came together again Jo taught us more about the manuscripts. Soon we had to sadly leave the Library. We picked up our coats and travelled on the tube back to school. Once we got to school we ate lunch and rejoined our usual classes again. I had a very delightful time at the British Library, and I would definitely go back to see more exhibitions. Josephine Buclez
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Breaking the Sound Barrier This term girls in UIII took part in a Cross-curricular day aimed at promoting Women in Science. They were visited by some of the team from Bloodhound SSC, the group behind the British attempt to break not only the land speed record, but also the sound barrier by travelling at an incredible 1000 mph (the current record stands at 763 mph). Dawn Fitt, the project’s delivery director, gave the girls some helpful advice on how to achieve the best aerodynamic design before setting them the first challenge
of the day. With handfuls of Meccano K’Nex they set about designing and creating their prototypes, ready for an initial test run. We were fortunate enough to have chosen the only sunny day in June, so we were able to run the vehicles outside with plenty of space. After feedback from the experts, the girls were given the chance to make further modifications before their second and final run. This gave them an excellent opportunity to reflect on successes and failures and to consider what changes they might make to improve – all key parts of the learning process. They were also able to develop their teamwork skills and ensure that everyone’s ideas were considered and individual strengths fully utilised. The final challenge of the day was an individual one with each girl having to design and build their own rocket powered racer. When I say rocket, I do in fact mean balloon. I’m not sure if it was the lack of ‘puff’ or a fundamental design error which resulted in half the cars failing to move at all! Nevertheless, the girls certainly maintained their own energy levels right through to the finish and seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
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Walking with Romans Where can the LIV come face to face with King Cogidubnus, star of the Cambridge Latin Course? At Fishbourne of course, where we learned about the accident which led to the rediscovery of an ancient Romano-British palace, inspected a Roman heating system and admired the skill which had gone into making so many intricate mosaics – the highlight being “Cupid on a Dolphin” of course! One of the highlights was a handling session, identifying objects and fragments found at Fishbourne and reconstructing their stories – from pieces of wall-painting to oyster shells and early British window-glass. Some girls even dressed up as ancient nobility, or had their pictures taken in Roman poses. As Cogidubnus might have said, “nobis valde placet”!
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Staff Zone PE Teacher - Amanda Newton I am a retired athlete, I used to play netball internationally where through hard work I was asked to captain the side. I managed to achieve 100 caps for England, but after that point I decided to call it a day as funding was quite difficult. Dedication in training was a principal component in achieving the level I wanted to play at. I often trained six days a week twice a day, including matches and training with a personal trainer. I do not come from a privileged background, however playing netball at such a level presented the opportunity for me to tour many countries worldwide. I have travelled to Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Canada, South Africa, Singapore and Malaysia to compete. I feel very fortunate and I have enjoyed every moment. I would do it all again without a second's thought. If a student was to ask my advice, in terms of showing an interest in pursuing netball professionally, I would encourage them to do so but education is first and foremost.
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Godolphin and Latymer School from above
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Godolphin&Latymer
10 Reasons to Study the IB • It is an internationally recognised and valued qualification • IB students have been most successful at getting into the top universities in the UK and elsewhere (research paper by HESA on our website) • IB courses are interesting and they use a variety of assessment methods • IB students have two years to develop their skills, since there are no public exams in the LVI
• The IB Extended Essay provides an excellent foundation for future undergraduate work, teaching you how to write and present a formal piece of research • The IB Theory of Knowledge course helps to develop great critical skills
• Studying the IB keeps students literate, numerate, multi-lingual and analytical – all qualities sought by future employers • In IB Mathematics, there is a course for everyone, so you can study the level of Mathematics that is right for you, with confidence
• IB Literature is different from the GCSE course. You will study some exciting texts from other languages as well as Shakespeare and other classical texts
• The IB Diploma has been described as ‘a first class ticket to the world’ - why not embark on this journey!
The Godolphin and Latymer School, Iffley Road, Hammersmith, London W6 0PG Tel: 020 8741 1936 Fax: 020 8735 9520 Registered Charity No. 312699
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